We have travelled Via Rail for many years, most recently in business class, which is well worth the money on long journeys. On our most recent trip, the train hit a tree on the tracks, and we were delayed by 2 hours and 20 minutes. The conductor kept us up to date the entire time, giving a detailed plan of how it was being handled, and ordered us all pizza to deliver to the train when we finally arrived at the next station. Anyone who missed a transfer was either shuttled or taxi'd to their destination. And we were all offered a 50% travel credit for the inconvenience. Amazing customer service!! read more

I had a very pleasant trip from Toronto to Montréal and back. The station is easily accessible by métro and public transport. Booking the ticket online was easy. I travelled business class from Toronto to Quebec. It was spacious and very comfortable. Business class offer free drinks and dinner. The dinner options and beverage service were good with good quality choices and alcoholic beverages. Depending on your distance the beverage service comes around 2 or 3 times with a warm towel to wipe your hands. read more

VIA Rail Canada - Train line - Trains Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

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Paid extra for forward facing seats and was given backward facing seats also the train was an hour late

The station is easily accessible by métro and public transport; there's also a parking located right beside the station if you want to park your car and take a trip. There are lots of food vendors available in the station that you can buy food and drinks from. The trains numbers and stations are perfectly shown and you can start to lineup at the entrance to the platform. Food and drinks options and the service on the business car is very good. read more

VIA Rail Canada - Dinner - Trains Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

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My wife and I really enjoyed our Via Rail trips across Canada on business class. The Montreal staff were very friendly and got us and our luggage off board and up the escalator to the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth and back on board just before the early train left for Quebec City. read more

I was going up the escalator from the #64 train arriving in Montreal at approx. 5:05 PM on January 8th. I was experiencing serious chest pains, so I needed to stop and look for my medication. When I got to the end of the escalator, I stepped aside to make sure I didn't block the way and looked for the medication. But the male employee standing at the top of the escalator screamed at my mother and I. He screamed very loudly: "GUYS YOU CAN'T STAND HERE. YOU GOTTA MOVE." It was extremely unprofessional of him when he could have easily asked us to move further to the side. read more

Via Rail is inexpensive on the East Coast. B and I took the train from Montreal to Toronto and it costed $25 each for a total of $50 (for the cheapest class that we could find). We bought the tickets 6 months in advance and it was a Tuesday ticket so that is why it is cheaper. Leg room was ok. The entire trip took 5 hours. The train came sort of on time. Signage were clear. They do serve food onboard for an extra cost. You can bring your own food etc. They don't do check bags so you do have to carry your luggage onto the train yourself. There is no extra cost if you have big bags but the might charge if it goes over a certain size or weight. Overall, no complaints on an inexpensive ride. Taking the train is cheaper than gas. read more

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unfortunately, VIA is often late, expensive and not that comfortable. They charge a premium but offer public transit standards. VIA does not even have priority to the rails so there are constant delays. read more

Booking the ticket on line was easy. We travelled Business Class from Montreal to Quebec. It was spacious and very comfortable. As others have said, business class does mean you will hear telephone conversations and chatter but it was not bad at all. The food and beverage service was good quality(we had the tofu scramble, fresh fruit and cinnamon roll. Though our hostess was perfectly bilingual, she graciously accommodated us practicing our French. Coach class looked perfectly fine and we will try that on the return journey. read more

Way bigger, nicer, more food options. Spacious so doesn't feel cramped like Vancouver. Plenty of leg room. read more

VIA Rail Canada - Trains Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

This is Canada's version of Amtrak. I took VIA between the three cities of Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. It was easy to book online and I found the cars to be in decent condition. Other reviews recommend booking business class, but I did not feel the price difference was worth it. The train is much faster and more comfortable than taking a bus between these cities in this part of Canada. read more

VIA Rail Canada - Trains Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

Four of us took an October Sunday afternoon train over the Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday from Montreal to Quebec City. Not an inexpensive ride, but do know they offer specials. I recommend keeping an eye on the website and by getting on the email list I learned they often have specials on Tuesdays. I did take advantage of a special, but it wouldn't let me do it for all four, so two of us saved about twenty dollars. I found buying tickets to get the deal to be a bit confusing, buying two and two in order to get the discount. BUT I quickly learned that they assign seats. As a result we were a couple rows apart on the train. The Train station in Montreal was an easy walk for us from our AirBnB downtown. It's a big station with shops and restaurants but not much was open. Signage was good for knowing where we would be descending to board the train and how late the train was running. We didn't know what to do about luggage though, so assumed we could carry on. When it came time to board, we joined the line, showed our tickets, went down the stairs and our luggage was taken from us. Yet the other two in our group were allowed to carry theirs on. Seats were pretty spacious, but not very clean. There was trash. Most frustrating part for me was the outlet to charge our phones wasn't working, yet it was working two rows back for the other two. They made periodic announcements, some of which could be heard, others not. We didn't catch, for instance, why we stopped for awhile at one point. Very much liked that they told us it was normal to back out of Montreal for a bit of distance, as we had bought "forward facing seats". Note: they did check our tickets onboard after a stop or two. A gal came through a couple times with a few snacks and drinks. I succumbed to Doritos at one point. Despite some delays we still arrived in Quebec City about on time. Got out, and waited in what was kind of a line for our luggage. Walked through the small attractive train station and we were on our way to explore the city. read more

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the old trains are like a freaking rollercoaster. I almost threw up and the seats are uncomfortable. But the new trains are really nice.

If I could give it a zero i would. Folks, find another way to get where you need to go. This company will leave you stranded out in the cold . They say they will send you emails about cancellations... they don't. Their customer service is helpless. I will never set foot on another Via rail train again in my life. I write this while stuck on a trail, my next train is cancelled and i found out by checking the internet site. No one notified us. We are missing a day of work.... no one at via rail can help us.​ read more

We had a very pleasant trip from Montréal to Toronto thanks to Mauricio the chief of Wagon 6 who saved our trip! We have not noticced before the departure but there was a mistake on the ticket purchased from the desk, we were two and had attributed seats 6B and 6C wich are not next to each other. Anyways Mauricio found quickly a solution for us on the moment, he was very kind and with humour found us a better place to stay. The service in general was exquisite! Panagiota-Sofia read more

Loved travelling with VIA Rail, for a bit extra I would suggest travelling in the business class. Had an amazing trip, they fed and kept us safe, pretty thankful for that. And drinks were free, being a lightweight that was bad. I did try a lot of different beverages they offered which was nice, as the concierge was super informative and witty so every interaction with them was entertaining to say the least. read more

VIA Rail Canada - Trains Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

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Booked one way tickets from Montreal to Quebec City. The website was easy to navigate, however, it didn't like the one credit card I was using and though my company said it was good to go, it just wouldn't go through. That being said, everything was great. Now granted, I recommend spending the extra money and ride in the business class. With your ticket, you get to sit in the air conditioned lounge, in nice comfy chairs, while you wait for your train to be called. A porter comes to announce your train and escorts you to a separate line to board the train first. Once in, your assigned seat is roomy and comfortable. A beverage service comes through, and then lunch is included. There's also a coffee service after. There is also a separate lounge car you can hang out in as well. The attendants are readily available as well! This was a fun way to see some of the Canadian countryside. I highly recommend traveling in business class if you can. It is so worth it! read more

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I have taken VIA Rail more times than I care to count over the last 20 years. I've taken it to and from Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, even out to Halifax. It is my favourite way to travel, especially in VIA 1 - Business Class (or Sleeper Class Plus if going to Halifax). You are treated much better in VIA 1 than in Economy, plus in VIA 1 you get alcoholic beverages on-board (if you're travelling after 11:30am), a meal, and access to their Panorama Lounge where there are hot and cold beverages, cookies, and magazines and newspapers for free (well, included in the price of your ticket). If you are travelling Economy they have food and beverages to purchase on-board, but the selection is not great and in my opinion the food for sale is not the best quality and it's expensive. They've updated/renovated their cars recently, so they are new and spacious, no longer old and dingy. In many VIA 1 cars, on one side of the train you have single seats and on the other side, seats of 2, so if you are travelling by yourself you have the option of sitting alone (since I am anti-social at heart, I much prefer this than sitting next to a stranger). Unfortunately, you don't have this option in Economy, where all the seats are in sets of 2. If you are travelling in a group of 4 you have the option of booking a four-seater where the seats face each other (2 by 2). I believe that most trains have assigned seating, so check your ticket to make sure you are in the correct car and seat. There's free WiFi on board, and it's much more reliable now that it was a few years ago. The Ocean is the train that goes from Montreal to Halifax. It takes 23 hours. My husband and I have done it and it is great. In Sleeper Class Plus you get your own cabin (bunk beds and private washroom with shower) and meals in the dining cart. They also have a car with an "observation deck" where it's all glass and you get a really great view. They hold "wine and cheese" events and mini "cultural" events where they tell you about the region's history. The 23 hours goes by really fast and it's lots of fun. It's much funner than flying, if you have time for a leisurely trip. The only thing a I don't like about VIA Rail is that if you have to check out of your hotel at noon and your train doesn't leave until the evening, if you want to check your luggage at the VIA Train station to pick up later it is $6 per bag(!). That is highway robbery in my opinion. Other than the price gouging for storing your luggage, I really like VIA Rail. Update: if you travel VIA 1 storing your luggage is free. I can't believe I spent money for nothing all those times o_O Wished someone had informed me earlier or asked to see my ticket before charging me. Gah!! read more

The employee of of Via are attentive in general. However on the 11:30 am train ride on Dec 27 from Toronto to Montreal, Myself and several other passengers witness an aggressive behaviour of one of the Via service managers, Alexandre. We stood by in shock as he berated an elderly man for not having his boarding pass ready. The elderly man was clearly struggling to locate it, while Alexandre repeatedly shouted at him that he could not get on without it. It was unnecessary abusive behaviour that, not only made all witnesses uncomfortable, but clearly caused the elderly man distress. read more

VIA Rail Canada - Alexandre, an aggressive employee of VIA RAIL - Trains Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

This is a review for the VIA Rail network, spanning from the Pacific to the Atlantic shores of Canada, although it is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. I believe that it is domiciled closer to the center of the city. My experiences with them comprise of one trip and several phone calls to their toll free line over the years. I rode on VIA Rail for the 2 hour trip, which has but a few stops, between Ottawa, Canada's capital, and Montreal's Gare Centrale, which is an inter-modal station in the center of the city which connects to the Metro, AMT's trains de banlieue, and other buses. As has already been mentioned, traveling on VIA Rail is not cheap, particularly if in Canada's West, along a route such as Vancouver to Edmonton, which is a lengthier trek and, according to photos, features a domed car which affords views of the beautiful Canadian Rockies. Shorter, same day trips between Montreal and Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City, and within the provinces of either Quebec or Ontario are more reasonably priced. Furthermore, much like Greyhound, they have various tiers of fares and, the earlier one books, the cheaper the ticket is. Not only that, some seats in the less expensive categories appear to be available on each train schedule. The Via Rail stations in both Ottawa and Montreal are very clean, the personnel is courteous, and, as always, it's exciting to board the train. The Ottawa-Montreal run seems to utilize a single level train combine. Once aboard, the cars are very clean, the seats are comfortable, the conductors are polite and helpful (more so than in the U.S.), there will be some snacks they sell which are actually sensibly priced, and there will be many interesting people aboard, mirroring Canada's "cultural mosaic." And, of course, the excitement mounts as one approaches Montreal and the train starts to weave through the high rises in Centre-Ville en route to Gare Centrale (Metro stop: Bonaventure). I'm only deducting a star for a few reasons. First, longer treks, particularly overnight ones, are expensive. It's probably cheaper to fly. You can always look down on the Canadian Rockies from above, so go for that window seat. Second, there was once a Via Rail train on the schedule that functioned like a red eye between Montreal and Toronto. You could board close to midnight, sleep on the train, and arrive at Toronto's majestic Union Station at about 8:00 am, or enjoy the reciprocal experience if coming into Montreal's Gare Centrale. For that train to keep those hours, it must have moved like a milk train. Taking it would have been cheaper than one night's lodging and an air ticket in many cases. Sadly, they removed that train schedule from their slate of services and I never had the opportunity to experience the overnight train trip between Montreal and Toronto. read more

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Love traveling by train, but for the prices Via Rail charges I would expect the cars to have been updated. They are awful, dirty and just an eyesore to look at. The sink in the bathroom is useless; the water runs right down the back of the sink. The purpose of me washing my hands is to get them clean, would have been better off dunking them in the toilet. The tracks are very rough, you get bounced around quite a bit. The food is actually pretty good and the service is good. Please stop gauging people with the pricing and for the love of God update your cars. It's barely a step up from the Bombay rail, no not Bombay but definitely Calcutta. Thank you...come again read more

VIA Rail Canada - Great turkey sandwich...gobble gobble - Trains Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

Our Via Rail trip from Quebec City to Montreal was great--my family of four had a four-seater booth to ourselves with a table to set up our collection of wifi devices on, and beautiful white scenery to take in out the windows. Dream train trip. (Especially compared to the nightmare from Montreal to NYC the following day.) read more

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Recently took the train from Montreal to Toronto. In my opinion it's more humane way of traveling as far as legroom, comfort, and service is concerned...average speed was 90 MPH. We stopped in Dorval, Cornwall, Kingston, Bellville, Oshawa, and arrived in Toronto. Each stop took about 10 minuets. We had a young lady with coffee and snacks cart coming around frequently. Also Via offers free wifi on its trains...so if you're traveling between Montreal and Toronto, and time is not of the essence, I would recommend giving the train a try. read more

IMPRESSED. Via Rail made everything easy. From booking online to sending the electronic ticket to arriving at the station to the experience on the train -- all A+. I booked a business class ticket from Montreal to Quebec City online about a month before my trip. Super easy online. I also upgraded to business class because I figured the seats would be better, but the experience was well worth it as well! No line waiting at the terminal, special lobby, and easy to get on the train. And on the train, a meal and friendly service. I was delighted with the comfort, the ease, and the beautiful ride. read more

Love love love the Via Rail, very easy booking online and helpful staffs. For our winter trip, we took the train from Montreal to Toronto and from Toronto to Niagara Falls. The train itself is very clean and comfortable, the staffs were helpful with family with children, definitely made our trip much easier. Our train from Toronto to Niagara Falls was delayed, the Via staffs were very helpful and provided us with snacks and drinks. We will definitely travel again with Via Rail Canada in the summer to explore the beauty of Canada. read more

This is now my second bad experience with Via rail and I can confidently say that it will be my last. First time, as a student headed back to university after christmas break they told me that my bag was overweight and that the only way that I can get on my train is by purchasing their gift bags from the store and distributing my weight in those bags, which makes no sense because I'm still carrying the same amount of stuff, so why put all that stress on me 5 minutes before my train comes. But whatever, I thought it was a one time deal so I let it slide. But next time, as I'm leaving my train at my stop, there is so many people entering the train, that there is no room for me to get off, and by the time I finally find room, they say it's too late and I can no longer get off. As you could imagine this had me livid as there was nothing I could do to prevent it. With that being said, I will definitely be looking for other alternatives to get home after those experiences. And for those wondering if you should give via rail a chance, just know that I would give them 0 stars if that was an option. read more

What a lovely experience that was. We took VIA Rail twice in two days: once from Quebec City to Montreal and then from Montreal to Ottawa. The first train, I think we might have lucked out...it seemed brand new. Lots of legs room. The super comfy seats were nice and wide, not confining at all. Fast WiFi connection with power outlets in the arm rests and plenty of carry-on storage to boot and this was all in your bottom-barrel economy class. The service was attentive and the rails were smooth. The next day the train car was a bit more blue collar. The seats and interior seemed more like a regular commuter line, no frills (still free WiFi and outlet availability though). Either way, this is a great way to get from point A to point B while enjoying pleasant scenery and in our particular case...it was cheaper than flying believe it or not. read more

Perhaps I am easily impressed or my standards are low because I am used to Amtrak. But, I found Via Rail to be efficient, pleasant, and fast. Getting on and off the trains, there were workers to greet us and make sure we knew where we were going. They were very friendly and helpful, where as on Amtrak you are sort of afraid that anyone you ask a question to is going to drill master an answer back to you. We took the train from Montreal to Quebec City. It went quite fast, no delays. Amazing what can happen in a country where the rail system is actually funded by the government as opposed to the US where Amtrak is left begging for scraps and is forced to rent space on private rail lines often shared with industrial fleets. The cars were well lit and clean. They came through with a drink car. How civilized. My only negative comment is that the seats are assigned. So if you are sitting behind someone who is sneezing or hacking up a lung you cannot change seats. The benefit to the assigned seats is you don't have to deal with the Amtrak experience of the person who is taking up two seats and pretending to sleep while listening to head phones so you cannot possibly bother them to actually move and give you their other seat. read more

Nightmare! Pathetic Customer Service on Train! Service! Mundane Food! Do not ever use this service, unless it is just a few short hours..cause that is the service you will get. NEVER NEVER NEVER AGAIN WILL I EVER USE THIS SERVICE read more

I'm from the states so our rail system sucks compared to Canada. It was a pleasant ride experience. The food on the snack cart was good. Most people are just on their computer and/or on their headphones to pass time - it's so quiet in there. I like the economy plus seats. A bit more plush than the regular, more comfortable. The stations are put together with clean bathrooms and vending. read more

VIA Rail Canada - Trains Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

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I had to travel from Montreal to Quebec on a snowy January evening and decided to take the train instead than renting a car and having the stress of driving under adverse weather conditions late at night. This proved to be a much more stress-free experience. Booking a ticket on the website was easy enough: the prices are on the higher price but hey, you have to pay for the extra comfort right? The boarding process at the central train station was very confusing as we had to wait standing up on a long line and many other travelers were not sure they were in the right boarding group. Once I boarded my car, I noticed that it was a bit outdated. It was cleaner than what I expected for a public train. The train ride was very smooth: it was late at night so I did not get to enjoy the view of the snowy countryside from my window, but was at least able to close my eyes and rest for a little while. The food choices are very limited and basically consist of a few overpriced snacks. Once I arrived in Quebec it was very late at night and it was snowing heavily. Like many other passengers, I had to wait outside in the freezing cold for the taxi service to show up. It took me almost an hour to be finally able to get on one and by then I was shivering from the cold. I think that this could have been better coordinated (besides making better business sense) with the central train station so that a line of taxis waits outside every time that an intercity train arrives in Quebec. read more

Constant delays and 50% of the trains are old and seem out of date. Delays seems to be very frequent. Many of them being when passengers are already on the train read more

I'd rather go trough the US customs and back in Canada with Amtrak than cross-country with VIA Rail (I'm Canadian, and in fact, I already did a cross-country with Amtrak from Los Angeles to Montreal). I went from Montreal to Vancouver with VIA Rail last November and wasn't impressed at all. First of all, most crew members were unable to serve me in French, despite VIA Rail taking pride into being "bilingual". That's a joke. After Toronto, going West, I would either be answered back in English, in broken French or be given a blank stare. Only two in-station employees (one in Winnipeg and one in Edmonton) could communicate with me in proper French. It's also expensive. Even with the US $ vs Canadian $ rate, as a Canadian it's still cheaper to use Amtrak to cross-country if my depart/arrival city is Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal. Prices tickets are also fraudulent. When I tried booking a ticket from Montreal to Vancouver, it was more than 600$. However, when I booked separately Montreal-Toronto and Toronto-Vancouver, the total was about 490$. I traveled quite a bit with Amtrak and never noticed such thing. This may be because VIA Rail is a private company that's around for profit, whilst Amtrak is partly funded by the US government. Another thing that's unprofessional and ridiculous is their cancellation policies. In short, you cannot even get a refund. If you have to modify the dates of your trip, they charge you almost half the price of your ticket. For my trip between Toronto and Vancouver, I would've had to pay almost 200$. In comparison, Amtrak issue you a 90% cash refund or a travel voucher of 100% the value of your tickets if you cancel your trip, even if you cancel it only 1h before departure. Needless to say there is no modification fee either. The food sold by VIA Rail in the café car is crap. You might not care if you're not going a long way or if you prefer to eat in the restaurant, but if you'd rather stay healthy and keep your money for something else than an expensive meal, I'd recommend you bring a lot of foods or avoid long-distance on a VIA train. Btw, I'm vegan, so this was a disappointment to see that not a single item in the café was vegan. Not a single meal in the restaurant was vegan, either, and most employees seemed not to understand the word "vegan" at all, or confound it with "vegetarian" and offer me a cheese pizza... Again, Amtrak does it better as they at least sell veggie burgers, pretzels with hummus and overpriced fruits in their café car. Sure, that's not the best, but that's still better than the literally nothing that VIA has to offer to their vegan passengers. I sure hope I'm not the only vegan who'd rather travel by train than flying and having a much bigger impact on environment in the process. On a good note, many employees are welcoming and professional (despite many other being snobbish). One lady in particular was really passionate about her work, I believe she's working between Vancouver and Winnipeg. She would talk to the passengers, give them some cultural and historical details about trains and the regions we were in, etc. Also, I appreciate the fact that The Canadian has a long layover in Winnipeg, and that VIA modified their schedule to fit the daylight with the best scenery, on The Canadian at least. Still, to me the negative points far outweigh the positive aspects, and having heard so much good feedback, I was very disappointed and under-impressed. Let's not forget that with only 2 weekly departures for The Canadian (or 3 during the peak period), this doesn't allow much flexibility, especially with their ridiculous (non-)cancellation policies and inflated fraudulent fares. Edit: I went from Vancouver to Toronto trough the US with Amtrak to avoid using VIA Rail as much as possible, and to avoid flying. Although the US border patrol questioned me extensively due to my personal situation, I didn't regret it. At that time The Canadian wasn't even operating between Winnipeg and Toronto and VIA didn't seem to care enough to issue a full refund -- rather, it seems, from the articles I've read, that they only issued a partial refund to their customers, not even trying to help them find alternative transportations. I also used VIA Rail to go from Montreal to Halifax. This train is VERY old-fashioned, and going from my car to the cafe/lounge car I felt kind of claustrophobic as the hallway is only large enough for one person. As a coach passenger, I was also forbidden to sleep in an empty space in the lounge car at night (where people didn't even pass trough)...Seems a bit stupid to me, as it wasn't used and I would ALWAYS do it in Amtrak trains with no problem... It seems like the VIA crew can serve you in French if the route begins/ends in Montreal. Still, it's an insult to me that the longest route, The Canadian, doesn't have a bilingual crew. read more

Taking VIA is reasonable if you're going along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (like between Toronto and Montreal), but it gets really expensive and time-consuming if you want to go greater distances. And it's not so great a travel experience: in ten years, I have been on only one train that arrived less than ten minutes late. The loading and boarding is awkward (especially compared to most good European train systems), and the food service amounts to railway robbery. Bring your own sandwich (even if it's from a station Subway), and save yourself ten bucks. Still, it's not all that bad. Last year, I dropped my bus pass on a train, and the employees found it, called me on my cell, and had it put on the next train so that I could pick it up at the station that I had gotten off at. I still had to wait around for hours, but since it was my own stupid fault, I think they accommodated me as well as could be expected. read more

I preface this review as someone coming from the US who has extensively used Amtrak in many states (Acela, Adirondack, etc.). The differences between the two companies are like night and day. I took VIA from Montreal to Quebec and was pleasantly surprised at the comfort, quietness, and cleanliness (coach). The seats are truly designed with the passenger in mind, even for economy. We had an assigned seat complete with window shades, superb WiFi, ample storage space, and some privacy. Compare this to a standard Amtrak coach car, where WiFi is hit or miss, and your seat on the train is random and hindered by rude people who don't follow directions and enter through both sides of the car and slow the boarding process for everyone else. The people on the VIA train all seem to be quieter than the crowd on the Amtrak. I think this is due in large part to the interior seating design, which provides more buffer between seats and has less passenger density per car. The seating is 2 and 1, with one aisle. Additionally, VIA requires passengers to check-in their carry-ons (free) that won't fit in the passenger overhead compartments (i.e. items that are the size of a standard carry on roller bag). I was still able to bring a personal item, laptop bag, food, etc. This contributes to a MUCH easier boarding process. The VIA employees (on the train and station) were very helpful and provides directions/trip guidance at every stop. The employees working the ticket and baggage counters were also very polite and helpful. I think Amtrak has a lot to learn from VIA. read more

I am going to be very critical. I travel for a living. I am a Tour Director. This is an out dated model. Its a tricky situation. Without federal government funding to keep this alive, it would have died a long time ago. Now, having said that. Its a nostalgic , romantic idea, that train travel is somehow the way to " see the country ". Not true. Unless you love to look at trees. And if you want space, forget it. The bunks are horrible. The trains are loud. The tracks are rough. The toilets are stinky. The cars are old ! They were built in 1950. Think about it. I would never, ever recommend this as the mode of travel to see the country. That's why they built jets. I must say the food was very, very good. ( except the Ocean ) . Not so good. And the beds are horrible. Hard. Your sleeper unit will most likely be about 15 sq. ft. at best. There are showers, and they were good. But, don't expect to get any sleep at all. And if you suffer from motion sickness, look out. I wish them the best, but , it won't be me . read more

Unfortunately via rail is the only option I have to travel between work and home everyday. Via rail is absolutely the worst experience I had on trains by far. I honestly can't count the number of times they had mechanical issues and delayed us for multiple hours, resulting in being late to work. Their app is so glitchy, I stopped using it and switched to their less glitchy website. At times the smell inside the trains are so terrible, that it smells like a public restroom. In the winter, they seem to forget to turn on the heaters and I am stuck freezing for over an hour until I reach my destination. On top of all that, Its extremely expensive, especially given the low quality of service they provide. Absolutely the worst. I hope there will be other options in my area to choose from for my daily commute, so I am not stuck with via rail. read more

I can't express how disappointed I am with the service pre and post travel. We were so looking forward to our trip to Toronto but quickly realised it was turning into a nightmare. The train was two hours late, due to a VIA mechanical issue and people were rushing the platform and we were left without our assigned seats which added to the chaos. I have been following up with this problem for over 1 month and a half, I would really love to get this problem done and dusted. The moral of the story, need to be somewhere on time? Best to take a flight or drive instead. Come on VIA as the national train carrier I know you can do better than this. D.S. read more

Never again. Sat on a bridge for an hour and a half due to mechanical issue. Finally started moving to slow down during last two stops. What should have taken 3 hours has now taken five. ViaRail's solution is offering 50% off future trip in next six months. 1. I don't live in Canada. 2. If I did, I would surely drive next time. read more

Very bad seat in the business class. Room for hand bad is smaller than those found on a airplane. Very poor Wi Fi, unusable for video even if they call it "wifi video". The food and drinks are good. But still...I need a massotherapist after spending only 3 hours in Via Rail train. It would be so easy to make this better. We are more than a century behind Europe. read more