Union Station Toronto, Ontario, CanadaIn February I had made plans to return to Ottawa for the one year anniversary of the Freedom Convoy but those plans fell thru when officials scuppered the event. I was left with a non refundable train ticket. Do I go myself in February or change to a later date.
I was able to change to the spring with an additional $50 change fee. At least I could plan on going biking and do something nice when the weather improves, even though hotel prices are absurd in Ottawa.
I had not taken Via Rail since my university days to Waterloo. I had taken it once again in 2006 from Ottawa to possibly Montreal or Quebec City. Hard to recall and my photos do not show.
My train was for 10am so I had lots of time to get there past rush hour. The train ride was 4.5 hours. You still have to stand in line and have your ticket checked unlike commuter trains where you just board by any door.
Announcements were made in both English and French. There were several French speakers and I was sitting next to a Government employee who kept making work related phone calls.
Having rode long distance trains in many countries this hardly compares and was a bare bones trip. There is no dining cart or kids play area. Just sit in your seat, read, sleep, listen to music, or look out of the window.
I used to take the slow 4.5 hours train from Daegu to Seoul when I was living in Korea and had areas to walk, play games, kids play area, dining cart. Maybe had I gone in Business Class aside from a larger seat, I dont think much else differs.
End to end it may be the same time as a flight as they require you to get 2 hours early to the airport then commute times each way from the airport.
Our company sends us to Montreal each winter so maybe I will do it again by train as there are always flight delays with winter storms.
A high speed train has been discussed since the 1970s but has never got past policy papers while even developing countries and now China seem to be able to build a high speed network.
Its a shame. Canada was built on the railroad at the turn of the last century to link the continent from coast to coast. However the last 50 years it has lost out to the north american oil and car lobby and its fate was sealed by airlines.
See vlog (7 mins) - https://youtu.be/qQkBYvdECLQ
2025-05-22