Gearing Up For Going Back To School

Savings for Students - including comfort sleeper special


Tuesday, August 08, 2006, MONTRÉAL - With back-to-school jingles and sales beginning, students are budgeting their hard-earned summer funds with a year full of activities in mind. Students of all ages can take advantage of savings and fare discounts available with VIA Rail Canada throughout the school year. With discounts and plenty of departures from university/college towns served by VIA’s Windsor-Québec City Corridor services, travelling by train makes cents.

Here are a number of ways students can take advantage of VIA savings.

Students can go back to school in comfort with VIA’s Comfort Sleeper class special. For $199 (plus tax) students can travel from anywhere within the Windsor/Québec City Corridor to any Maritime destination served by VIA in Comfort sleeper class. Tickets can be purchased no later than August 30, 2006 and travel must be completed by September 15th. Price is based on double occupancy.

The ISIC Card (International Student Identity Card) is recognized around the world. It is the only student ID card recognized by VIA which entitles students 18 years of age or older to save 35% on individual Comfort class (Economy) fares throughout Canada, as well as savings on other classes. No advance purchase is required, and there are no service charges! Student fares are available for all trains and all destinations year round. Just present your ISIC wherever VIA tickets are sold.

Being a student often means having to travel frequently between the same two cities - between home and college/university, for example. And being a student often means your travel budget is pretty limited. That’s why the VIA 6 pak makes the grade for students with savings of 50% on the purchase of three round-trip tickets between the same two stations!

A Commuter Pass is also extremely handy. Students can choose between two convenient passes, both of which are valid within a chosen zone in southern Québec or southern Ontario. Beginning in September, users of VIA’s new monthly commuter pass will be will be entitled to a federal income tax credit of 15.25% on the value of their passes.

* The monthly commuter pass gives travellers 31 round-trip tickets and is valid for one calendar month, starting on the first day of the month and ending on the last day.
* The 10 round-trip Commuter Pass is valid for 30 days, starting on the first day you use it.

VIA’s Gift Card - the gift that keeps on giving, is truly the ideal gift for students. Gift cards can be used to purchase any VIA product, including travel passes, which offer guaranteed savings throughout the country. There’s a gift card for every budget: available in $25, $50 and $100 units or choose the Flexi card to determine yourself the exact dollar amount on the card.

Students can visit VIA’s dedicated website at www.viacampus.ca to order a VIA 6 pak, review schedules or simply connect with other student travellers. For a complete listing of train departures, fares, or to make a reservation please visit www.viarail.ca. Passengers can also book their tickets by calling 1-888-VIA-RAIL (1-888-842-7245), at kiosks in major Corridor stations or through their travel agent. Students can also sign up for VIA’s Student e-Letter to receive updates on contests, promotions and other savings.

As Canada’s national passenger rail service, VIA Rail Canada’s mandate is to provide efficient, environmentally responsible and cost effective passenger transportation services, both in Canada’s busiest corridor and in remote and rural regions of the country. VIA serves more than 450 communities with a network of inter-city, transcontinental and regional trains. Demand for rail services continues to grow as more Canadians turn to train travel as a safe and convenient travel choice.

Contact Information

Mara McCallen

Marketing

VIA Rail Canada

Contact via E-mail