A press release from VIA Rail Canada; August 9, 2019:
HIGHLIGHTS
Thursday August 1 to Tuesday August 6, 2019
VIA Rail network
- Busiest day : Friday, August 2, 2019
- Most popular destinations: Toronto, Montréal and Ottawa
- Ridership: increase of 3.7% compared to the same period last year
Québec City – Windsor corridor
- 88,975 passengers: increase of 4.5% compared to 2018
MONTRÉAL, Aug. 9, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ – More than 94,900 passengers boarded VIA Rail Canada’s (VIA Rail) trains during the recent August long weekend, 3,300 more than at the same period in 2018. This represents a 3.7% increase in ridership over 2018 and the sixth consecutive year of ridership increase for this six-day period.
“Another 3,300 Canadians have decided to leave their cars at home… what great news!” said VIA Rail President and Chief Executive Offfcer Cynthia Garneau. “Together, we can continue to work towards building a more sustainable future one train ride at a time. As VIA Rail’s modernization progresses, we continue to place our customers at the heart of all we do. Whether it be on board the Ocean, the Jasper to Prince Rupert train or other routes on VIA Rail’s network, they remain our number one priority. We do not just bring them to their destinations: we are sharing a journey by offering an easy, safe, sustainable and enjoyable experience. I would like to thank our employees for their stellar service to our passengers. These positive results would not have been possible without them.”
VIA Rail’s highest percentage increase in ridership was recorded on regional routes, up 20% compared to the same long weekend last year.
Since 2014, ridership on VIA Rail trains has seen significant increases. Ottawa-Toronto saw its ridership more than double since 2014 compared to the same long weekend that year, while Oshawa-Ottawa experienced a 95.1% increase in the number of passengers compared to the August long weekend in 2014.
For this year’s August long weekend, a total distance of 34 million kilometres was travelled aboard VIA Rail’s trains. Friday August 2 was the busiest day with 19,819 passengers travelling across the network.
About VIA Rail
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 4.8 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 https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.
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SOURCE VIA Rail Canada Inc.