Popular holiday trains in GTA unexpectedly cancelled. This is why

An image of the York-Durham Heritage Railway train with a giant nutcracker statue out front and fireworks in the back. (Facebook/York-Durham Heritage Railway)

The North Pole Light UP Express and Santa Express Train Rides in the York-Durham region have been postponed until further notice due to mechanical problems with the trains.

The York-Durham Heritage Railway (YDHR), which is well known for its themed rides and runs both events, made the announcement Dec. 9. The non-profit organization said train rides aren’t expected to resume until the New Year.

John Graham Perks, president and CEO of YDHR, told CTV News Toronto that he thought it would have been an easy fix, but one of the unions is on strike.

The Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 183 – a union representing more than 66,000 construction workers in the GTA, including railroad workers – announced some of its workers would go on strike on Dec. 9 after rejecting the Railroads Agreement.  As of Friday, the union reached a settlement, and a ratification vote will be held Sunday afternoon.

“We were hoping that it would be an overnight problem, which has now turned into a 10-day delayed problem,” Perks said, adding YDHR understands that families and children are upset to be missing the holiday rides, but cannot offer refunds as compensation.

He said the railway is still recovering from the aftermath of the forced closures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery from the Uxbridge tornado in May. He adds the YDHR is a non-profit, registered charitable organization.

“When you purchase a ticket on our website, under the terms and conditions, it's considered an unreceipted donation because part of that ticket goes towards helping the nonprofit railway preserve its heritage equipment,” Perks said.

While customers won’t be getting the cost of their tickets back, YDHR is giving a credit towards a train ride of their choice in 2023, a free ticket to its Easter Festival and Easter Bunny Express in the spring, and a walkthrough of their grounds this weekend, which are decorated with thousands of Christmas lights and some of the largest nutcrackers in the country, he said.

“We’re so sorry that this has happened. I’m a father with two small kids, and my kids love riding the train at Christmas time and seeing Santa,” Perks said.

“We didn’t expect this to happen, but we’re doing everything we can to make it up to you.”