A truck driver is dead after a VIA Rail train traveling from Montreal to Toronto -- carrying 432 passengers and 8 crew members -- struck a dump truck near Belleville, Ont. on Friday.

According to VIA Rail spokesperson, Catherine Kaloutsky, train No. 61, “was involved in a level crossing accident approximately three miles east of Belleville.”

The collision occurred at approximately 3:30pm at Airport Parkway east of Elmwood Drive. The train was scheduled to arrive at Toronto’s Union Station at 4:45pm.

There have been reports of minor injuries aboard the train and a VIA Rail employee suffered a cut above her eye and was taken to hospital.

Kaloutsky confirmed that “the line has been temporarily closed.”

“There was considerable debris from the truck along the track,” she added.  

The remaining passengers will be traveling the rest of their voyage, which is approximately 190kms, VIA bus. 

On Friday evening, Via released the following statement:

VIA Rail Canada wishes to advise travellers that its Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa train services are expected to return to normal tomorrow morning, Saturday, March 19th, 2011. While no train cancellations are planned, VIA anticipates that there may be some minor delays in the Belleville area due to train congestion.

These services had been affected following a collision earlier today between a VIA Rail train and a truck near Belleville, Ontario.

VIA apologizes for any inconvenience caused by this disruption.

For more information on train schedules, or to book a trip, customers can visit VIA's secure Web site at viarail.ca. Passengers also can book their tickets by calling 1 888 VIA-RAIL (1 888 842-7245), or 1 800 268-9503 (TTY for the hearing impaired).