VIA Rail Partners with Wounded Warriors Canada to Support Injured Veterans and their Families

Montreal, January 26th, 2016 — Wounded Warriors Canada is proud to announce a national partnership with VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail). VIA Rail will provide complimentary train travel to ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans and their families who are attending the mental health programs and services provided by Wounded Warriors Canada.

VIA Rail is also partnering with Wounded Warriors Canada on their 2016 Battlefield Bike Ride – The Italian Campaign. VIA Rail is donating a cross-Canada trip for two, from Halifax to Vancouver, to the top fundraising participant. All funds raised from the Wounded Warriors Canada Battlefield Bike ride support the charities investment in mental health programming.

Scott Maxwell, Executive Director of Wounded Warriors Canada, commented, “ VIA Rail has an historic association with our armed forces members. For our team at Wounded Warriors Canada, the life-changing programs we are able to deliver exist as a result of these outstanding national partnerships. We are extremely grateful for VIA Rail’s commitment to helping us directly support our ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans and their families in their time of need.”

“Since 2010, more than 140,000 military personnel, veterans and family members have travelled on VIA Rail trains under the auspices of an earlier-announced discount program,” declared Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail. “Today’s announcement is yet one more sign of the long and deep relationship between passenger rail and the men and women of Canada’s armed forces.”

The train, which goes as far back as our collective memory – more significantly during the First and Second World Wars – has been used to transport military personnel to our coasts, where general cargo ships were waiting to take them to battlefields in foreign lands. Trains were also used to convey numerous soldiers to their homes, once they had reached Canadian soil after sustaining injuries on the battlefield.

About Wounded Warriors Canada
Wounded Warriors Canada is a non-profit organization that supports Canada’s ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans, First Responders and their families. Through a wide range of national programs and services, Wounded Warriors is dedicated to providing programs focused on mental health and, particularly, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada’s national rail passenger service, VIA Rail Canada (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 presented seven Safety Awards by the Railway Association of Canada over the past eight years, and was the recipient of the 2012 Agent’s Choice Award voted by Canadian travel agents and presented by Baxter Travel Media.