TWO VIA RAIL EMPLOYEES IN MONTRÉAL TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

MONTRÉAL, April 5, 2020 – VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) as been informed that two of its Montréal employees have tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, April 4. One was working on board trains in the Québec City-Windsor Corridor and the other was working at the ticket office at Central station in Montréal. These employees have not been at work since March 15 and March 22. They started to develop symptoms while they were at home.

As the health and safety of our employees is our number one priority, we immediately took the appropriate measures:

1. We have informed employees, that might have been in direct or indirect contact with their colleagues, of the situation and we will remain in communication with them in the coming days. So far, none have showed any symptoms.
    
2. Passengers that might have been in direct or indirect contact with the ticket agent have been contacted, although our employee did not have any symptoms at the time.
    
3. Passengers that took trains 61-44-643-68 on March 14 and 15 were informed, although our employee did not have any symptoms at the time.
    
4. In the last few weeks, we have deployed measures to ensure physical distancing in our stations and on board our trains to better protect our employees and our passengers.
    
5. In accordance with the guidelines from the Public Health Agency of Canada, we conduct strict and regular cleaning on board our trains and in our stations and our hygiene protocols include the use of cleaning products approved by Health Canada that have proven to be effective against COVID-19.

We remain in close communication with our employees and are providing all the support they need to recover in the best possible conditions. Our thoughts are with them and their family during this difficult time.

 

REMINDER

VIA Rail is adjusting its operations and deploying a strict protocol of sanitary measures on board its trains, in its stations, maintenance centres and call centres in response to the pandemic and in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Furthermore, we constantly remind our passengers and employees of the importance of following the recommendations of the public health authorities, to stay at home, avoid non-essential travel, practice physical distancing as much as possible, and to strictly follow good hygiene practices (wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, cough or sneeze into a tissue or the bend of their arm, avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth without first washing their hands).

We continue to monitor the developments of COVID-19 and we remain in close contact with public health agencies and the federal and provincial governments. 

The most recent updates are available on our website. 

About VIA Rail

As Canada’s national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and all its 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 transported over 5 million passengers in 2019. The Corporation has been awarded five Safety Awards and three Environment Awards by the Railway Association of Canada since 2007. Visit the “About VIA Rail” section at https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.