July 2, 2021
VIA RAIL INCREASES CORRIDOR SERVICE LEVELS TO OVER 50% STARTING JULY 12
MONTRÉAL, July 2, 2021 – VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) is pleased to announce it is moving forward with its service resumption plan in the Québec City-Windsor corridor by adding, starting July 12, 63 weekly frequencies, thus bringing service levels from 38% to 54% on that route.
ROUTE |
SERVICES |
Toronto-Kingston-Montréal |
Trains 62 and 65 – daily as of July 12 |
Toronto-Kingston-Ottawa |
Trains 47, 52, 54 and 59 – daily as of July 12 |
Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa |
Trains 22, 29 and 633 – daily as of July 12 |
“The increase of frequencies in the Corridor marks another crucial step in our service resumption plan,” said Cynthia Garneau, President and Chief Executive Officer. “While we continue to closely follow the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and to collaborate with public health authorities and federal and provincial governments, we are encouraged by the progress made regarding the reopening plans and by the increasing demand for our services. We look forward to fully resuming all our operations throughout our network when conditions will allow it.”
As provincial reopening plans progress, VIA Rail also started to increase its onboard capacity in June while continuing to ensure a safe travel experience on its trains and in its stations with the various health and safety measures implemented throughout the customer journey. The Corporation nonetheless continues to limit the number of available seats and in the event of major changes related to the health crisis, VIA Rail will revise its service offering in line with the latest developments.
VIA Rail continues to deploy strict protocols of sanitary measures on board its trains, in its stations, maintenance centres, call centres and offices to deal with the pandemic and minimize the spread of COVID-19. Teams across the organization also continue to apply the latest health and safety guidelines and are evaluating VIA Rail’s overall service offering in the context of the pandemic.
For questions customers may contact the VIA Customer Centre by email at service@viarail.ca or by phone at 1-888-VIA-RAIL (1-888-842-7245), TTY 1-800-268-9503 (hearing impaired). The VIA Customer Centre is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) on weekends. Please note that it may take some time to speak with an agent due to a reduction in staff.
REMINDER
Wearing a mask is required at all times in VIA Rail’s stations and on board VIA Rail trains. For the health and safety of all passengers and employees, passengers who do not wear a mask during their trip will be required to disembark the train or will be refused entry upon boarding.
Wearing a mask over the nose and mouth is one more way to protect one another and will help VIA Rail safeguard the travel experience of its passengers and employees. Throughout the pandemic, when VIA Rail has ramped up service levels in the Québec City-Windsor corridor, enhanced health and safety measures introduced during the pandemic have been maintained, including enhanced cleaning, pre-boarding screening of travellers, modified onboard services.
Furthermore, VIA Rail asks that passengers stay informed of public health guidelines and respect those that apply to them and their travel plans. The Corporation also constantly reminds its passengers and employees of the importance of following recommendations from public health authorities, practicing physical distancing as much as possible, and to rigorously 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 the arm, avoid touching their eyes, nose or mouth without first washing their hands).
Passengers will be denied boarding if they are experiencing symptoms similar to a cold or flu (fever, cough, difficulty breathing) or if they have been denied boarding for travel in the last 14 days due to medical reasons related to COVID-19.
The most recent updates are available on VIA Rail’s 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 nine Safety Awards and three Environment Awards by the Railway Association of Canada since 2005. Visit the “About VIA Rail” section at https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.