Via Rail announced Tuesday that would-be travellers will have two more days to qualify for a 60 per cent discount on rail tickets country-wide due to an "overwhelming response" from customers.

Those who wish to take advantage of the discount now have until 11:59 p.m. PT on Friday to book tickets. The discount applies to all adult economy fares for routes across the country and business class fares in the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, Via said in a release.

All trips taking place before December 14, 2009 are eligible for the discount.

Via had originally offered the discount on Sunday in order to placate customers inconvenienced by a strike by locomotive engineer that began Friday. Trains were grounded during the two-day strike, and thousands had their travel plans ruined.

Via normally shuttles about 11,000 passengers around the country every day, a number that rises to 12,500 during the summer tourism season.

The discounted rates were due to expire Wednesday at midnight PT. But since Monday, Via's website and phone lines had been overwhelmed by customers hoping to enjoy big savings.

"Due to a higher than usual volume of calls and increased web traffic, VIA expects longer than usual wait times for customers," Via said. "Additional staff and bandwidth have been added to assist with customer demand."