A looming strike by Via Rail's locomotive engineers

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A looming strike by Via Rail's locomotive engineers is throwing a wrench into Jennifer Baron's plans for a "babymoon" in Montreal.

Pregnant and due in October, the Torontonian and her husband were looking forward to one last pre-baby vacation, visiting family and friends and taking in Montreal's sites during Ontario's August long weekend.

When she heard Via was preparing to cancel all its trains beginning tomorrow, "we looked into flying but that's expensive and driving would take long because we have to stop a lot so I can stretch and whatnot," Baron said. They may cancel.

With the 340 engineers at Canada's national passenger rail service set to strike at noon tomorrow and Via already cancelling some long-distance trains, many travellers were scrapping vacation plans or scrambling to make alternate arrangements.

Via spokesperson Malcolm Andrews said the two sides and a mediator are still in negotiations and Via remains "hopeful" a solution will be found. But even if a strike is averted, Via may not be able to offer full service after noon tomorrow, he said.

"It depends how close to the deadline an agreement is reached - the closer it is, the more of the system will be in shut-down mode or close to it and so the longer it would take" to put Via's schedule back on track.

Quebec would be hard hit by a strike, as the Quebec City-Windsor corridor is Via's busiest, carrying about 9,000 passengers daily.

A strike could be another blow for Montreal tourism, adding to woes caused by the loss of the Grand Prix, a weak economy and new U.S. passport rules. Hotel bookings fell 11 per cent last month compared to June 2008.

Erica Scime of Hamilton, Ont., was planning to take the train next week for a 10-day trip to Montreal with her boyfriend.

Yesterday, she was busy calling airlines and bus companies to find another way to get here. She's not sure they'll still come.

A work stoppage will also affect Montrealers' plans.

Adele Benoit was going to take her 2-year-old son on his first train ride to Ottawa next week to visit his grandparents. She'll have to drive instead.

"I was really trying to make the trip less polluting to the environment and my son loves trains," she said. "He would have had a blast."

Stephanie Lemieux said she'll leave as planned for Toronto on a Via train today but "we have no idea how or when we will be able to come home." It puts "a damper on our trip since we'll be having to think about refunds and alternative ways to get home instead of enjoying ourselves."

Some Montreal car-rental companies saw an increase in business yesterday. Airlines and bus companies are also standing by to fill the gap.

Orléans Express, which runs inter-city buses in Quebec, saw a spike in calls yesterday and is preparing to boost service.

Greyhound spokesperson Timothy Stokes said the company will monitor ticket sales and quickly add buses if demand increases.

Air Canada may use bigger aircraft or add flights, spokesperson Isabelle Arthur said. "We are monitoring demand and are ready to adjust capacity if necessary to accommodate Via passengers."

Porter Airlines spokesperson Brad Cicero said turmoil at Via has sparked an increase in calls to the airline.

VIA is offering refunds on all cancelled trains, even on tickets normally deemed unrefundable.

For more information, go to www.viarail.ca/en/update/

ariga@ thegazette.canwest.com