| HIGHLIGHTS From Thursday, August 28th to Tuesday, September 2nd:
Québec City – Windsor corridor | 62,000 passengers Increase in passenger revenues of 12.2% compared to 2013
Long-Haul Trains 4,000 passengers Increase of average revenues of 10.5% compared to 2013
Coast-to-coast VIA Rail Network | 67,400 passengers Increase in passenger revenues of 10% compared to 2013 |
MONTRÉAL, Sept. 5, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Labour Day weekend kept VIA Rail Canada's (VIA Rail) employees very busy. A total of 67,400 passengers travelled by train across the country between August 28th and September 2nd, an increase of close to 6% compared to the same period last year.
Revenues reached record levels. Across the network, passenger revenues rose by 10% compared to the same period in 2013; as a result of a 12.2% increase in revenues from tickets sold for the Québec City - Windsor corridor (the Corridor) and a 10.5% increase in average revenues from long-haul services.
"It's nice to see that hard work and dedication can pay off", said VIA Rail's president and CEO, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano. "Planning for delivering good service over this Labour Day weekend is a perfect example. Our teams worked on maximizing this high-traffic period. They made sure that we had the right number of cars on the right routes and times to meet demand. It clearly worked with 67,400 passengers travelling with us this weekend, close to 6% more than 2013."
In total, 62,000 passengers travelling in the Corridor opted for the train. In addition, 4,000 passengers boarded VIA's long-haul trains between Montréal and Halifax (the Ocean), and between Toronto and Vancouver (the Canadian). Travellers had the privilege to hear musicians Angela Saini, Samantha Martin, Michael McCallum as well as Rachel Nolan on the Canadian between Toronto and Vancouver. On the Ocean service between Montréal and Halifax, performances were offered by Gary Rasberry and Glenn Reid to the delight of passengers. Thanks to its Artists on board Program, VIA Rail has been welcoming Canadian up-and-coming musicians aboard its long-haul trains and offering them the chance to showcase their repertoires to passengers since 2009. There have been more than 800 performances since the program began.
A great number of customers on board connected to VIA Rail's Wi-Fi. In the Corridor, they visited the equivalent of 2.4 million websites. Also available on the Ocean route, the Wi-Fi service was used by a few hundred passengers who visited the equivalent of 31,600 websites.
About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail Canada (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 450 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, and was the recipient of the 2012 Agent's Choice Award voted by Canadian travel agents and presented by Baxter Travel Media. Since 2007, the Government of Canada has invested almost a billion dollars in VIA Rail. Read more about our transformation at www.viarail.ca/transformingVIA.
Follow us on our Evolution Blog at viaevolution.ca - On Twitter @VIA_rail and @VIARailPrez - On Facebook.
SOURCE: VIA Rail Canada Inc.
Mylène Bélanger, Senior Advisor, Media Relations, VIA Rail Canada, 514-871-6137 | 1-877-393-8787, [email protected] | [email protected]
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