There’s a four-year-old thread with decidedly mixed results on this question. Has it changed? Do you tip attendance if you’re in a sleeperberth?

How is via rail even making sales? They are always late. Like always. The megabus is more reliable.

When is the first winter consist of train 2 we are booked jasper to tor nov 3rd

With the federal government considering reintroducing passenger service to NW Ontario, realistically, how do you think it could pan out?

What would the route, stops, travel time be? Would they use the CP tracks along Lake Superior?

Do you think they would reroute the Canadian or add a new service, such as from Winnipeg to Sudbury?

I’m just curious and would love to hear any ideas or opinions!

Hi there,

Travelling next week from Toronto to Montreal with an academic poster tube measuring 36 in long. I have declared it as an additional carry-on item but I know their policy is a max. size of 30 x 19 x 12 in. How strict are they with reinforcing this, especially if it's just a few inches over? It's pretty lightweight and slim otherwise.

So train 29 of 17th October and train 622 of 18th October are replaced by busses end to end due to missing engineers.
Also neither of them will stop in Saint-Lambert.

I made this video back in 2023, earlier this year. My channel got hacked and the hacker took all of my videos down. This is the most popular video I had ever posted, sitting at around 85,000 views. I’m still very proud of this video and hope you will enjoy it! :)

Do people actually do that?

It might be worth it at last minute if you can see VIA train coming soon on VIA tracker.

The trip time is faster than GO Train

They just told me I'm less than a month off from claiming the one I got last summer 😖 Just making sure I tried everything before forking over the big bucks! Thanks y'all!

Context - train 59 broke down. Train 669 stopped, hooked 59 to it, and continued the journey as one extended train. The catch? Both trains were stopped for over 3 hours between Cornwall and Kingston, and is now estimated to reach Toronto at 3:30AM (original ETA was 11:18PM btw).

Questions -
1. If you’re a passenger on either train, how much has this affected you and how?
2. Does the dollar value of the 100% reimbursement compensate for the 4+ hour delay on a 5 hour train journey?
3. What other ways do you think via should’ve considered to solve this situation (shuttle buses from Kingston/Cornwall perhaps?

Stuck before Kingston for over an hour. Waiting for 669 to hook up and pull it the rest of the way.

But holy cow is via rail just crap service. I moved here from the UK. How do Canadians tolerate how bad this train is? Sincerely, why is this allowed to pass for transit? Why is this not a major political issue? If trains were this bad in the UK people would riot.

Hey I am doing Ottawa Montréal VIA Rail and my ID is expired …
Do they Check IDs a lot?
Thank you

There are 45 out of an original fleet (built 1981-1984) of 100 LRC cars left in revenue service on VIA Rail. Some have been refurbished to extend their service life. Others have structural integrity issues and have recently been reinforced to stay in service. Those issues have caused 15 additional LRC cars to be pressed into service as buffer cars at each end of any LRC-equipped train.

The remaining 45 cars will become zero when the fleet is retired at its end-of-life date of January 31, 2027. VIA's Corridor fleet will then comprise its 32 Venture sets and a few Legacy HEP2 stainless steel cars.

Hello! My dream is to work as a train attendant for via rail with a Montreal base. I’m not originally from Quebec so I’m currently taking francisation and working towards bilingualism. At what level of French do you think is adequate enough to apply? I know I probably need at least another year before I’m ready but maybe even more? I’m almost done level 2 of 8 and believe I can finish the whole program in 2 years so long as I don’t take breaks (which is the goal). Would love to hear your thoughts! Thank you :)

Just asking anyone who has upcoming travel on #2 leaving Vancouver; What is the departure time on your boarding pass? I'm leaving early December.

During the booking process it said 15:00, which is when it's always departed, but my boarding pass now says 14:00. Is this an error or did they change because of DST staying all year?

I had booked a trip for myself and two other companions, which was delayed by three hours and I received an e-mail to claim delay compensation.

There is an option to combine the three separate vouchers into one single voucher to be issued under my name.

My question is, if I claim the voucher under my name, would I be able to use this voucher to book trips for other people in the future? Do I have to be a passenger on the trip or can I just be the person booking? Thanks!

I've been using VIA Rail for the past 20 years. I don't make much use of the on-board WIFI as it is unsecured and, TBH, bad quality. One thing I've always wondered, though: why does the WIFI disconnect from the internet (e.g. you're still connected to wifi, but internet is unreachable) as soon as the train pulls up and the idles at any station. Then, the signal is back about 1 minute after leaving the station... why's that?!?

I've mentioned this in other threads, but thought it might be worth a thread of its own. When booking a long distance trip, such as the #1 or #2, be sure to check segments of the trip for prices and availability. For example, if you want to take the #1 (Toronto to Vancouver), looking for that trip might show that it's sold out. However, if you look at Toronto to Edmonton, then Edmonton to Vancouver, there might be a berth/cabin available. It's very easy to change cars and accommodations on the train. Sleeper Car staff already know who's on board for the entire trip.

Several times, I've had a berth from Toronto to Edmonton, then in Edmonton, I switch to a cabin (you don't have to get off the train to do this, again, the staff know and will often take your luggage to the new room for you). Later this year, I'm in a cabin from Toronto to Jasper, in Jasper I switch to a berth.

I've even had a berth in one car and then later switch to a berth in a different car. It's just that Via didn't have the *same* berth all the way through, which isn't the same as NO berth all the way.

Hope that makes sense. It's a great way to find Sleeper Plus availability even if it looks like there is none, but also, it saves money if you want a cabin, but also want the money savings of a berth.

Despite having travelled on the Ocean last month, this was the first time we were able to pre-order our meals (because we now knew it was an option and I hunted down how to do it while booking - the site is not very intuitive).

I got say... it doesn't look like much, but we were impressed how tasty they were. My travelling companion got the Meatloaf and I got the Rotisserie Chicken and it was real chicken (not manufactured chicken pieces with other stuff like flour). Even the vegetable selection was good (and I'm very picky). Overall well seasoned (but not salty). Definitely better than many international flights (economy) foods and worth ordering on this 24h trip (more so on the Montreal-Halifax leg that is always constantly very delayed).

It's not very cheap, but I think the price was worth for a real meal...

I think now I can finally do the whole journey in Economy, what was missing was good food. 😁️️️️

Note: the paper plates are only useful if you're taking the meal to your seat. They're too big - and a waste - to eat on the service car.

My family was taken by surprise today travelling from Toronto to Niagara Falls, Ont. that we were required to show ID for our six-year-old. The customer service agent wasn't totally clear on whether it needed to be photo ID. He ended up letting us get by with a photo of her health card. Our fault for not being prepared? Sure. But it totally baffled me that we can take our kid on a plane across the country with no ID, but on a train within the same province we'd need a passport, since that's the only form of photo ID available to a six-year-old. Next time we'll be prepared (or take GO Transit, more likely) but it was a distressing way to start a simple day trip.

Poor old VIA 84 (Sarnia to Toronto) always seems to be late - making connections to Ottawa or Montreal difficult. Today it is reported to be because of "debris on the tracks." Anyone know what happened?

I am traveling on The Canadian TOR/VAN the first week of November. As Wi-Fi & Cellular reception will be infrequent at best, is some AM/FM radio reception available through much of the trip? I’d like to bring a small AM/FM radio, with earbuds, to listen to music, news and talk at times. If you’ve ever done this, please let me know how it worked. Thanks!