VIA Rail Canada’s second-quarter 2014 financial report shows revenue growth of 3.9% over the comparable quarter in 2013, and improved on-time performance of 8.7 percentage points, from 70.6% in 2014’s first quarter to 79.3% in the second quarter.
Despite a 2.7% reduction in the number of passengers, from 937,000 to 912,000, VIA’s passenger load factor increased by 6 percentage points, from 54% in the second quarter of 2013 to 60% in the second quarter of 2014. The operating loss decreased by 6.9%, a reduction of C$5.5 million. VIA said the decrease is due to a reduction in contributions to various pension plans. Government funding decreased by 12.6% (or C$13.1 million) compared to the second quarter in 2013, due to reduced operating loss and lower investments in capital investment projects.
“This quarter’s financial results are encouraging,” said VIA Rail President and CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano. “In particular, working with our railway partners, we improved our on-time performance. We can be cautiously optimistic that we are on the right track, although a lot of work needs to be done in order to meet last year’s OTP quarterly results. We have a team of dedicated and customer-focused employees; our passengers believe in our services and appreciate their value; and the Government of Canada has provided financial support to initiate some of the changes that will benefit everyone.”
VIA highlighted several second-quarter accomplishments. Among them are a reduction in fuel consumption of 7% and fuel expense of C$0.3 million compared to the same period in 2013; progress on overhauls of the LRC (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) cars (to date, 19 renovated Economy cars and 18 overhauled Business Class cars are in service); introduction of new summer fares and reduced select Business Class fares; creation of summer passes for youths aged 12 to 25 and students; new fares on short distance trips; and revised and improved services in Economy class.
VIA’s quarterly report is available at viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/our-company/quarterly-reports.