VIA Rail Sees Increased Revenues as Canadians Choose Smarter Way to Travel

VIA Rail Canada: Toronto © A Yee (license)Recognising that the train represents a smarter way to travel, more travellers chose VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) during the second quarter of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.

Continuing the upward trend since the beginning of the year, VIA Rail welcomed 26,000 more passengers from April to June 2016 than during the same period of last year, and Canadians travelled 7.2 million more miles on its trains, up by some 3.6%.

VIA Rail’s President and CEO, Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, said:

“Over the past two years, VIA Rail has made a big shift to become a more customer-focused organisation.”

“This change has been a key part of VIA Rail’s modernisation and is at the heart of our recent successes. It is thanks to the agility and hard work of everyone at VIA Rail that we’ve started to experience significant changes in many of our performance indicators — and faster than we anticipated. In the second quarter of 2016, the upward trend continued; our revenues were up 7% and ridership grew by 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. More Canadians are choosing a greener, smarter way to travel by making a habit of taking the train.”

More Travellers, Increased Revenues, Less Government Funding Required

In part as a result of the growth in its ridership, VIA Rail increased its passenger revenues by 7% during the period and reduced its requirement for government funding compared to the previous year.

This quarter, to make train travel even more convenient in the busy summer months, VIA Rail optimised its cycling and introduced a new summer schedule in the Québec City – Windsor corridor. Capacity was increased on routes in high demand and additional departures were added on key routes to offer passengers greater flexibility when planning their trips.

VIA Rail also continued its Who’s on Board campaign during the quarter for both the Leisure and Business segments, mostly through digital media buy. Additionally, the Lowest Fares and Destination webpages were optimized on viarail.ca to facilitate the customer booking experience when looking for our best fares. VIA : The Blog was enhanced and relaunched with a focus on inspiring travel among both passengers and potential passengers. The articles showcase lesser-known attractions, events, and restaurants in both the large and smaller communities along VIA Rail’s network. VIA Rail was also nominated for Marketing Campaign of the Year at the Global AirRail Alliance.

Second Quarter 2016 highlights

Major summer schedule improvements
New menu offerings in the Québec City – Windsor corridor
Enhancements to the Canadian Service’s Prestige class experience
Marketing campaign targeting Business travellers
Introduction of VIA : The Blog
Development and launch of a Military Leave for Reservists Policy
Publication of VIA Rail’s first Sustainable Mobility Report
Special offer to residents affected by the devastating wildfires in Fort McMurray
Syrian refugee families travelled onboard VIA Rail trains
Organization of events as part of Operation Lifesaver’s Rail Safety Week
Holding of VIA Rail’s Annual Public Meeting
Internal milestones