The GO Train broke down near or at the depot in Kitchener. The VIA train could have gone around it via the siding track, but a) the siding was out of service in spots, and b) you can’t access the platform from the siding, so 87 couldn’t make its station stop. The VIA train did clear the mainline, which allowed a following GO train to push the stalled train out of the way. That eventually let the VIA back out on the mainline and head west to the depot, after a delay of some hours.
Oh, and due to the lack of sidings up the line, VIA 88 had to hold at Stratford until 87 got there, before it in turn could come east.
There will always be situations where a line is blocked and everything comes to a halt, but the lack of sidings and platform capacity at Kitchener certainly made this one worse. Airports and highways get shut down, too. All the same - Just wait until this or something like it happens on a sungle track HFR line, and people sit for four hours in Kaladar and Arden.
- Paul