By Canadian Press

Evacuation train departs Hope, B.C., bound for Vancouver with 200 passengers

Nov 17, 2021 | 9:00 PM

A late-night evacuation train carrying about 200 people stranded for days by British Columbia’s mudslides and floods has left Hope for Vancouver.

Jonathan Abecassis, a spokesman for Canadian National, says the emergency evacuation train was expected to arrive in Vancouver at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Most of the people on board the train had been in Hope, located about 150 kilometres east of Vancouver, since Sunday when disastrous floods and mudslides cut off some of the province’s major highways.

Abecassis says the evacuation train is the result of efforts between Emergency Management B.C., Via Rail and CN.

Earlier Wednesday, B.C.’s transportation ministry announced the reopening of Highway 7 between Agassiz and Hope in limited capacity to westbound traffic only to allow people to make their way back to the Lower Mainland.

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B.C. declared a state of emergency following the unprecedented flooding that has displaced residents, severed highway access, trapped motorists and resulted in at least one death of a woman and thousands of livestock.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2021.

The Canadian Press