A press release from VIA Rail Canada; September 6, 2018
HIGHLIGHTS
For the period of Thursday, August 30 to Tuesday, September 4, 2018
VIA Rail Canada-wide services
– 85,300 passengers | up 9.1% from 2017
– 31.7 million kilometres travelled | up 6.1% from 2017
– Passenger revenue up 8.2% from 2017
– Busiest day: Friday, August 31
– Most popular destinations: Toronto, Montréal and Ottawa
Québec City – Windsor Corridor
– 80,000 passengers | up 10.0% from 2017
MONTRÉAL, Sept. 6, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ – The upward trend continued at VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) over this Labour Day weekend. With a 10.0% increase in travellers on Québec City – Windsor Corridor trains compared to last year, this marked the busiest Labour Day since 2009.
Over the six day period, VIA Rail trains covered a distance of nearly 32 million kilometres from coast to coast. Friday, August 31 was the busiest day of the weekend, with more than 17,600 passengers travelling on our trains Canada-wide.
Increasingly popular destinations
The growth observed in the Québec City – Windsor Corridor was most prominent for trains travelling between Kingston and Montréal, with ridership increasing by 20.0%. On the Toronto–Ottawa route, ridership rose by 16.0% year over year, and a 13.2% increase was recorded between London and Toronto.
There were also 15.8% more passengers who visited the Maritimes aboard the Ocean train between Montréal and Halifax this year compared to 2017.
“These results speak for themselves and show that more and more Canadians prefer rail to their car as a pleasant and sustainable mode of transportation for their long-weekend trips. This choice allows them to avoid the inconvenience of road congestion and all its additional considerations. Our employees across the country, whether in stations, onboard our trains, in our maintenance centers or our customer centers, have once again risen to the occasion and delivered exceptional service to our customers. I salute and congratulate them for our excellent results,” stated Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, the President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail.
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 4.4 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.
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SOURCE VIA Rail Canada Inc.