VIA Rail's Service Update

MONTREAL, Feb. 16, 2020 /CNW/ - As of Sunday, February 16, 5 pm, please be advised that VIA Rail's services are still cancelled with the exception of Sudbury-White River (CP Rail) and Churchill-The Pas (Hudson Bay Railway), until further notice.

Passengers holding a ticket for which the first trip's scheduled departure that is no later than Saturday, February 22, have the option of autonomously cancelling online for a full refund with no service charges, even if additional segments fall after February 22. Passengers may also get a refund for a return ticket scheduled after February 22, as long as the first portion of the trip was scheduled before that date.

All details on the refunding procedure are available on our site: https://www.viarail.ca/en/travel-advisory-information. Currently, VIA Rail has canceled all affected departures until the end of the day on Tuesday February 18 and all customers should have received a cancellation notice.

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. 

As of today, February 16, 409 trains have been cancelled because of the blockades. More than de 83 000 passengers have been affected.

Our passengers rely on VIA Rail for regular and safe intercity rail service and we are eager to resume operations.

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

Another update will be issued tomorrow, February 17 at 5 pm, EST.

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 transported over 5 million passengers in 2019. 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.