VIA Rail Canada Omdömen 

I have had 5 trips with VIA rail until now, 1 time delay for 3hrs, and they compensate half of the trip's worth. The phone service is fast, the attendants are nice and very helpful, and the staff will help you with baggage once requested.

I have taken a few trips with Via in the eastern part of Canada and they have been nothing but helpful and understanding when a situation arose that I need help with. The staff were wonderful and accommodating. Every employee I have come across was really great. The scheduling could be a bit better but overall experience is worth it.

This company is an utter disaster. Spent billions of dollars on new trains, and they are consistently delayed (and by that I mean EVERY time I have ever been cursed to ride in them). They did a massive "upgrade" to their website and it is garbage. Extremely poorly designed, always malfunctioning. And now they have the AUDACITY to CHARGE to select your seat on a train? Two people book together, and Via Rail's system seats us separately even though there are PLENTY of pairs of seats together on the train. Now I go to select those seats and now Via Rail is charging $7 per seat selection? YOU ARE PISSING EVERYONE OFF WAY MORE THAN YOU REALIZE VIA RAIL.

Allowing to put a pet in a baggage car alone is animal abuse! And this shocks me how much Canada considers itself democratic and humane while allowing such cruelty for an animal. I come from an Eastern European country and they have separate pet cars on every single train where you can take your pet with you on your bed safe and sound. Travelling alone can put a lot of anxiety on your animal, but imagine closing them off in a crate alone for a long time where the temperatures can drop. This is inhumane! Via rail has to dedicate a special pet car for every train in any direction, just like in all other European or Eastern European countries. Not only via rail doesn’t allow cats, they refused to let my emotional support cat in even with a letter from a doctor!

Never on time !!!!! I wish Go train would travel on the Kingston and Montreal directions Via rail is just monopolist and doing terrible job

I would highly recommend using via rail to get across Canada if you enjoy taking things easy and going with the flow. I am a solo female traveller and felt very safe I chose the 1 berth sleeper as it seemed best value cheapest form of sleeper PLUS all food included it was around $600, I worked out how much I’d be paying for hotels, travel, food if I went by plane and there wasn’t much in it, but I was in no rush and had a pretty flexible schedule so I decided to take the scenic route.

I had a month in Canada, so I chose ‘The Canadian’ to get from east to west. Toronto to Vancouver.

The 4/5 day trip was amazing, to see the scenery, the service of via rail staff, I found the sleeping conditions wonderful I was on a lower berth, the food was absolutely incredible! It was a bit noisy and rackety at times but it’s expected with train travel and I slept well.

I went in February, we were given mimosas and appetisers as we departed toronto, we had a schedule of talks in the sky cart, bingo & games, and the bar to hang out and meet others. I was surprised there were a lot of solo travellers, it was a really interesting group of people who I’ve now got on Facebook. I saw in the cabins, but I didn’t think it was worth paying more for so I am glad I chose the berth.

We had the best host called Mackenzie, she really made the experience 10/10 with interacting with guests and games etc. I will say when the crew switched over with Claudia the service wasn’t so great, the little nice finishing touches felt like they went out the window.

Enjoyed stopping at the different stations and getting out walking about for half hour, as we travelled across the prairies and the rockies more snow and cold weather but it was lovely.

Overall a great experience and I’m glad I got to see and use the original 1950’s train as I believe it will be decommissioned in the next decade.

Via rail has pissed me off once again. I have never once in my life taken a train with via that was on time. This past weekend I took the train from Kingston to Toronto and then Toronto back to Kingston.
Train from Kingston was supposed to leave at 1:40. It didn’t leave until 3pm.
It is the return back to Kingston that was truly did it for me. The train was scheduled to leave Toronto at 2:17. And then 2:27. And then 2:37. We didn't board the train until after 3 and we finally left at 3:30.
During the ride back to Kingston, the train must’ve stopped at LEAST a dozen times. Not to mention when it was moving it was only going between 20-60 km/ hr. Occasionally for a brief period of time going to 100-140km/hr. But only for about 30 mins… approaching the napanee area and Amherstview area, the train stopped half a dozen times delaying our arrival even more. I’d say definitely don’t take via if you’ve got somewhere to be in a timely manner… no one cares or respects your time or the times posted for arrivals and departures. All rails are owned by CN so whenever there’s a freight train, they hold up all the VIA rails. So ridiculous.

You know how Japanese trains are almost always on time? Via rail is literally the exact opposite. I have ridden this train (through no choice, there is no other option) dozens of times, and I have NEVER had a train that was on time.

It's actually impressive that Via is always late, considering they have 2 directions they can go (back and forth). Awful train service, one day they won't have a monopoly and will actually have to be considerate for their passengers. Unfortunately that is not happening anytime soon.

30 MINUTES LATE FROM COBOURG TO KINGSTON, 90 MINUTES LATE ON THE RETURN TRIP, TOTAL CONFUSION ON 7 EMAILS SENT CHANGING THE DEPARTURE TIME 5 TIMES !!! We spend the winter in Nice where the trains are not only on time to the minute, the price is a fraction of your fares !!

I have purchased the discount card for nothing, it ended up being more expensive. Now I have changed the ticket for another date and the "earned" went back to them. The worse transportation system within Canada. I rather to take the bus. How come that in Canada, one of the richest countries in the world and we are not able to take the train in a fair fee???

Absolutely ridiculous. I have travelled 5 times with Via over 3 months. Not once has the train been remotely on time. The best was 30 minutes late. Additionally they usually have about half of their snack menu available. Most of the trains are old and tired, one was new. I am switching to Porter.

What the hell is wrong with Canadian railway.

It cost way more than gas on a car and takes longer than a car to arrive.

What’s the point.

Delays because there is a problem with the sensors at the intersections so the train is forced to slow down A LOT when approaching them.
There was no warning that this was going to be the case and even though it’s going. To be like for at least 6 months (!) the page doesn’t tell you that your trip is going to have at least 40 minutes of delay. More than 1 hour in my case

They simply ruined trains.
The new luggage requirements are a cynical cash grab.

Bonjour
Une situation qui se déroule maintenant.

Classe affaires 158$
1er octobre 2024 17h42-21h14
Dorval-Charny
La température inadéquate dans la voiture 1. 16 degré Aucune aide avec bagages
Rien à boire même pas de l’eau entre 17h42 et 19h06 et sommes toujours en attente
1heure et 24 minutes, zéro service, sans eau, sans nourriture. j’ai payé pour une classe affaires .
Je suis sans mots.
Mes voisins-voisines de sièges dont fortement déçus et frigorifiés aussi.
J’ai dû enfiler 2 chandails et un petit veston sans manches pour contrer le froid dans la voiture 1.
Déception totale
L’agent de cabine vient de déposer un mini de 20 gr de grignotines.
La classe affaire n’existe pas chez Via Rail si on embarque à Dorval. Il est 19h42 et rien manger. C’est tellement impossible que ça se passe chez Via Rail qu’on se croirait dans un médiocre train.
Si zéro existait, j’aurais choisi zéro étoile. Quel dommage

Same old, same old. Premium member, business class, pretty much twice a week Montréal-Ottawa. Now charging for seat selection and smart serve alcohol limit. Delays, bad food, no hand wipes, no chocolate, no service. Your taxes at work.

Garbage operation. They prioritize cargo over people, leave people to wonder why they are stopped or moving slow with no announcements. Constantly late. You will NEVER be on time with this shoddy service. At least I want stuck for 10 hrs. But if you can walk, bus, drive, hitchhike... anything to avoid this overpriced trash heap of a business, please do. The government gave via rail 30 days to clean up their act after the 10 hr fiasco. They are guaranteed to fail. Lateness and incompetence is their motto

The train fares are crazy expensive considering you're travelling in Canada. It's like where is there to go within Canada worth paying those fares? Family or friends but not anywhere as a tourist.

Travelled from Toronto to Montreal and it was so freaking cold on the train that despite my sweater I also had to put on my raincoat and still shivered. Didn’t help that the journey took one hour longer than expected.

They charge for seat selection but cannot guarantee they won't change the train configuration. If you pay to avoid a backward facing seat they cannot guarantee the seat you choose. They will keep your money despite putting you in the exact seat you paid to avoid.