Canadian Railroads > VIA ridership down 82 percent

VIA released an update for the third quarter of 2020.

Compared to the same period in 2019,
passenger revenue was down 86 percent on ridership which decreased 82 percent.

Operating expenses were down 27.5 percent,
leading to an 50.5 percent increase in the operating loss.

Press Release
https://media.viarail.ca/en/press-releases/2020/q3-results-rail-continues-manage-impacts-pandemic

2020Q3 report
https://media.viarail.ca/sites/default/files/publications/Q3%20Report%202020_VIA%20Rail_EN.pdf



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/20 08:20 by Marcus.

Marcus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> VIA released an update for the third quarter of
> 2020.
>
> Compared to the same period in 2019,
> passenger revenue was down 86 percent on ridership
> which decreased 82 percent.
>
> Operating expenses were down 27.5 percent,
> leading to an 50.5 percent increase in the
> operating loss.
>
> Press Release
> https://media.viarail.ca/en/press-releases/2020/q3
> -results-rail-continues-manage-impacts-pandemic
>
> 2020Q3 report
> https://media.viarail.ca/sites/default/files/publi
> cations/Q3%20Report%202020_VIA%20Rail_EN.pdf

Of course it is down for third quarter - VIA put out advertisements telling everyone to stay home and hardly operated any trains!!! Third quarter from July to September is also the busiest season for their long distance services, of what's left. But still 25 car Canadian train sets are packed with a descent amount of people paying handsomely. Very few corridor trains during this period of time as well. 

The third quarter was better than the second quarter. By September, the number of corridor trains increased and Business Class service resumed. On some routes service is half of its normal frequency, although Toronto-Ottawa is down to three or four round trips a day as opposed to 10 which is normal except on week-ends.

In the Fall Economic Statement (referred to by many in the media as a mini-budget) VIA has been allocated:  "$188 million funding to cover shortfalls in 2020 - 21 resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic." The minority government will consider this Economic Statement to be a confidence vote in the House of Commons, so it isn't yet certain that anyone will get anything from it.

DrawingroomA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The third quarter was better than the second
> quarter. By September, the number of corridor
> trains increased and Business Class service
> resumed. On some routes service is half of its
> normal frequency, although Toronto-Ottawa is down
> to three or four round trips a day as opposed to
> 10 which is normal except on week-ends.
>
> In the Fall Economic Statement (referred to by
> many in the media as a mini-budget) VIA has been
> allocated:  "$188 million funding to cover
> shortfalls in 2020 - 21 resulting from the
> COVID-19 pandemic." The minority government will
> consider this Economic Statement to be a
> confidence vote in the House of Commons, so it
> isn't yet certain that anyone will get anything
> from it.

In the second quarter - April, May, June - gosh, did VIA Rail operate ANY trains? Maybe just remote services of the Hudson Bay, but even that train was said to be down to empty train set or three riders. Not trying to be sarcastic or a jac@$$, but seriously, Canada went to a TOTAL outright shutdown/lock down by April and stayed that way till nearly July (and then some!). You couldn't travel province to province (or below certain lines of latitude) even in the Main Corridor Region - Quebec to Windosor. And the Maritimes still have their bubble! VIA will get taken care of, but as an org funded by the Crown, they had to shut down......

jp1822 Wrote:

> In the second quarter - April, May, June - gosh,
> did VIA Rail operate ANY trains? Maybe just remote
> services of the Hudson Bay, but even that train
> was said to be down to empty train set or three
> riders. Not trying to be sarcastic or a jac@$$,
> but seriously, Canada went to a TOTAL outright
> shutdown/lock down by April and stayed that way
> till nearly July (and then some!). You couldn't
> travel province to province (or below certain
> lines of latitude) even in the Main Corridor
> Region - Quebec to Windosor. And the Maritimes
> still have their bubble! VIA will get taken care
> of, but as an org funded by the Crown, they had to
> shut down......

There was at least one round trip a day in the Québec-Windsor corridor. There was no Business Class for five months and the only food and beverage service was a complimentary box with water, hummus and a chocolate bar. 

There was no travel restriction - and still isn't - between many provinces. The "Atlantic bubble" is falling apart, at least temporarily. The last I read, New Brunswick requires 14-day self-quarantine in addition to Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island has also withdrawn from the bubble and has restricted entry. Newfoundland and Labrador has banned tourists for a long time. The Ocean may resume in March, but it is too early to tell. Manitoba still requires 14 days of quarantine of those from provinces to the east. Given the rate of COVID-19 infections in Manitoba and west, I'm surprised the eastern provinces don't require quarantine of those entering from Manitoba and west.

DrawingroomA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jp1822 Wrote:
>
> > In the second quarter - April, May, June -
> gosh,
> > did VIA Rail operate ANY trains? Maybe just
> remote
> > services of the Hudson Bay, but even that train
> > was said to be down to empty train set or three
> > riders. Not trying to be sarcastic or a jac@$$,
> > but seriously, Canada went to a TOTAL outright
> > shutdown/lock down by April and stayed that way
> > till nearly July (and then some!). You couldn't
> > travel province to province (or below certain
> > lines of latitude) even in the Main Corridor
> > Region - Quebec to Windosor. And the Maritimes
> > still have their bubble! VIA will get taken
> care
> > of, but as an org funded by the Crown, they had
> to
> > shut down......
>
> There was at least one round trip a day in the
> Québec-Windsor corridor. There was no Business
> Class for five months and the only food and
> beverage service was a complimentary box with
> water, hummus and a chocolate bar. 
>
> There was no travel restriction - and still isn't
> - between many provinces. The "Atlantic bubble" is
> falling apart, at least temporarily. The last I
> read, New Brunswick requires 14-day
> self-quarantine in addition to Nova Scotia. Prince
> Edward Island has also withdrawn from the bubble
> and has restricted entry. Newfoundland and
> Labrador has banned tourists for a long time. The
> Ocean may resume in March, but it is too early to
> tell. Manitoba still requires 14 days of
> quarantine of those from provinces to the east.
> Given the rate of COVID-19 infections in Manitoba
> and west, I'm surprised the eastern provinces
> don't require quarantine of those entering from
> Manitoba and west.

There were indeed travel restrictions in place in terms of quarantining (between provinces and latitude lines) - recommended or mandatory - more so in the second quarter. Let alone the Maritime restrictions. To/from  Churchill and Winnipeg for example, there was a 14 day quarantine expected.......

VIA has postponed the resumption of the Ocean by another month.  The earliest that bookings can be made is April 2 from both Montreal and Halifax.