Taking the Via Rail Train from Toronto to Ottawa: Should We Have Taken the Plane Instead?
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- Опубліковано 20 жов 2023
- There are three main options for traveling between Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario in Canada: Driving, Flying, or taking the Train. We've opted to take the Via Train for our trip, but would flying from Pearson airport to YOW have been better? We look at the pros and cons of taking the train versus flying as we travel on Via Rail from Toronto's Union Station to the capital city of Ottawa. Our comparison uses four main categories: time, price, comfort, and eco-friendliness.
For our eco-friendly considerations, we used this study from the University of Ottawa: issp.uottawa.ca/en/news/takin...
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CP...thats where I graduated High School and where my mom lives...Nice!
what u forget to mention is that the train takes you straight to the downtown area...if u take the plane, u need to get another form of transport to get downtown and that can add to the cost ......for short distances like ottawa, via rail may be a better option but anything longer, u are better off flying...Via rail is also quite expensive for long distance travel unless u travel economy --and that can be one miserable trip as there is no food provided, the seats do not recline and there are few amenities for economy passengers..
this is so helpful, thank you!
I just refuse to subject myself to the dangers and frustrations of flying anymore. I have to travel from Alberta to Ontario this Christmas and I'm taking the train both ways
Just discovered your channel and already loving it … ❤ Subscribed from Mississauga 🎉
Thank you! Welcome to our channel!
Via rail is regularly delayed! In 2022, only 57% of the trains reached their destination on time. As a regular user of via train (on the Toronto-Montreal line), my wife’s train is regularly delayed in both directions. The delay is usually a minimum of 20 minutes, but is often much longer. The federal government does not seem interested in investigating in reliable public transport. The via train system is probably 30 years behind that of Europe. As the rail system is owned by private companies (CN Rail and CP Rail), the via trains have less priority than the cargo trains, hence the regular delays. A pathetic system!
The rail system would definitely benefit from some upgrades. As we showed in our video, our trains are delayed a lot as well. And unfortunately we experience a similar situation on flights too. The last time we flew from Ottawa to Toronto, our flight was delayed by 5 hours!
The fold down table right where your sitting, was never built for laptops!
@chrisandemilie, thank you very much for sharing this experience. I'm going to take the VIA train to Ottawa for the very first time and am wondering which seat I should pick? What seats you had for the train ride? Is it facing the lake view? Many thanks first 🙏
We haven’t been able to pick our seats in the past - for us they have always been automatically assigned. And sometimes our assigned seats get changed at the last minute if the train configuration changes.
But if you get a choice, pick a forward-facing seat on the “south” side of the train for the lake views.
Also, unless you are traveling as a group of 4, try to avoid the seats where you are put around a table, where you face the two passengers in the seats opposite you.
We hope you have a great trip!
Coming early 30mins, getting into a queue to board, paying nearly the same money and getting your bags weighed? This is when they run two trains a day. VIA rail doesn't know that they are running a train service.