BEST HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE FOR VIA RAIL IN FOUR YEARS

Montréal, January 7, 2015 –This holiday season, from December 16, 2015 to January 5, 2016, VIA Rail saw its highest passenger revenue in over four years, with an increase of 10.3% since 2012, and the busiest day, December 23, had VIA Rail trains transporting 16,377 passengers to their destinations.

“The Holidays boast the highest ridership of the year on our trains,” said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and CEO of VIA Rail, “Over 255,000 passengers trusted VIA Rail for travel within Canada during this time. I am grateful for their patronage and for the dedication and professionalism of our front-line and maintenance center employees who were on duty to help ensure that our passengers received great service and got to their destinations safely”.

In the Québec City-Windsor corridor, over 237,000 passengers travelled on the 1,118 trains serving communities in and between Montréal, Québec City, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor, London, Sarnia and Niagara Falls. The Montréal-Toronto line was the most popular route: 32,527 travelled between these two points over the period.

On the long distance trains, the Ocean service, which travels between Montréal and Halifax, welcomed almost 8,000 passengers. Six additional departures were offered over the holidays, giving more people the opportunity to travel by train to celebrate with their loved ones.  Meanwhile, the Canadian, which connects Toronto to Vancouver, saw over 5,100 passengers onboard.

VIA Rail trains safely transported all passengers to their destinations without any major disruptions.

Thanks to its world-class on board Wi-Fi service offered throughout the Québec City – Windsor corridor as well as on the eastern long-haul train, the Ocean, VIA Rail allows its passengers to stay connected and online throughout their journey. During the Holidays, over 176,000 devices connected to VIA Rail’s Wi-Fi system and transmitted over 17,000 GB of information through the web.

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and its 2,500 employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and safely transports nearly four million passengers annually. The Corporation was awarded seven Safety Awards by the Railway Association of Canada over the last eight years, and was the recipient of the 2012 Agent's Choice Award voted by Canadian travel agents and presented by Baxter Travel Media. Since 2007, the Government of Canada has invested almost a billion dollars in VIA Rail. VIA Rail information at a glance: www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail