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VIA Rail president and CEO apologizes for major Holiday season delays and cancellations

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 13, 2023 – VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) issued the following statement on January 10, regarding the travel delays and train cancellations which occurred from December 23 to December 26:

“A severe winter storm along with the derailment of a freight train disrupted VIA Rail’s operations from December 23 to 26. Unfortunately, a number of trains, particularly along the Québec City–Windsor corridor and elsewhere in Eastern Canada, were cancelled or delayed for extended periods. We appreciate that passengers were looking forward to holiday celebrations and family get-togethers, and we regret that for many, those plans were disrupted. We didn’t meet your expectations and for that we apologize.

Travel hell for Via Rail passengers going between the Toronto to Quebec City corridor. This photo is from a viewer near Kingston.
9 trains stopped in tracks because of falling trees and power outages.
7 trains cancelled.
Some passengers have been stuck for more than 15 hrs pic.twitter.com/80NBFkphmY— Judy Trinh (@judyatrinh) December 24, 2022

The daily mission of our 3,200 employees is to put passengers first, and we are committed to providing Canadians with a train service that meets their expectations. While we take pride in the fact that the safety and well-being of our passengers and our staff was always our priority and front and centre in our decision-making, we also believe that we should have done better in dealing with the situation. We are truly sorry for letting our passengers down.

Being told by passengers on the VIA Rail trucks that are stuck:

– a fallen tree damaged the engine car
– contactless payment not working, many without proper food for 10+ hours
– Cobourg Police on scene giving out water
– Passengers taking luggage, jumping off train and leaving— Ahmar Khan (@AhmarSKhan) December 24, 2022

We know, we should have been more forthcoming in sharing information about trains that were delayed and in communicating updates. We also know we should have adopted a different approach in supporting passengers on trains that were delayed for lengthy periods.

Therefore, in addition to offering a full refund to passengers, along with travel credits for those whose trains were completely immobilized, we will be reviewing our performance over the four-day period with the help of outside experts. We will be looking at a wide range of issues including our planning for the storm, our operational response, protocol around customer care and our overall communications as well as how we can better accommodate our passengers in order to get them to their destination.

Beyond not having met the expectations of our customers, we have not lived up to our own standards. Despite weather events and a freight train derailment beyond our control, it is clear that lessons will be learned, and changes will be made. We truly hope the passengers who were affected by these disruptions will travel with us again soon so we can show them what VIA Rail is all about: Offering a safe, accessible, comfortable, and sustainable travel experience and a remarkable service for which we are known and loved.”

– Martin R Landry, President and Chief Executive Officer at VIA Rail Canada.

Lead photo A VIA rail train arrives at Toronto Union station. photo by Terry Lankstead

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