VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) reported one of its busiest holiday seasons, which ran from December 19 to January 8, with ridership up by 16 percent to 282,000 passengers. December 23, 2016, was the busiest day of the season, with almost 18,600 trips taken. The company also saw a 20 percent increase in passenger revenues compared to the same period last year.
During the holiday time period, the Québec City–Windsor Corridor saw 265,000 passengers, an increase of 16.8 percent compared to 2015, and traffic on The Canadian, between Toronto and Vancouver, was up 13.6 percent to 5,000 passengers. The Ocean, which connects Montreal and Halifax, carried 7,600 passengers, an increase of 2.7 percent and Regional Routes were up by 1.1 percent to 4,400 passengers.
Toronto’s Union Station reported 167,000 travelers during the holiday period. Respectively, Montreal and Ottawa saw 85,200 and 70,600 passengers pass through their stations from December 19, 2016, to January 8, 2017.
In 2016, VIA Rail made improvements to the train schedule in the Quebec City – Windsor corridor and increased capacity on high-demand trains. Six more departures were added to The Ocean route, which serves communities in eastern Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.