MONTREAL -- VIA Rail announced Friday it will temporarily lay off 30 management and professional employees Aug. 14 as its rail service experiences continued interruptions.
Citing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rail service, the company already laid off about 1,000 employees the first week of July.
The new layoffs come in addition to VIA Rail announcing that retirements and vacant positions will not be filled, bringing the total number of positions impacted to 80.
The company said there has been a slight increase in ridership recently, but that several routes remain suspended.
"As with all passenger carriers, the pandemic continues to have a major impact on our operations with ridership not showing any significant recovery at the national level," said VIA Rail president and CEO Cynthia Garneau. "We are making difficult decisions to lessen the financial impact and safeguard the funds we have been allocated. I realize that this is a very difficult situation for affected employees and their families, and we look forward to calling them back once the recovery is underway."
The company will now focus on resuming service under the new public health guidelines.
