[PROMOTION] 40% Reward Sale and a Few Suggestions to VIA Rail (expired on March 31, 2014)
VIA Rail is currently running a promotion where you can use 40% fewer points to redeem for a reward trip on the Ocean or the Canadian. Trips are available in any class of service on board the Canadian (Toronto – Vancouver route) and the Ocean (Montréal – Halifax route). The promotion is valid for reservations made between February 13, 2014 and March 31, 2014. You trip must be completed by April 30, 2014.
Recommendations to VIA Rail: I used to be very frequent traveller by train and I believe travelling by train is an excellent way to travel. The key thing though is affordability. VIA Rail routinely has special promotions for reduced fares, which have great value if we can take advantage of the promotions. However, the regular prices are quite expensive and not everyone is willing to make a last minute reservation to take advantage of the special fares.
Hopefully VIA Rail can continue to keep prices competitive because they have an opportunity to gain more market share. Ideally the travel time is key for encouraging more people to travel by train. Often times, when I’m on the train, they do a complete stop for about 5-10 minutes at a time because of a passing train. If there is so much traffic on the train routes, there definitely needs to be a third rail so that trains can pass each other safely. Via Rail has been expanding to include a third rail on the busier routes already and I hope that they continue this initiative across the board.
The next steps is to get faster trains. So many countries already have a high speed trains. I understand that it is probably too expensive to build and the demand might not be there for it, since Canada has a relatively small population compared to most of the countries who have such a train.
Therefore, I am writing this post to encourage more people to take the train, because I do believe it is a great way to travel and VIA Rail offers as great service. In return, I hope that VIA Rail will continue to improve its services and keep fares competitive.