Government of Canada, Via Rail Announce Major Improvements

The Honourable Lisa Raitt, minister of transport, and Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, president and chief executive officer of Via Rail Canada (Via Rail), announced on July 31, a significant investment to increase the safety and efficiency of Via Rail's Ottawa-Montreal rail corridor for travelers.

The government of Canada is investing $102 million over a two-year period to support several infrastructure projects. These projects aim to increase the reliability of the service by reducing delays for users while at the same time improving the safety and accessibility of Via Rail's Ottawa-Montreal corridor service.

This funding follows Prime Minister Harper's $5.8 billion announcement for investments in infrastructure, in November 2014. Once the projects are completed, travel time between Ottawa and Montreal will improve as these infrastructure improvements will reduce delays. It is estimated that these infrastructure projects will create more than 2,000 jobs, over the next two years. Via Rail´s mandate is to offer a national passenger rail transportation service that is safe, secure, efficient, reliable, and environmentally sustainable, and that meets the needs of travellers in Canada. The government of Canada provides more than $300 million in annual funding to support Via's operations.