VIA’s 2023 Operating Woes Will Increase in 2024, $430 Million Deficit Predicted: Report

The operating losses that plagued VIA Rail last year will continue to increase throughout 2024 due to “difficult operating and financial environments,” the taxpayer-owned railway service says. The crown corporation, which posted an operating deficit of $403.9 million in 2023, up 14 percent from 2022’s $354.3 million, is projecting a $430 million deficit this year, according to its corporate plan. The $430 million even eclipses VIA’s 2020 shortfall of $415.8 million when lockdowns cut ridership to less than a third of pre-pandemic levels. “The economic environment is applying upward pressures on VIA Rail’s operating expenses,” VIA management wrote in a summary of the 2023–2027 corporate plan, which was first obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter. “The increase is mostly due to the resumption of normal services as operations increase.”...