Southwestern Ontario service improvement: VIA Rail and Robert Q harmonize their services

SARNIA, ON, Nov. 10, 2016 /CNW/ - VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) and Robert Q Airbus (Robert Q) have harmonized their schedules in an effort to improve their service offerings in Southwestern Ontario and encourage more Canadians to leave their cars at home, to help to further reduce the carbon footprint of transportation in Canada. Starting on November 16^th, people travelling between Sarnia, London and Toronto can benefit from an enhanced schedule offering five trips (two eastbound and three westbound) with efficient connection times between the train and the bus ranging from 21 to 50 minutes.

VIA Rail's inter-modal strategy, which puts us at the centre of an integrated network of different passenger carriers, has had a significant impact on the mobility of Canadians. "As we continue our work to increase the train frequencies in Southwestern Ontario, the needs of our passengers are and will continue to be our primary focus. We hope this collaboration with our partner Robert Q will enable more people to participate in the economic and social activities of other communities," said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail. "VIA Rail appreciates the loyalty of our passengers and we are committed to contributing to the development of the transportation systems in the area. The schedule improvements with Robert Q are an encouraging first step and we hope to be able to expand services in the near future."

"Robert Q is pleased to be able to partner with VIA Rail to constantly adjust and improve our schedule to best serve our customers", said Jim Blundell, Chief Executive Officer of Robert Q. "It is more difficult to make those adjustments than one might think given that every scheduled run is interconnected with other connections which impacts our customers and our ability to provide on-time transportation for all our riders. However, our team of customer-focused transportation professionals is committed to constantly improving by listening and reacting to our customers' needs."

New Eastbound Schedule

	Sarnia	London	Toronto
VIA Rail train #84	6:10	7:20	10:04 (connection with train #70) 10:53 (train #84)
Robert Q bus #810	10:05	11:30
Robert Q bus #812 VIA Rail train #76	13:30	15:10 Bus arrival 15:43 Train departure	17:52
Robert Q bus #814 VIA Rail train #78	17:45	19:10 Bus arrival 19:42 Train departure	21:51
Robert Q bus #816	22:30	23:55

New Westbound Schedule

	Toronto	London	Sarnia
Robert Q bus #809		11:30	13:30
VIA Rail train #73 Robert Q bus #811	12:15	14:23 Train arrival 15:10 Bus departure	16:55
VIA Rail train #83 Robert Q bus #813	16:35	18:49 Train arrival 19:10 Bus departure	20:55
VIA Rail train #75 Robert Q bus #815	17:30	19:55 Train arrival 20:45 Bus departure	22:30
VIA Rail train#87	17:40	21:09	22:20

About Robert Q Airbus
Robert Q Airbus has been serving Southwestern Ontario with ground service to Toronto Pearson Airport and Detroit Metro Airport for over 40 years. With 48 trips daily they are moving over 125,000 passengers per year along the 401 corridor. Although known for the airport service, they also offer intercity service between Sarnia and London. By staying focused on safety and service excellence they have been recognized with many industry awards. Visit them at robertq.com.

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and its 2,600 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 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.

For further information: Jim Blundell, Chief Executive Officer, Robert Q, [e-mail]; Mariam Diaby, Senior Advisor, Media Relations. VIA Rail Canada, 514 871-6010 | 1 877 393-8787, [e-mail], [e-mail]