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TRAVEL ADVISORY

February 27, 2020 - 5:15PM

VIA Rail announces that regular service between Winnipeg and The Pas will resume starting Sunday, March 1.

VIA Rail is reaching out directly to passengers with reservations to update them on the latest developments. All other passengers are encouraged to visit our website for more information.

We continue to work with the infrastructure owner, CN Rail, on making sure that normal service can resume on all other routes and that passengers can be welcomed back on board our trains as quickly as possible.

Even though we look forward to sharing updates on resumption dates of our services in a timely manner, the safety of our passengers and employees remains our top priority throughout this process.

Please find below a summary of routes in service, including as of Friday:

 

Overview of service resumptions* 

Route

Service

Toronto- London-Windsor

In full service

Toronto-Sarnia

In full service

Toronto-Niagara Falls

In full service

Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa

In full service

The Ocean (Montréal-Halifax)

 

Full service to resume starting Friday, February 28

 

 

Winnipeg-The Pas

 

Full service to resume starting Sunday, March 1

 

 

*This information is subject to change without notice.

 

Since all other VIA Rail services remain cancelled until further notice, with the exception of Sudbury-White River (CP Rail) and Churchill-The Pas (Hudson Bay Railway), VIA Rail has cancelled all affected departures as per the table below. 

Please note that the cancellation window of the different services is based on the minimum expected time it would take to resume the service once the line reopens. 

Accordingly, we are protecting reservations as long as possible to prevent passengers from changing their travels plans unnecessarily. 

 

Overview of service cancellations* 

Route

Service

Cancelled until (inclusively) :

Toronto-Ottawa

Cancelled

Sunday, March 1

Toronto-Montréal

Cancelled

Sunday, March 1

Senneterre-Jonquière

Cancelled

Monday, March 2

Prince Rupert- Prince George-Jasper

Cancelled

Thursday, March 5

The Canadian

Cancelled

Sunday, March 1

*This information is subject to change without notice.  

 

REFUNDS

Passengers holding a ticket for which the first trip’s scheduled departure has not yet passed and is no later than March 8, have the option of autonomously cancelling online for a full refund with no service charges, even if additional segments fall after March 8. Passengers may also get a refund for a return ticket scheduled after March 8 as long as the first portion of the trip was scheduled no later than that date.

 

Refund - Automatic 

Cancellations are made on a progressive basis, depending on the evolution of the situation. As soon as we confirm that a train will be cancelled, passengers on that train will be notified by email and will be automatically reimbursed. Due to the volume of transactions that we process in these exceptional circumstances, reimbursement can take a minimum of 15 days. 

Autonomous reimbursement procedure

In order to expedite refunds, passengers can also cancel upcoming trips online themselves without service charges under the following conditions only:

One way trip:
The scheduled departure time has not yet passed and is no later than March 8.

Round trip or multi-segment trip:
As long as first trip segment’s scheduled departure time has not yet passed and is no later than March 8, all segments will be refunded, even if additional segments fall after March 8.

Note that partial cancellations are not possible online.

If you choose this option to get a refund for your trip, please click here

Cancellations are made on a progressive basis, depending on the evolution of the situation. As soon as we confirm that a train will be canceled, passengers on that train will be notified by email and will be automatically reimbursed. Due to the volume of transactions that we process in these exceptional circumstances, reimbursement can take a minimum of 15 days.

 

More info

In order to allow be able to help as many customers as possible, we respectfully request that you contact our VIA Customer Center only in cases of immediate urgency, at 1-888-VIA-RAIL (1-888 842-7245), TTY 800-268-9503 (deaf or hard of hearing).

We remain hopeful for an end to the situation as soon as possible and encourage all parties involved to continue their efforts towards a peaceful resolution.

We thank our passengers for their continued patience and understanding.