When I was planning my trip to Canada, Marriellen Ward told me about train journey in Canada, operated by VIA Rail Canada. The long-distance journeys are said to be very scenic.
As I had planned to visit Halifax, I was exploring options to return to Toronto. Flying was an option, but Via Rail option also came up. I decided to try it out.
Below are some key things you should know about Canada's VIA Rail
#1 Expensive:
I paid some 155 CAD for Halifax to Montreal and some 75 CAD Montreal to Toronto. That is about 225 CAD to reach Toronto from Halifax, when booked 9 months in advance. You can fly one way between Halifax and Toronto for around 100 CAD. Thus, unlike India, train is not always cheaper than flights. You may pay more. Fare keeps going up closer to travel date.
#2 Takes too much time:
My train took about 24 hours to reach Montreal from Halifax- some 1300 kms.
While a car or bus journey takes 12 hours to cover this distance, VIA rail takes 24, double the time compared to a car. Canada rail should do something about it. Make your trains a bit faster- at least at par with road option
#3 Scenery gets boring after a while
The view is said to be great- but it gets repetitive and boring after some time. You will get 4 types of views.
- View 1: Woods (trees, forest area)
- View 2: Lake
- View 3: Canada countryside/small towns
It will be boring to see same scenes all through 24 hours. Initial few hours you will get bored.
#4 Food options are limited and expensive
There is a dining car that serves proper meals-but only for those who have booked sleeper. Economy passengers need to buy some snacks/pre-cooked food from pantry n have it. Vegetarian options are very few. They didn't have banana cake and few items shown on website-a wrap is 11 CAD. During 24 hour journey you will need 3 meals and few coffee/snacks, which may set you back by around 50 CAD minimum. Carry some food to save money.
Despite above drawbacks, a journey in VIA Rail Canada can be considered due to below benefits
#1 Save 1 night hotel expense: With overnight travel, you can save hotel stay expenses for a night, 4000 INR onwards depending on your style of stay
#2 City center to city center travel: Flights need you to travel all the way to airport from city. Trains give much closer access to city center
#3 Easy access to smaller towns: Train is beneficial for those wanting to visit smaller towns that do not have airport
#4 Relaxed baggage limits: Most low-cost airlines only allow a small personal item and charge extra for other bags. Railways also has a weight limit, but is on the higher side and most of your standard baggage are part of train ticket and don't have to scramble to pay more
My experience with Via Rail Canada:
Economy passengers are not assigned seat number. It is free seating-you can sit anywhere. Though staff had reserved some seat groups for family.
On the day of my travel the train was not loaded. My adjacent seat was unoccupied and there were empty seats in cabin- so rush was less.
I did carry some banana and snacks to reduce having to buy food onboard. Crew happily gave me hot water so I could make my tea using ready to eat pre-mix.
View outside was fine but soon got repetitive- was boring to view same thing for 24 hours. Maybe a better option would have been to book a shorter trip like 4 to 6 hours to experience VIA Rail, the go back or maybe fly out to your final destination.
Staff were very good, well trained, courteous. I was given a brief on how to open the door in case of emergency.
Montreal-Toronto train was delayed by couple of hours. A compensation voucher was sent to me- but I need to use them on VIA Rail within one year. India Railways should learn a thing or two from Canada Rail. I may never visit Canada again, so the coupon is NOT useful for me. They can't be transferred either. They could have given some cash refund or some refreshments instead.
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