VIA RAIL EXPANDS ITS RAIL NETWORK BY ACQUIRING THE BROCKVILLE SUBDIVISION

Montreal, November 23, 2015 – VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) is pleased to announce it acquired the Brockville Subdivision, consisting of 45 kilometers (28 miles) of single track between Smiths Falls and Brockville, in Ontario.

“This acquisition will strengthen our rail network dedicated to passenger trains in the Ottawa region, where VIA Rail owns more than 200 kilometers (140 miles) of track”, said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, VIA Rail’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “With recent improvements in the region and ownership of the track from Ottawa to Brockville, we are well positioned to improve our reliability and our On-time performance going into and out of Ottawa”. 

Over the last few years, VIA Rail has invested some $20 million in capital to improve safety on the Brockville Subdivision with the introduction of a Centralized Traffic Control system for train movements. This investment has also improved the reliability and flexibility of service with the addition of two new sidings for train meets. These infrastructure changes permitted the addition of two round trips to the daily schedule, allowed for higher speeds and improved trip times. In addition, curve alignments were adjusted to support increased speeds, public crossings were upgraded, and security fencing was installed for safety.

“VIA Rail will have more agility to make work and infrastructure upgrades in the Brockville Subdivision to improve its service”, added Yves Desjardins-Siciliano. “On the limited infrastructure owned by VIA Rail, punctuality is in the mid-90%. Our customers will benefit greatly from this new asset.”

About VIA Rail Canada
As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (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 over 400 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. VIA Rail information at a glance: www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail