VIA’s President and CEO speaks at Calgary Chamber of Commerce; Shares Customer Focus Strategy

Successful growth in passenger rail service lies in providing excellent customer service, according to the President and CEO of VIA Rail Canada. Speaking at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Paul Côté shared VIA’s strategy in becoming one of today’s most trusted and admired transportation companies in the country.

“The unique travel experience we deliver to our customers is our key advantage in the marketplace and in a market where there is little opportunity for major growth, the only way to grow our business is by increasing the value of that experience to our customers,” said Mr. Côté.

By focusing in on customer needs, VIA Rail has brought some real innovations to passenger rail service in Western Canada. VIA Rail is continually refining its Silver & Blue class service between Vancouver and Toronto and is improving schedules for its northern Rockies services.

At the same time, VIA Rail is looking to expand the potential of Western tourism by developing a new seasonal tourism product for the Winnipeg-Hudson Bay train and worked with Marmot Basin and the Town of Jasper to launch the new Snow Train Express in January, offering weekend travel between Edmonton and Jasper for winter adventurers.

Passenger rail service in Western Canada and for the country has great potential to move larger numbers of Canadians efficiently, effectively and in an environmentally-conscious fashion,“ said Mr. Côté. ”I am confident that our strong focus and commitment to our customers will keep Canada’s national passenger rail service moving forward"