Did Via Rail get more expensive? Some commuters say they're being priced out

the likes of many people, Natalie Crenna moved from a john roy major urban center to a littler ithiel town during the COVID-19 pandemic for affordable housing and to live near family.

But now she's wondering if she has to move back to Toronto — not necessarily because her office called her back to in-office work, but because she says the cost of getting there on the train is becoming unsustainable.

"My mortgage comes up in the new year and that's what I've been debating," Crenna, 41, said from Belleville, Ont., a city about 190 kilometres east of Toronto, where she works at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

The problem isn't necessarily that ticket prices have increased across the board, they say, but that Via's dynamic pricing model and often inflexible options leave many frequent commuters with no option but to pay more.

"This industry-standard approach helps us manage demand while keeping fares affordable," the statement said.

Via suggested that booking about two weeks in advance usually secures the lowest fares, as does choosing departures outside peak travel times.

Yet as Richard Stoltenberg, 52, of Cobourg, Ont., points out, some work schedules aren't predictable. Stoltenberg, a consultant, says he travels the 120 kilometres from Cobourg to Toronto fairly regularly, but not always with much notice.

Sometimes, he says, that means he's paying close to $200 for a mid-week round trip.

"I'm a big supporter of rail and train travel, period," he said, citing the environmental benefits, friendly staff, comfort, and the convenience of arriving in a city centre.

"But it is becoming an absolutely unaffordable way to travel," he said. "I'm really at a stage right now where I'm looking around for an alternative."

Via Rail paid out $31M in vouchers, mostly from CN crossing delays

Via's price increases are in line with inflation and increasing costs, said Tim Hayman, Atlantic president of the citizen advocacy group Transport Action Canada.

The bigger issue, however, is that its pricing model used to be more rigidly structured, he said, with base prices on any given route for different fare classes, and those tended not to shift too much. But that changed in late 2023 when Via overhauled its reservation system, he added.

Most of the changes were positive, Hayman said, like allowing seat selection and more flexibility. But it also brought in more advanced yield management — a dynamic strategy that adjusts prices to maximize revenue — which led to a lot more fare fluctuation, he explained.

Via operates in strange space, in that it's a Crown Corporation funded by the federal government, but it's also expected to recover its costs, Hayman said.

"And there's always this kind of pressure from the government side to minimize the subsidy that's going to Via, so they've been really incentivized to make as much money as they can from passenger revenues."

Via's dynamic pricing model isn't a secret. The company explains it on its website's FAQ.

Via, in its statement, pointed to its discount cards for frequent travellers, which customers can purchase to save up to 30 per cent on economy fares for 16 one-way trips in a certain block of time.

Sonja Smith lives in West Lorne, Ont., a rural community about 60 kilometres southwest of London. Her work as a voiceover casting specialist means she often needs to travel to Toronto for meetings and events.

Smith says she's been an advocate of rail travel for years, but that's changing now because "I just can't afford it."

Smith says she used to be able to take an escape fare for $40, but now it's at least $46, if she can get it. The prices seem to increase even hour to hour if she waits, Smith said.

"It feels icky to me."

In its statement, Via Rail suggested booking departures outside peak travel times to secure lower fares. But that's not necessarily an option for commuters.

Crenna, of Belleville, says what bothers her the most is that there's only one train that gets her into Toronto by 9 a.m. — and it tends to be the most expensive.

That adds up when you're commuting into the city three times a week, like Crenna is now, she said.

"We should be encouraging people to take the train, right? So I just don't understand their logic with this," she said.

"They've removed the flexibility. They've removed the affordability. They've made it pretty much impossible to commute with them long term."

Senior Writer & Editor

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