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Hello fellow train buffs, I'm new here, so please bare with me. My brother and I are planning on travelling with VIA Rail from Toronto to Montreal round-trip in October of this year and will return in one month. Has anyone here travelled this route before? Any experiences/advice that one should know? We plan to travel in the morning and will be going there in first class (Via 1 service).
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I have travelled between Toronto and Montreal more times than I could possibly count. Via 1 service is a good deal. Although the seating is similar to coach class (2+2 across) there is more leg room and specific seats are assigned in advance. There is a Panorama Lounge for Via 1 passengers in both Toronto and Montreal (also Ottawa, if you are taking a side-trip.) Meals, pre-lunch and dinner drinks, wine and after-dinner liqueurs are included in the fare. If you are taking an early morning train you will not receive as much value for your Via 1 fare as only breakfast will be served. Take the mid-morning run (0930 from Toronto, 0940 from Montreal) for better value.
Another option is the overnight "Enterprise." There is a full range of accomodations available, from upper berths to drawing rooms (now called triple bedrooms, but everyone at Via knows the traditional term.) A continental breakfast buffet is offered in the "Park" car. Taking breakfast in the dome at sunrise is a most civilised way to greet the new day. Via 1 fares are the same every day, but a seven-day advance purchase discount is available in sleepers on the "Enterprise." See Via's comprehensive web site: www.viarail.ca for more details and interior photos.
posted
Thanks for the reply David. We are planning on taking the 11:30 AM train from Toronto. You mentioned that the seats are 2+2 across, are there seats that are pointing one way as well like on a bus? Any recommendations on the food we should choose: chicken/beef/fish. One more quick Q, is there a limit to the amount of drinks(alcoholic and non-alc) one can take?
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Almost all of the double seats face forward. There are two permanent "four seaters" which have facing seats, therefore two forward and two backward facing seats. Other seats can be turned to face the one behind, but this is not recommended as there is very little leg room when that is done. There is a seating plan on Via's web site. Go to "services" then "Via 1." The 11:30 train from Toronto is almost always HEP-II equipment, that is rebuilt stainless steel cars from the late 1940s. The Via 1 car should be the last on the train.
As for meals, Via has a menu listing as part of their web site, but unfortunately the Via 1 meals are not listed right now. I'm told the menus are being revised. Special meals can be ordered, just like on an aeroplane, but there are three choices. The menus change every Wednesday; there are six cycles, I believe. Fish, chicken and pasta dishes are usually good, sometimes surprisngly so. Red meat is another matter. Fillet steak or lamb can be excellent occasionally, but the odds aren't in your favour.
Technically, the liquor service consists of one trip through the car with before meal drinks, two trips with wine and one liqueur (on evening runs only.) The longer runs (such as the 11:30 train) usually get a second offer of drinks after lunch. On most trains an extra drink can be had on request, but some passengers expect an "open bar" and this really isn't the case. Some attendants are more generous with the company's liquor than others, but incidents of rowdiness are quite rare, in my experience. But I have seldom gone thirsty, myself.
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Wow, thank you David, you really give alot of info when it is requested and I thank you for that. Is there anything wrong with the HEP-II cars that are used at 11:30 AM because we can go on the 5:00 PM train as well. The seating info is great because my brother is 6'5" tall and really needs the extra leg room :-).
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The number of seats and spacing of the seats is the same in the LRC Via 1 cars and the HEP-IIs. The LRCs have better riding qualities and larger windows. The HEP-IIs, being standard height cars, are taller inside and therefore have larger overhead bins for luggage. There are three HEP-II cars that were hastily converted from coaches last summer. Although about 20 coach seats were removed to provide the extra leg room, the seats were not replaced with the usual Via 1 seats, which have slightly more padding and a head rest cushion. Curtains were not put in these three cars (unlike all other Via 1 cars) - a small point except when the sun is beating down on your side of the train. The 1535 and 1700 departures from Toronto are always LRC equipment.
Posts: 216 | From: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
Dear David, it's me once again. A question came up when we were planning our trip, is there a dome car on the corridor service, if yes, which train has one?
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Only the "Enterprise", the overnight Toronto-Montreal train, carries a dome car in the corridor.
Posts: 216 | From: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
Ok thanks, me wonders if I can hookup a dome car to our train and have Via not notice it, hmmmm :-)
Posts: 6 | From: Burlington, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Aug 2001
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