Our Commitment
Being environmentally friendly: That, too, is a more human way to travel
Protecting the environment is everyone's business - VIA Rail takes this responsibility seriously and acts on it every day.
VIA is committed to continually improving the environmental performance of its operations.
In fact, our business plan also states that one of our six key goals is to “actively manage our operations in an environmentally sustainable and responsible manner.”
For this reason, an Environmental Policy 
(139 KB) guides VIA's daily business operations, including:
- ensuring regulatory compliance
- reducing fuel consumption
- more efficiently managing waste using VIA's Environmental Management System (EMS), which establishes a working framework for tracking, evaluating, and communicating environmental performance.
Beyond policies and procedures, VIA's commitment to the environment expresses itself through concrete action.
Throughout the Corporation, volunteer Green Teams encourage all employees to identify ways to improve VIA’s environmental performance. In 2008, VIA won the Environmental Award from the Railway Association of Canada for developing Green Teams as a management approach. In 2007, visiting delegates from Canadian Business for Social Responsibility commented that “VIA Green Teams are a unique approach allowing employees to create positive changes within their environments, from a bottom up / democratic point of view.” The Green Team structure encourages employees at all levels to work together to provide environmentally friendly travel experiences to our customers and to continually improve VIA’s environmental performance. Our 11 Green Teams, spread across our network, are made up of volunteer employees who carry our passion for the environment to every corner of our organization.
