VIA Rail Will Resume Regular Service

USPA NEWS - Previously reported:
On Thursday, February 13th, 2020 VIA Rail which is  an independent Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada announced that until further notice all trains would be suspended nationwide. This announcement was made following a statement from CN(Canadian National) saying that they would be halting all operations in Eastern Canada due to ongoing protest blockades and safety concerns for rail employees and protesters. Because VIA Rail operates primarily on CN infrastructure, it was necessary for VIA to suspend it's operations. The suspension of services resulted in VIA Rail being forced to temporarily  lay off 1,000 employees.

In a press release on March 4th, VIA Rail Canada  announced  that as of Saturday, March 7th, most of its trains will resume service on their normal schedule. Over the last couple of weeks, VIA Rail has resumed service on some routes, but many were still stranded as there were some routes that remained suspended and some routes that did resume were only on partial schedules. The March 4th announcement is welcome news to the thousands of people that depend on VIA for their daily commute throughout the Quebec City to Windsor Corridor or for many folks that depend on VIA for long distance travel across Canada's vast landscape.

In the statement VIA Rail said, "As of this Saturday, all services between Toronto-Montréal and Toronto-Ottawa will be offered, with the exception of trains 45 and 655, which will be resuming the day after on Sunday, March 8th.  The Canadian, which resumed operations with a first departure on March 4th, is now back to its full and normal schedule. VIA Rail service on the Prince-Rupert ““ Prince-George ““ Jasper route remains suspended at this time as we continue to work with the infrastructure owner, CN Rail, on a resumption timeline. As a result, VIA Rail will continue to call back the vast majority of the 1,000 employees affected by the temporary suspensions announced on February 19th."

According to the VIA website, as of March 4th, 1071 trains have been cancelled because of the blockades and has affected more than 165,000 passengers.

In a social  media release VIA said, "We thank our clients for their patience and understanding as we continue to work to provide them with the level of service they have become accustomed to receiving from VIA Rail."

As VIA Rail is expected to resume full service on most routes by March 8th, this will conclude USPA News coverage on the situation. Anyone who is planning travel anywhere on the VIA Rail network is encouraged to check VIA's website www.viarail.com or call customer service 1-888-VIA-RAIL for any further updates prior to departure.