FAMILY DAY LONG WEEKEND: VIA RAIL RIDERSHIP IN ONTARIO UP BY 14%

February 15–20, 2018:

Intra-provincial trains in Ontario

54,000 passengers (14% increase)

 

OTTAWA, February 22, 2018 - Over the Family Day long weekend, many Canadians travelled on VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) trains’ in Ontario. Between February 15 and 20, VIA Rail welcomed a total of 54,000 people to its trains, a 14% increase compared to 2017.

The most popular segment was Ottawa – Toronto, where VIA Rail offers 20 weekday departures thanks to the addition of three round-trips since 2015. The most notable increases of the weekend were seen on trips between Toronto – Windsor and Kingston – Ottawa.

Most popular trips (Origin/Destination/non-directional)	Number of passengers	Increase over 2017
Toronto – Ottawa	13,700	+14%
Toronto – Kingston	6,700	+19%
Toronto – London	6,200	+14%
Toronto – Windsor	3,300	+20%
Ottawa – Kingston	1,500	+19%

“These results attest to the growing popularity of our services in Ontario. Over the past few years, we have seen an upward trend in the number of travellers choosing the train. Doing so means they can avoid road congestion and reduce the carbon footprint, whileworking, relaxing and spending quality time onboard with their loved ones,” said VIA Rail President and Chief Executive Officer Yves Desjardins-Siciliano.

Inter-provincial Ontario-Québec trips

In addition, 22,500 passengers travelled from Ontario to a destination in Québec and vice versa, reflecting a 11% increase from the previous year. The largest number of trips was seen between the cities of Toronto and Montréal, where 9,700 travellers chose to take the train.

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada’s national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and all its 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 about 180 more communities through intermodal partnerships, and safely transports nearly four million passengers annually. The Corporation has been awarded five Safety Awards and three Environment Awards by the Railway Association of Canada since 2007. Visit the “About VIA Rail” section at: www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.