Would you take this 13 hour VIA rail / Amtrak train from Toronto 🇨🇦 to New York? 🇺🇸
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- Опубліковано 8 кві 2023
- Today i am traveling on VIA rail and Amtrak train in co-operation from the largest citiy in Canada Toronto to the largest city in the US New York City. Come along on this 13 hour train journey in coach along the lovely scenery in upstate New York crossing the border at niagara falls
Follow me on Twitter / intercitysimon
Train type: Amtrak P42 + Amfleet coaches
Route: Toronoto Union Station
Train: Amtrak / VIA Maple Leaf train 64
Distance: 884 km
Journey time: 13h35m
Average speed: 65 km/h
Price: 134 $
Thumbnail photo: Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0) Chu Shau-Luen on Flickr
Music: Alexi Action - Synthwave 80's
I love hearing the P42 idle. The loud noise you are hearing is not the locomotive itself, but rather the HEP generator that provides A/C and power to the cars. When the locomotive isn't providing HEP, they are very quiet. You'll find these all over the United States. They might not be the fastest at 177 KMH, but they have a unique look, and they're reliable.
This is the only video that was so very helpful for me to decide whether to travel by train from Toronto to New York..cant thank you enough
Have a great trip!
This actually seems like a great service. I am no stranger to 12+ hour train journeys and especially in those seats that wouldn’t be bad at all.
But it still says a lot that a journey of similar length I regularly take between Switzerland and Germany takes 4 hours less at sometimes just 1/3 the price.
And of course there are around 20 different services on that route daily (although most aren’t direct connections).
North America has so much potential for rail travel, I routes like this might get better and faster services in the future
Hi Simon, Many thanks for a great video. My wife and I did this entire trip on a milestone birthday of hers. I agree with everything you said. I far prefer rail travel to flying, and you see far more than in a cramped plane. We strolled to the train diner and had lunch and dinner on the trip. Far more civilised than flying. The scenery is superb. If you say on the left hand side leaving Toronto, you would have got a great view of Lake Ontario. And if you swapped sides crossing the Niagara River, you would have glimpsed the Falls. But you say on the best side for Lake Erie, the Mohawk River and the Hudson River. We had used the AMTRAK Maple Leaf twice before, to do day trips from Toronto to Niagara Falls, Canada and back to Toronto. Sadly most people opt for a tour bus, yet the train is a far better travelling experience, and the Falls can be reached easily from the train station by taxi, bus, or even a do-able walk if you are able. There is enough time to see the sights, before getting the train back. It is also one of the few occasions you can sample an American train from inside Canada (you cannot alight from the Vancouver-Seattle and Montreal-New York trains inside Canada).
For one of my milestone birthdays, we took the AMTRAK Vermonter from New York to the delightful town of St Albans Vermont. Another highly scenic trip and well recommended. That gets an electric loco (ACS 64) to New Haven and a P42DC north. The diesel does achieve 110 mph (175 kmh) on parts of this route.
We have also done the whole of the Alaska Railroad (which insist on boarding 1 hour before departure !) And the whole.of the White Pass and Yukon to Carcross, Yukon.
For AMTRAK, we actually prefer Coach Class (2nd class), the seats are cloth not leather, and you get more peace and quiet as the Business Class (1st) is so-located with the cafe / diner, which can get hot and noisy. It is cheaper too.
All the best from London, England.
Border security between the U.S. and Canada is a pain in the ass - especially considering how European trains fly across borders without batting an eye.
Would be great if they could do it onboard the trains, like at some of the EU's external borders :D
In Montreal they were planning on setting up a preclearance point inside Central Station, meaning the platform and train would be legally in the US (and the train would not make any stops in Canada). The plans may or may not have been axed due to the pandemic. Obviously this would be a massive advantage because this would completely eliminate the need to stop at the border.
Sounds too good to be true.@@marc-andreservant201
yeah for real. Unfortunately its not that simple since there is no North American equivalent to the European Union.
@@Simon-Andersen They do exactly that on the Adirondack (New York-Montreal).
Such a difference between the staff of Go Transit that welcomed you on the Canadian side and the Amtrak folks during the exit at the NY Penn station
I just rode this train to Toronto from Buffalo like a month ago! It was cool to see the boarder crossing process and how the different crews operated the train! Would definitely do it again next time I go to Toronto for the Canadian!
How long is the train ride? I will be taking this soon.
I did the Buffalo to Toronto run a few years ago. I hated having to take the bags out of the train for customs and then go back in the train with the bags.
The AmfleetII seats are proposterously comfortable as you say, in my opinion they should use them on the new Airo trainsets instead of the uncomfortable Venture cars seats. Comfort is a huge advantage of the train, it shouldn't be squandered
Interesting that they use the Amfleet II cars on this train which are usually reserved for trains that travel overnight.
Yes that was the impression I had too. It's a long journey so it was much appreciated
Great train ride 😮😮😮very cool journey 😎👌I'd like to ride that!
Amtrak uses exclusively Coca Cola products. Until a few years ago they exclusively used Pepsi products. Your train car was an Amfleet II which is designed for long distance services and is used on overnight routes from New York to Chicago, New Orleans and Miami as well as longer daytime routes from New York to Montreal, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Savannah. On the Maple Leaf the Cafe car is shared with Business Class, which on this train is laid out in a 2x1 configuration with an insane amount of legroom and brown leather seats. These seats, found only in 481xx series Amfleet coaches and 581xx series Horizon coaches are the best in the Amtrak system in my opinion.
I haven't tried any other amtrak trains outside of the NE corridor, but these coaches are deffo also in my top 3 for best seats on a train anywhere. Thanks for the detailed information :-)
Love this level of insight, thank you! Is there a big difference between business and coach classes?
Amtrak really has two sides, in the east and in the Pacific coastal states services like this compete more directly with regional air like in Europe. In the middle of the country and in the west especially Amtrak competes more with long haul busses because of the distances and because they don't own the track like in the north east corridor. A lot of the stories you hear of 4 hour delays are caused by the freight companies who own the track outside the NEC and bits of Amtrak California. Both because they run too long of trains for the sidings and because they sometimes just deprioritize Amtrak. It's also why Amtrak runs on some relatively rough track on bits of the long distance routes like southwest chief, California zephyr, etc.
Thanks for the insight! The rail scene in the US certainly is very different to Europe
It would be nice if the border crossing procedure could be done onboard train while train is moving to help save on the trains running time but there are other stops enroute to the border so I guess it’s hard to do
That would be great! Maybe they could have a domestic and international section of the train and lock the doors In between, but its probably wishful thinking :-)
@@Simon-Andersen passengers, who boarded say Toronto Oakville, Saint Catherine’s have designated cars they go into, and a customs officer checks them. In addition to being an international train it’s also a domestic via rail train to Niagara Falls.
Great narration of the entire trip. Though the trains look quite outdated from outside, the seats look incredibly spacious snd comfortable.
Many thanks! Indeed the seats at least in the "first class" car are great!
This is the first time seeing your trip. You have done a great job with the camera and giving us information. Have Joined.
Thanks for the kind words, Welcome aboard!
Thanks for your video. My family traveling in 4 days and you gave us a peace of mind. ❤👍🙏
I hope you have a great trip!
Nice - great job on the narrative and information.
Thank you!
Yes, even if a flight is faster. Because by train I can see a little more things on the windows.
It’s about priorities, how fast do you need to get somewhere. If you are traveling for business then time is priority so you fly. Vacation could go either way, is the purpose of vacation slow and relaxing where the trip is the reason for travel or is the final destination the reason for travel.
@@Bobspineable a 13 hour train trip between two big cities which has regular flights is not an option for business travel. Is just basics things like 1+1=2.
I traveled from Québec to Montreal then to New York for a visa appointment back in February. Honestly, better and safer than driving during the winter…
Great video :D
These was great to watch, Im from toronto and Im thinking of going to a concert in new york and wanted a cheaper alternative to reach down there because I don’t want to drive and i think flying is a bit excessive for just an evening of fun. It was great to see this process and that it is in fact worth it.
I hope you enjoy your trip and concert!
one of the few trains i have yet to take.
Nice video 👋
Note that The Amfleet 2 coaches that you rode in are only used on eastern long distance long distance and 2/3 of international trains. If your traveling on more Intercity routes you wont get as much legroom. The other international train uses your good friend, the Talgo sets.
It would be cool if the train was faster (also more interesting for people who fly?), but seats look much more comfortable than in European trains which is nice! I should be taking this train next winter from Niagara Falls, just thinking whether to take the train on Canadian side, but then getting off on the next station and waiting for more than 1 hour doesn't seem to make much sense, so I guess I'll just walk to the US side and take the train there....Anyways, thanks for the video!
At 9:28 that rectangular piece of metal is probably where the ash tray used to be located. That seat design is quite old, originally produced in a factory over 70 years ago. Of course, the seats have been re-upholstered since that time.
If it aint broke dont fix it i guess. Still very comfortable seats in 2023
Great video thanks, I’m taking the Amtrak from Niagara Falls, Canada side, to NYC at the end of January 2024. Was a bit concerned for comfort travelling coach, but this has put my mind at rest, thank you. Just looking for info on how the service runs in bad weather and snow, as our trains service in UK grind to a halt if we get more than 10 mins of snow! 😂
Glad it was helpful! Have a great trip, i think because there are so few trains a day, they generally run no matter what but they might encounter long delays :-)
i really like the look of the engine somehow. Great to see another scandinavian pepsi max fan!
VIA Rail/Amtrak is definitely more reliable than say Flixbus, who bought out Greyhound. Just after New Years 2024, I needed to buy an Amtrak ticket to get back home (Niagara Falls, ON) from spending the holidays with American family members in the Philadelphia, PA area. Apparently, Flixbus shuts completely down when it snows a few flakes.
Was pleasantly surprised by the punctuality of the Amtrak trains (definitely a million times better than Flixbus). Never had a bad ride with Amtrak
Amtrak definitely has a lot of issues, but its not bad at all. I took 6 long distance trains during my time in north america and nothing ended up with more than about a 30 min delay.
The station in Niagara Falls, NY is new so it complies with the modern disability access standards. The old station did not.
Rochester also used to have a photography company.
Yes, it was called Eastman Kodak! Also the home to Xerox.
Thanks for an informative presentation! I suspect the train stayed in Niagara Falls, NY after all the transiting passengers were ready to go because any passengers boarding there might depend on the original departure schedule.
That is most definitely the case in Niagara falls. It's a tough balance between having enough time to process on busy days and not having something like this happen. Thanks for watching :-)
We are planning to do this with our great-aunt, Constance, and cousin Daniel.
Have a great trip! Hope the video was helpful
lol love the sad european noises part
something to consider for next year, new york comic con
First please here. Great.
The scenery on this trip is great, but you need to go in the summer to have enough daylight.
Yes, or travel in the other direction
I'm a current first-year student at RIT and I'll be taking this train to Toronto next month
Have a great trip!
Wow 40mph is so slow. At least they should go at speed of car or 65 mph. Would be good to know the time of all combine stops. This corridor would be nicely serve by something like brightline.
Higher speeds would really improve this trip. I dont think the stops are the main issue, its the tracks and other train traffic
damn! Ross went till Poughkeepsie. Thats far :)
A couple of comments on the video.
The train should have been washed in Toronto. This is a failure on VIA's part.
Customs used to be done on the train at the US/Canadian border. After 9/11/01 (or 11/9/2001 as used elsewhere) security was ramped up at the boarder. When the new station at Niagara Falls US was built a customs hall was built so now everyone has to get off of the train. A new customs hall is supposed to be constructed at Montreal Central for the Adirondack and hopefully a restored Montreal to Washington train. Passengers will be cleared at Montreal and the train(s) will run non stop to the boarder. The same thing is currently done at Vancouver for the two Vancouver to Seattle trains. Now it's often said the US and Canada share the longest non fortified boarder in the world. Sadly there's no "Schengen" agreement between the two countries.
The cars you rode on are the Amfleet II long distance cars dating from the early 80's. Both Amtrak and VIA has issued a RFP to replace their single level cars. This will probably go to Siemen as they are already building short distance corridor trainsets for both Amtrak and VIA. These cars will be based on the Siemens Viaggio cars (OBB) which go by the name Venture in North America. These Venture cars are now in service on short distance routes out of Chicago and have received mixed reviews. The biggest complaint is the seats are narrow, lack enough padding and use the European system of recline where the seat bottom slides forward instead on the seat back reclining.
The driver/engineer didn't really make up any time into New York. All Amtrak trains have some "end of run" padding into the final stop. Had you left Albany on time you would have been early into New York.
Thanks for the detailed explanation, moving towards customs before boarding seems like a good thing! Let's hope the new Siemens carriges can be improved a bit but in general moving towards more European style railway is a step in the right direction
@@Simon-Andersen The fourteen hours to travel less than 500 miles reveals why the USPS chose to FLY the mail long distances more than a half century ago. Only Amtrak's northeast corridor has large metros within 300 miles suitable to support HSR with multiple trains daily. Note this train's route of nearly 500 miles has only a daily train service, not multiple trains even though both terminal cities are large metros... It takes nine hours to drive this distance between these two metros, not a few hours. Imagine having to drive to Atlanta, Miami. Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Seattle, or Los Angeles? Days, not hours... This is why USPS chose to fly the mail... America is NOT TINY Western Europe!!!!
This is an Amtrak train, so it is not VIA's responsibility to wash an Amtrak train. The VIA crew while in Canada is only to fulfill Canadian regulations.
@@pauly5418 The train lays overnight in VIA's yard in Toronto and is run as a VIA train between Toronto and the Canadian/US boarder. I believe the food served in the snack bar car is also stocked by VIA rail and is removed and replaced with standard Amtrak offerings at the boarder. This of course is reversed going the other way. So I would think it would be VIA's responsibility to wash the train. Perhaps the train wash at Toronto was down at the time.
Now sometime in the future GO Transit has plans to run daily service to the Niagara Falls Canada station. Once that happens the train will become solely an Amtrak train between the boarder and Toronto much like the Adirondack and the Seattle to Vancouver. In the past VIA used to run three trains a day between Toronto and Niagara Falls (morning, mid day and late afternoon) but now only the Maple Leaf remains. VIA will quickly back out once GO starts their service to Niagara Falls.
The unfortunate thing about Rail travel in North America regarding the stations Is that if you look at old timetables most union stations had over 100 departures a day over 100 years ago. Unfortunately, we have lost ourselves and some union stations Don’t see any passenger trains anymore.
And if you wanna get technical Amtrak trains, do get the right away. The freight guys refer to it as the silver sausage. if the dispatcher is doing their job correctly as in giving Amtrak priority, then sometime, there is no issue although you can see a rank of all the major railroads in North America rated from A to F by Amtrak. Long story short some roads are better than others.
I kind of wish I'd seen your video before booking from Toronto to Montreal by Via Rail, then overnight to Boston on the Greyhound (we're taking a cruise out of Boston this summer). I think I may have looked into it, but timings, especially New York to Boston, didn't work out well for us.
If I’m a tourist. Sure. If I’m doing business. Hard pass. 13 hours to go 350 miles by air at $60 is just infinitely better. Even if this was setup with European standards, you’d still see flights being competitive on the route like London to Paris
いつかトロントからニューヨークまで電車で行ってみたいなー
9:42 The Peace Bridge between Fort Erie Ontario Canada and Buffalo NY USA
1:37 I do not like how the boarding is on Via rail. Very very strange from an American perspective. In the US (at least the places I’ve been) it works in a way where you wait for the platform to be announced and then you head to the track. On the train, you can go to the cafe car and and have some drinks or snacks.
As a Canadian I also find this so frustrating and confusing
Via Rail, trying to make taking the train as infuriating as flying.
It used to be faster to cross the border before 9/11. Hopefully they fix all this before the return of Chicago - Detroit - Toronto rail service.
Well they have only had 22 years to fix it. My confidence in their abilities to fix the issue is not overwhelming.
question, how did you book/buy the ticket? did you book/buy it through via or amtrak?
I booked with Amtrak but there should be no difference no matter who you book with
Yes I would. I have never been to NYC but I would love to go and since I hate flying I would enjoy this. Put my headphones in bring a good book I'd have a good time.
That sounds like a great way to pass the time on the train!
Well, I can fly for ~$185. So if costs that much minus what I have to spend on meals (13 hour trip) I might do it if I had a day to kill.
Do it as part of a weekend trip to either Toronto or New York.
To me, the journey is a big part of the adventure.
Is there WiFi // if so is it good enough for remote work?
It's spotty in places but good enough for browsing pages and light work
Hi, is this a coach or a business class? Thanks
Coach
if i had the money then yes i would
Is there WiFi on board?
Yes but it's not very fast
Ere you on coach or business?
Coach :)
@@Simon-Andersen probably the best, and cheapest, way to travel by train!!! had traveled on Coach myself when I took the Pennsylvanian from Philadelphia to Johnstown last month, so I can get a firsthand look at some of the sites that was devastated by the massive flood waters that hit the town back on May 31, 1889
134$ LOL
Poland Przemysl - Gdynia Główna 13h - 25$ ;)
Sep1/23WAS A PISS ASS OAKVILLE STATION TO NOT ONLY THE FACT AN AMTRAK TRAIN CAME ON A DIFFERENT TRACK, ACCORDING TO THE SCREEN MONITOR @ OAKVILLE, BUT THE FUCKING ATTENDANT @ THAT SAME STATION INDICATED TO ME TO CHECK IN @ THE COUNTER, ALL BECAUSE CROSSING THE BORDER!
I'll take them 1 1/2 hour flight thank you.
It's tragic that we the USA, thanks to corrupt lobbyists and business interests, have failed to invest in a robust inter-state rail network...
Please! "The Governor Cuomo Bridge" is not the name anyone calls it in New York. It's the Tappan Zee Bridge. (Ex-governor Andrew Cuomo renamed the bridge after his father (who said he did not want a bridge named after him before he died) on a sleazy omnibus bill. Shortly after "renaming" the bridge, Andrew Cuomo was forced to resign due to multiple allegations of sexual harassment. The residents of the two counties connected by the bridge strongly opposed renaming the bridge. In fact, the one major newspaper conducting a massive poll of the two counties' residents. Over 94% strongly opposed the renaming. Cuomo ignored these New Yorkers calling the 94% a "fringe partisan few." 🤔 Still, the fight to change the name back persists. The obstacle now is paying for another new set of highway signs
Thanks for the info! I had no idea it was that controversial, but I'll keep it in mind for the future :-)
How much dollars fare
i paid 134$
Vidste ikke at amerikanske toge boarder på den måde, smooth brain behavior
Kæmpe smooth brain opførsel
Ikke i alle stationer.
Filthy windows and train exterior leaving Toronto. Dirty trains are Amtrak trademark..
Why are there so many cuts in the video :(
It is pronounced All-bany. not Al-Bany.
How’s your Danish?
@@erik_griswold when your teachers corrected you as a child, is that what you told them? Your mother must have spent lots of time in parent teacher conferences on how to improve your attitude.
@@PostcardCathy The video’s creator is not a native speaker of the English Language. His native tongue is Danish.
I'll remember that next if i happen to pass though "Al-Bany" :P - As erik pointed out im Danish so sometimes it can be a bit hard to figure out how to pronounce placenames if you haven't come across them before :-)
@@Simon-Andersen Your pronunciation was just fine actually.
I can see why the U.S don't want High Speed Rail, when you can spend over 13 hours on a time machine . Back too the future.
Its certainly old school
@@Simon-Andersen As if Eastern European trains are NOT old school... They are as old as Amtrak's Amfleet coaches with even older locomotives...
@@ronclark9724ry But Ukraine,Poland,Bélarus have now Modern Locomotives and even if they have Ussr Locomotives of the 70s or 80s they still faster as Amtrack
Car culture and politics get in the way.
Most uncomfortable seats ever for your back
I did not find that to be an issue for me :-)
With Amtrak? No. Aside from price is almost twice as expensive as flying, it takes forever to get to your destination 😞
Flights were actually more expensive than the train on the day of booking this trip
@@Simon-Andersen you should check out the sleeper train from NYC to Los Angeles via Chicago
Trains are cheaper except if you add accommodations
@@Simon-Andersen Not if you book a flight much earlier... I book flights at least six months in advance, usually using credit card rewards... Usually the sooner you book, the cheaper the fare...
@@ronclark9724 same with Amtrak, the first seat in coach is the cheaperst same with the sleeper and then when train fills up the price goes higher and the last seat and sleeper is the most expensivee.
Toronto is in Canada so you should refer to boarding processes in Toronto as Canadian and not American. If you want to refer collectively to the US and Canada (as well as the other countries in the North American continent) then you can use North American standards. Referring to anything Canadian as “American” is a huge insult to us.
its like the n word for Canadians frfr
It’s not a huge insult lmao calm down
I did and it’s PAINFUL!
Hard to believe the USA IS SO OUT OF WACK IN TRAIN SERVICE!
Embarrassing!
Kind of negative at the beginning. There is nothing wrong with the boarding procedures.
I prefer just being able to walk up to the platform and wait rather than having to form a line and then have everyone go in a mad chaos at once like an airplane. Trains in the rest of the world can do it, so i dont see why the need for control is needed here.
@@Simon-Andersen Gare Centrale in Montreal and the Amtrak station in Albany both also line people up like at an airport, but at the smaller Amtrak stations you can just stand by the track and get on right there.
Nope I would Fly out of Toronto to go NYC
NO!!!!!!
13hours. Yuk!
What an odd accent.
Not much I can do about that
@@Simon-Andersen Is there a place in the world where others speak as you do?
Rail/train travel in North America. Absolutely sucks!