VIA Rail Apologizes for Train Delays and Cancellations Over Christmas Holidays

A woman beneath a Via Rail schedule board at central station in Montreal on Dec. 26, 2022. A Christmas Eve train derailment is also continuing to wreak havoc on holiday travel plans in Ontario and Quebec. The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes

VIA Rail Canada has issued a statement to apologize for train delays and cancellations from Dec. 23 to Dec. 26, 2022, caused by a severe winter storm and a train derailment that left some passengers stranded overnight on stalled trains.

“We didn’t meet your expectations and for that we apologize,” said Martin Landry, VIA’s interim president and CEO, in the Jan. 10 statement.

VIA cancelled several trains scheduled for Dec. 24 due to a severe winter storm, with some passengers reportedly being left stranded on trains for up to 18 hours. The Crown corporation announced later that day that a CN railway train derailment prompted the cancellation of all trains between Toronto and Ottawa, and Toronto and Montreal, scheduled for Christmas Day. More trains on these routes were cancelled on Dec. 26 due to the derailment.

Operation gradually resumed for the routes starting on Dec. 27, though VIA said at the time that it expected further delays due to congestion.

The lack of information during the four-day period from VIA drew criticism from the public and the federal government. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra described the situation as “unacceptable” in a Dec. 24 statement posted on social media.

Landry said in his letter that VIA will offer a full refund to affected passengers, along with travel credits. He also noted that VIA will allow “outside experts” to conduct a review of its performance over the four-day period.

“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,” he wrote.

“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.”

Running Deficit

Landry’s statement comes as newly-disclosed documents show that VIA awarded its executives large bonuses while cutting its service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The documents were obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) through Access to Information and first reported on by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The documents show that 650 VIA Rail managers received a total of $6,434,642 in taxpayer-funded bonuses in 2020. An additional $1,430,703 in pay raises were approved that year for non-union managers. No bonuses were paid in 2021, though 638 managers received a total of $1,711,780 in pay raises that year.

According to VIA’s 2021 annual report, between 2017 and 2021, the company cut back on the number of employees from 3,308 to 2,370—tantamount to 28 percent of its workforce. It also reduced train service and has confirmed operating losses of $415 million in 2020 and $370 million in 2021.

In an updated Corporate Plan, it projected this year’s operating deficit will run to $411 million.

“Total VIA Rail passenger count in 2020 was 1.15 million, a 75 percent drop over 2019, a percentage loss similar to that of air transport in the same period, a percentage loss similar to that of air transport in the same period,” John McKenna, CEO of the Air Transport Association, testified at the Commons’ transport committee on Sept. 28, 2022.

“Yet VIA Rail received operational and capital subsidies of $669 million.”