VIA Rail Canada Reviews 297

Via is absolutely terrible. I’ve taken 8 trains in the last 6 months and only 1 arrived on time. The rest are 1-2 hours late. I’ve missed connections in Toronto. All they do is blame CN but GO transit also uses their tracks and manages to be on time. I wouldn’t recommend Via to anyone!!

Always delayed. Never on time. I have ridden several times and every time it has been A MINIMUM OF 3 HOURS LATE. Brutal travel experience. The cabin smells like farts on the old fleet as well.

7 hours for Québec City - Montréal. The train was stuck because of cargo trains (why?) that were blocking the way ahead. Nobody told us why.

I would avoid taking the line from Toronto to ottawa or vice versa if possible. It is never on time, I’ve taken this route at least 5 times both ways before and it is always late by an hour or more to the final destination.

Perhaps most frustratingly, even during peak hours Via Rail insists on stopping at the 12 stations along the way, like Trenton Junction or Cobourg, where hardly anyone boards or disembarks. You will spend upwards of 20 minutes sitting still on the tracks to let other trains go by.

If you have a mode of transportation scheduled later the same day as the via rail train, you will most likely miss it. Despite this being a routine issue, via rail fails to do anything to fix it and fails to offer any sort of compensation. Once again. Avoid this route unless absolutely necessary.

They are a victim of the rail lines that they use but don't own (CN track) and must 'share' with freight, but the whole operation is outdated, pathetic and frustrating. Constant delays, Soviet type experience in train stations waiting in line for hours. Poor updating of status of delays. They have spend billions on new rolling stock - so some great trains - but don't expect to arrive within an hour of the stated time.

Very bad experience, it will drive you to a crazy

Ottawa to Toronto. Delayed by over 90 min. The worst part was its -12C outside and the heat in the train was non existent. Everyone was wearing their winter coats as if we were outside for 6 hours. Costs twice as much as gas for driving would have been. Awful experience and I will never use VIA again.

Train is always late and they don’t give compensations if they are late for less than one hour. Often late by about 40 minutes, which is frustrating considering ticket prices

Boarding business class at Union Station, Toronto: A frustrating and unhelpful experience. Boarding staff are apathetic and one young lady demands that you weigh your suitcase as if you are entering a detention center. Someone from the Montreal team should provide training and oversight.

I think VIA RAIL NEEDS TO RETIRE SOME OLD TRAINS.
We took Via Rail from Toronto to Moncton New Brunswick at Christmas 2024. The train from Toronto to Montreal was perfect. However the Montreal to Moncton portion was AWFUL. It was obviously an old train. We were on it 17 hours Very very uncomfortable seats. Rather than take the chance of it going back we flew home. There was also a passenger agent named Richard who was unnecessarily rude and nasty towards my wife who relies on a cane for mobility. He had no patience Via rail will have to convince me to use their service in the future it gave me the impression of a NAZI CATTLE car.

The staff were excellent and helpful. The train was extremely clean and presentable. The only negative feature is in Canada there are multiple steep steps to get on and off which is a major factor for elderly customers. As the train goes to United States the exit and entrance are flat and quite easy to use

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 !!