VIA Rail Layoffs Nearly 1,000 Employees Due to Blockades

It has been reported that VIA Rail is going to be laying off almost 1,000 workers due to the continued blockades in several part across the country, which has interrupted service.

Hundreds of regularly scheduled passenger trains have been cancelled due to the protests. VIA Rail’s website has provided continuous updates on its service, as well as the refund process.

Automatic Refunds

VIA Rail has facilitated the refund process with the two following options:

• Passengers holding a ticket (within the eligible period) can cancel online for a full refund and no service charges.
• Alternately, as it is confirmed that a train will be cancelled, passengers on that train will be notified by email and will be automatically reimbursed (may take more than 15 days).

Strike Last Time

The last time I remember such a big interruption to service was back in July of 2009 when its engineers went on strike for a few days.

After the strikes, VIA Rail went on to offer some of the most generous pricing to win its customers back. I remember purchasing several VIA class seats due to the offers. Those were good times. However, last time around, it was more in VIA Rail’s control.

This Time

Unfortunately, this time around, there is no fault to VIA Rail. I feel bad for the VIA Rail employees who are affected by the protests. Here’s hoping for a quick resolution to the matter.

That being said, I am writing this post more to show my support for VIA Rail. I do hope that when they emerge from this problem, that they will get back on track (pun intended)!