More Canadians chose VIA Rail during the Victoria Day weekend

HIGHLIGHTS

From Thursday, May 19th to Tuesday, May 24th:

Québec City – Windsor Corridor

• More than 63,000 passengers on-board
• Increase in ridership of 10.9% compared to 2015
• Increase in revenues of 12.4% compared to 2015

Coast-to-coast VIA Rail Network

• More than 68,000 passengers on-board
• Increase in ridership of 10.2% compared to 2015
• Increase in revenues of 17% compared to 2015

MONTRÉAL, May 27, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Seeking to travel efficiently and seamlessly, more travellers chose to get on board VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) trains during the Victoria Day weekend, compared to last year. Between May 19th and 24th, 68,011 passengers travelled on trains throughout the country, an increase of 10.2% compared to 2015.

"We're very pleased that passengers choose to reduce their carbon foot print by taking the train instead of their cars over the long weekend," said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, VIA Rail's President and Chief Executive Officer. "These results, the best in the past seven years, prove that more and more people recognize that the train is a smarter way to move people."

Dynamism | Performance | Customer Centric Approach

On the coast-to-coast network, the busiest day was Friday, May 20th, when some 15,233 passengers boarded our trains. Several trains showed a load factor of over 85%. VIA Rail customers in Ontario made good use of trains, which proved the most popular over the long weekend, registering an increase of 11.4% in ridership and 10.7% in revenues compared to the same period in 2015.

Performance on VIA Rail's longer-distance services like the Canadian (Toronto-Vancouver) and the Ocean (Halifax-Montréal) also improved. The introduction of Prestige Class on the Canadian continues to be a major contributing factor to revenue increase.

On social media, recognizant of the enriched on-board experience, VIA Rail customers sent many positive comments about the quality of customer service. There were 1037 mentions of VIA Rail on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook during the Victoria Day break. Moreover, a great number of customers on trains comfortably connected to VIA Rail's on-board Wi-Fi. On Québec City – Windsor Corridor trains, close to 49,020 devices transferred some 5.4 GB of data, the equivalent of some 5,5 million Web site visits or emails (of 1 MB). On the Ocean, 364 devices transferred close to 27.1GB of data, which represents more than 22,220 Web site visits or emails (of 1 MB).

About VIA Rail Canada

 As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (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 awarded seven Safety Awards by the Railway Association of Canada over the last eight years. For more information, visit: www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.

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SOURCE VIA Rail Canada Inc.