VIA facing ‘significant challenges’ despite profit boost

Canadian train operator VIA has recorded improved third-quarter profits of $8.3 million despite falls in both revenue and ridership.

Revenue fell from $83.7 million to $82.3 million in the third period of 2012 at the same time as the company saw passenger numbers decline for the fourth consecutive quarter.

VIA’s chief executive Marc Laliberté said the company continued to “face significant challenges”.

Funding from the Government of Canada went up between July and September from $61.7 million to $65.2 million.

In June, the company announced that it planned to cut around 200 full-time jobs as part of a review of some of its services.

Laliberté said: “In the third quarter, VIA Rail continued to face significant challenges with respect to both ridership and revenues, in all parts of its passenger rail network.

“We launched new strategies to retain customers and attract new ones, while at the same time, working harder than ever to control costs, and improve our productivity. Now, we have to look at the best ways to use our resources to deliver a better return for our operating funding.

“As we move forward, our long-term goal is to make VIA Rail a financially and commercially viable operation, with a new approach to operating as a publicly-owned business.”

The report showed that by the end of the third quarter 80 per cent of the $923 million committed by the Government of Canada to upgrade the network’s infrastructure had been invested.