More than 80,000 people choose VIA Rail over the Thanksgiving weekend

MONTREAL, Oct. 18, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Many people took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday to discover Canada's fall landscapes and to visit distant family on VIA Rail trains (viarail.ca).  From October 10 to October 15, 2013, VIA Rail welcomed 81,537 travellers aboard.

"The Thanksgiving holiday week-end is the most popular long weekend of the year for VIA Rail. We'd like to thank all our customers, and the staff who ensured that they had a safe and comfortable trip. They are contributing to the development of a train culture in Canada", said Marc Laliberté, President and CEO at VIA Rail.

The three most popular routes included Montréal-Toronto (19,000 passengers), Toronto-Windsor (15,200 passengers) and Toronto-Ottawa-Montréal (12,900 passengers). This year noted significant growth in the number of passengers travelling on the Toronto-Ottawa route and the Toronto- Windsor route, with increases of 27 % and 32 % respectively as compared to the same weekend in 2012.

Many travellers took the time to share their experience through social media. They sent messages about the great performance of the onboard Wi-Fi, the comfort of the cars and the great customer service both pre-boarding and onboard that they received. One passenger summed it up well, with his simple tweet, "Putting my feet up and letting VIA Rail take care of my transport this holiday weekend."

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail Canada's mandate is to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking 450 communities across its 12,500-kilometre route network. Recipient of the Railway Association of Canada's Safety Award in 2011 for the 11^th time in 12 years, and of the 2013 Agent's Choice Award voted by Canadian travel agents and presented by Baxter Travel Media, VIA safely transports nearly four million passengers annually. Since 2007, the Government of Canada has invested almost a billion dollars in VIA Rail. Follow the progress of our transformation at viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/capital-investment.

Follow us on our Evolution Blog at viaevolution.ca, on Twitter @VIA_rail and on Facebook.

SOURCE: VIA Rail Canada Inc.

For further information:

Mylène Bélanger
Senior Media Relations Advisor
VIA Rail Canada
514 871-6137 | 1 877 393-8787
[e-mail] | [e-mail]