Nationally, VIA Rail saw its highest passenger revenue in over four years, with an increase of 10.3% since 2012, and the busiest day, December 23, 2015, had VIA Rail trains transporting 16,377 passengers to their destinations.
MONTREAL – VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) welcomed 8,000 Holiday travellers on the Ocean train, operating between Montreal and Halifax, during the period of December 16, 2015 to January 5, 2016.
The total volume of passengers travelling from one destination to another within the Maritimes during this period increased by 9.5%, and those travelling from the Maritimes to other parts of Canada increased by 1.5%.
“The Holidays boast the highest ridership of the year on our trains,” said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and CEO of VIA Rail. “Our investment in the addition of six additional departures of the Ocean over the Holidays is a tangible demonstration of our desire to provide greater opportunities to our Eastern Canadian customers to celebrate with their loved ones. This investment of over $500,000 did not yield the expected increase in passenger traffic. Extra capacity of over 840 seats was added, but only 262 of them were filled. Regardless, we intend to continue working with our customers and key stakeholders throughout the year to find ways to make VIA Rail more relevant and increase ridership in this region.”
Nationally, VIA Rail saw its highest passenger revenue in over four years, with an increase of 10.3% since 2012, and the busiest day, December 23, 2015, had VIA Rail trains transporting 16,377 passengers to their destinations. In the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, over 237,000 passengers travelled on the 1,118 trains serving communities in and between Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor, London, Sarnia and Niagara Falls. The Montreal-Toronto line was the most popular route: 32,527 travelled between these two points over the period.Meanwhile, the Canadian, which connects Toronto to Vancouver, saw over 5,100 passengers onboard.
VIA Rail trains safely transported all passengers to their destinations without any major disruptions.
Thanks to its world-class on board Wi-Fi service offered throughout the Quebec City – Windsor corridor as well as on the eastern long-haul train, the Ocean, VIA Rail allows its passengers to stay connected and online throughout their journey. During the Holidays, over 176,000 devices connected to VIA Rail’s Wi-Fi system and transmitted over 17,000 GB of information through the web.
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