Families travelling to London for specialized children’s health care will have access to complimentary train trips through an expanded partnership between VIA Rail Canada and Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations. The three-year partnership, announced Tuesday, will provide free rail travel to patients and families accessing care at 13 children’s hospitals across Canada, including Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre. The initiative builds on an existing partnership between VIA Rail and Children’s Health Foundation in London, which was announced in April 2026. Since then, the program has helped families book more than 250 complimentary train journeys to and from specialized medical care. The expanded program will also support families travelling to children’s hospitals in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City, among other locations along the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. For families whose children require specialized or ongoing treatment, travelling long distances can add financial, logistical and emotional pressures to an already difficult experience. VIA Rail says the partnership is intended to reduce some of those barriers by helping families reach the care their children need. “Connecting people and communities across Canada is at the heart of VIA Rail’s mandate,” said Mathieu Paquette, VIA Rail president and CEO. He said accessible passenger rail can be an important transportation option for families seeking specialized medical care, as well as people with disabilities or limited transportation options. Adam Starkman, president and CEO of Canada’s Children’s Hospital Foundations, said the partnership will give hospitals more ways to support families who need to travel outside their home communities. In 2025, children and families across Canada accessed care at children’s hospitals 3.9 million times, according to the organizations. The partnership also includes support for children’s hospital foundations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
