VIA Rail Canada announces Yves Desjardins-Siciliano as new President and CEO ‎‎

MONTRÉAL, May 11, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - Paul G. Smith, Chairman of the Board of VIA Rail Canada (www.viarail.ca), is pleased to announce that, on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Lisa Raitt, P.C. M.P., the Government of Canada has appointed Yves Desjardins-Siciliano as President and CEO of VIA Rail Canada Inc.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano was the Corporation's Chief Corporate & Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. He holds a law degree (LL.L) from l'Université de Montréal and he completed Graduate Studies in Law (GSD) at McGill University. He also has a designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D). 

Prior to joining VIA Rail in 2010, he has held executive positions, in a variety of industries, in both Montréal and Toronto, in Business & Corporate Development, Information Technology, Finance and Marketing, in addition to Legal, Regulatory and Government Affairs.

"As Directors of VIA Rail Canada, we are delighted that the Government has chosen to lead Canada's national passenger railway, someone whose career demonstrates a breadth of experiences and expertise, an intimate knowledge of our largest markets, an ability to develop new value-creation strategies and, a keen understanding of public policy. He can count on our full support," said Paul G. Smith, Chairman of the Board.

"It is an honour and a privilege to be given the opportunity to serve in this capacity, I am proud to work with the outstanding people that make VIA Rail, an iconic Canadian brand. The task ahead is to ensure that inter-city passenger rail continues to play a key role in the economic prosperity of Canada," declared the new President and CEO.

Mr. Desjardins-Siciliano takes over from VIA Rail's Interim President and CEO, Steve Del Bosco. As planned, Steve will be resuming his previous role as VIA's Chief Commercial Planning Officer. Mr. Del Bosco had been in the interim position since January 4th. "On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish to thank Mr. Del Bosco for his commitment to the Corporation and in particular, for answering the call with professionalism and dedication over the last five (5) months. We are grateful for your service," said Paul G. Smith. ‎

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 Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking 450 communities across its 12,500-kilometre route network, 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 is 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. Follow the progress of our transformation at viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/capital-investment.

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SOURCE: VIA Rail Canada Inc.

Mylène Bélanger, Senior Advisor, Media Relations, 514 871-6137 | 1 877 393-8787, [email protected] | [email protected]