VIA Rail Canada Arvostelua 

Mixed bag experience. First time on VIA from Toronto to Ottawa.
We’re from the UK so I did do some research. Several mentioned delays and that was what we had.
Up to an hour ago all was fine and the food, service and check in for first class were great.
Then we hit a delay with a broken down freight train apparently. So this had added 45 mins and counting. As I said we’re English so our train service baseline is quite low! Having said that this is annoying and I’m now wondering if our other VIA trips are all going to experience the delays many people seem to mention.

My experience with VIA Rail’s reservation service was extremely disappointing.

A reservation specialist named Denham Jones booked my ticket on June 10, 2026. The reservation was later cancelled without my consent, and I received no notification at all. There was no email, phone call, or other communication informing me of the cancellation.

I only discovered what had happened when I checked the reservation online using my confirmation code and received an error. After calling VIA Rail, I was told that my ticket had been cancelled.

The cancellation was already frustrating, but the worst part was that VIA Rail refused to provide a refund for the reservation they had cancelled. I eventually had to contact my credit card company and file a dispute to recover my money. I did receive the money back, but no customer should have to go through a credit card dispute to receive a refund for a ticket cancelled by the company.

I also found Denham Jones’s communication during this matter to be misleading and unprofessional. Based on my experience, I would be very cautious when booking with VIA Rail and would strongly recommend regularly checking your reservation, even if you have received no notice that anything is wrong.

My wife and I recently travelled to Montreal on July 13 and from Montreal on July 15 by Via Rail. We treated ourselves by going business class. We received first class treatment. Alexandra, Jin, Inra and Walleed made our little excursion very memorable. They were all very personable, very courteous and very professional. They are all excellent ambassadors for Via Rail. Many thanks, Judy and Robert Erwin. Ottawa.

Booked a train, it was 2.5 hours late and told me 6 hours before it got to me. I have a flight out of the country that depended on the train being on time. Have had to rebook on a bus.

Will never book on via rail ever again. 5-15 minutes would have been acceptable, but 2.5 hours (and counting) is not.

I just don’t know why Canada can’t get trains to run on time. It’s really embarrassing to have such expensive unreliable service- I think they still use steam power?

A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE

via rails is extremely unreliable not only with timing but updates too. I had booked a trip from Sioux lookout to Winnipeg with my family thinking it would be a fun experience and memory to have. the way to Winnipeg was honestly not the worst, but the train was delayed by 4 hours and their tracking site was incapable of informing passengers that the train was going to be delayed, coming to the point where I called to ask what was going on, the lady I spoke to was very professional and kind but had NO CLUE that the train was delayed and wasn’t able to tell me an estimated time of when the train would come. Once I had boarded the train everything was fine and made it to Winnipeg. The way back to Sioux lookout was absolutely terrible. I was supposed to board a train on a Sunday at 11:55pm and didnt end getting onto the train till 7:30am on a Monday, as I got onto the train and settled into my seat I noticed that we weren’t moving all though all passengers had boarded, I didn’t think much of it thinking that they were just running through everything making sure everything was good to go but no, I ended up stay on this train not moving till 12:00pm, mind you they staff hadn’t said anything to passengers till 11:00 am, it turns out they were having problems with their Air conditioning, problems with the fans in the kitchen area and to put the cherry on top they said they had to change the train engine. By 12:00pm we started moving, relieving me and lots of other passengers. By now we’re about 5 hours into the ride and the air conditioning in one of the sleeping carts stops working, by this, staff had to move a whole sleeping cart full of people into another which happened to the one I was staying in, and I was horrified by the scene staff were making people move out of their seats into different seat, making people sit with strangers and the air conditioning in the sleeping cart I was staying in was also not the strongest, so heat quickly accumulated. By this point hours pasted everything seemed to be running smoother till the train came to a stop just a little past kenora and staff had informed the whole train that we could no longer proceed because of wild fires, and of course the fires are not their faults but they told us they were bringing us back all the way to Winnipeg after being on the train for 10 hours+, people were very upset bringing some people to tears, everyone had questions and were finding staff only to find one staff member and it got to the point where this staff member got Overwhelmed and started crying, and there was no other staff members to be in sight except for this one. My family and I have had enough at this point and asked if there was any where we could get off, and thankfully we were able to get off in Reddit, by the time we got into Reddit it was dark and we needed to get a cab so the staff helped us which I am very greatful for and they called us a cab which and we thankfully got to Kenora and stayed the night then making it to sioux look out the next day. Via rails has denied my family reimbursement for the trip back after being told we would be reimbursed from multiple staff members, I WOULD DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMEND . Another note to take is they also charge for food and drinks which is fine but for all the people who decide to stay on that train after me and my family got off, I hope they all got free meals and drinks, to simply not get sick from not eating or not staying hydrated. Via rails you need either fix the way you operate or go out of business because this experience was horrifying and from other reviews I can see this is not the first time something similar to this has happened.

On my first time taking a train, Fazley made the experience amazing. The service was incredible and he went above and beyond to ensure we were satisfied. Awesome sense of humor, definitely taking a train again!!

Sorry for the long post, but everything needs to be mentioned.

I will never go back on Via Rail Canadian again, or any multiple day trips! Maybe a train for a few hours, but even then that is iffy. This trip was a complete nightmare! The only thing I liked on the train was the staff that I got to talk to, they were super friendly!

My daughter and I booked our trip on The Canadian back in May and we had it for July 13th-17th. There was no news of wildfires until the day before we got on the train and it was mentioned there Might be a cancellation. When we boarded, we heard nothing about the news, we weren't told to leave the train when we arrived in Jasper and Edmonton, and I thought we were all good to go. Sometime after leaving Edmonton is when we got an announcement about possible cancellation and they would monitor it.

I know no one plans for wildfires to happen, but when I heard that Via Rail already had multiple trains either just make it through the fires or cancel trains because of them, they should have given us more warning, not just under 24 hours notice.

Once we got the official cancellation, I called Via Rail customer service and the nice lady on the phone spoke to her supervisor for me and said I would get a FULL refund in a cheque, and I explained to her that I paid in GC's, but needed the money to book a flight. Knowing I was going to get money back eventually, I asked a family member to borrow money. I booked the 7am flight from Saskatoon (we were supposed to arrive by 6am). Of course Saskatoon had to be the one stop we didn't arrive at on time.

My daughter and I got stranded in Winnipeg as that was the final stop. We had to stay for 2 days until we could get a flight home from there and I had to borrow even more money for hotel and flight.

While in Winnipeg I get an email from Via Rail saying that the lady on the phone earlier wasn't supposed to give me a cheque and that I will be getting partial refund by GC. Honestly that devastated me further. The amount of money I have to pay back to people now, when this could have been avoided all together. I wouldn't have booked this trip at all if I knew sooner. Via Rail makes millions a year, and they can't as a ONE TIME courtesy help out the little people.

For context, I took 4 trips on this rail way. It would be one thing if one or even two of these train rides was slightly delayed, but this was not the case. All 4 of these train rides were late, some of them up to an hour. Isn’t the whole point of traveling by train to avoid traffic and delays. Additionally, the conditions in the train were sub par. Trains were extremely bumpy, loud, rickety, or freezing cold. Overall, my experience with Via Rail Canada was greatly unpleasant. I do no recommend travelling with this company.

Trip to and from Toronto to Miriamichi NB July 2025. No checked baggage to & from Montreal - Toronto is absolutely ridiculous. I am 75years old with 40lb suitcase & no help from staff other than lifting bag onto the train. Train to NB was very late as usual & late on return as well. Considering cost of trip service is lousy & I will NOT BE TRAVELING VIA RAIL again. No
compensation for delays - not so much as a free coffee!!

Carolle delivered exceptional customer service on my trip from Ottawa to Toronto :)

She kept my hot water refilled, answered all of my questions with patience and kindness...mkst of all, she was great will all the kids on the train! She interacted with them in a respectful and professional manner, providing cute bingo cards and snacks :) I don't know the rest of the staffs names but I was happy with everyone's customer service :)

What an antiquated System via rail is. 12 hours to go from Toronto to Quebec and returning same time sitting on a train. I acknowledge that the weather was particularly hot so the train had to go slower but the technology should be present to deal with cold weather and extreme heat. There are newer trains which were quite pleasant but coming back from Montréal to Toronto we had an old train which was so dingy, dirty and disgusting. The staff are very pleasant and go well out of their way to accommodate people. Regardless, I wouldn’t take the rail again and I’m Canadian.

Pire compagnie de train au monde. TOUJOURS EN RETARD ! Quelle que soit la destination... Aujourd'hui, pour nous, Train Edmonton Vancouver en retard de trois heures TROIS HEURES ! (Mais aux dernières nouvelles, peut-être auront nous droit à 4,5 heures ?) ... Ce train est journalierement en retard. Mais ils continuent à s'obstiner, à penser qu'un jour il y arriverons. - toujours en retard de 2,3,4,... combien d'heures de retard voulez-vous ? La compagnie n'améliore rien. Le gouvernement ne les mets pas en demeure. Paye citoyen ! Cette compagnie est un scandale ambulant et personne ne fait rien. Un recours collectif leur ferait le plus grand bien.

Much improved train service with new cars that are smoother and quiet. Late arrivals and delays are attributable directly to Via sharing same track network as CP freight trains. They have new cars that are much quieter and smoother. Business class is excellent and worth the extra cost.

This review is strictly for the corporate office, whose administrative leadership has shown an absence of professional integrity.

Following identity-based misconduct by frontline staff at the Montréal station in May 2026, the corporate response was an exercise in defensive deflection. While engaging in rainbow-washing through public Pride campaigns in June 2026, management dismissed a non-binary passenger's rights as a negotiable inconvenience, acting as though some human rights matter more than others. This double standard is glaring given VIA Rail's past unreserved public apologies for discrimination, such as at the Ottawa station in December 2023.

Passengers have a fundamental right to travel safely without being subjected to discrimination. As a federally regulated Crown corporation, providing a service free from discrimination based on gender identity or expression is not an optional customer service policy; it is federal law under the Canadian Human Rights Act. What should have been a straightforward corrective issue was instead met with institutional panic and evasion.

To exhaust this internal process, the Legal Services Department issued a final determination on July 8, 2026. This represented an administrative overreach, as an internal corporate legal department has no mandate to act as an adjudicative human rights tribunal. Senior Legal Counsel formally concluded that the evidence did not support a finding of discrimination, following an opaque review devoid of any documented methodology or investigative transparency.

In a telling display of institutional panic, the legal branch attempted an automated digital recall to claw back and erase this written determination from my inbox exactly two minutes after transmitting it. When this attempt to scrub their own paper trail failed, a fabricated administrative excuse regarding a "wrong email address" was offered to cover up the action.

The Board received formal notice of these governance failures on July 10, 2026, and chose to institutionalize the cover-up by permitting them to stand without intervention. Because this publicly funded entity chooses evasion over accountability, the internal grievance process is officially closed, and the matter is now before external authorities.

Train broke down, the young staff have no idea how to handle the situation, no food, still charging for drinks. Great job Via Rail. Busses arriving in 6 hours to take us to Destination, remember, no food, and charging for water!!

Very very angry at the rudeness of the staff today.
Our train into Ottawa was over an hour delayed today, which is honestly fine, these things happen. However as soon as we got off the train I realised that I'd left my hat on the train. My husband politely asked if he could go back and grab it. A $70 hat, mind you. Instead of just saying yes or no, the staff member decided to give my husband a massive dressing down, calling him an irresponsible person and accused him of delaying the trains "for just a hat". Like I honestly fail to see how we delayed the trains for immediately noticing our mistake after less than 1 minute, the passengers hadn't even all disembarked yet? Laughable considering our train was 90 minutes late in the first place and we were offered a 25% off voucher which we can't use because we don't live in Canada.
And if we were going to delay the train, just say "no, it's not possible, sorry". Like there was no need to be that rude and nasty. I'm actually disgusted. I get people can have bad days, but in what world is that acceptable?

Horrible,always late.. never on time.. .. only the boggies are good except that comparable to third world train

Unhappy with the service, delayed 5 hours !

Well,first my Middle Sister passed away at Xmas and we were unable to attend so we planned a trip on the train for her wake on Join 20th.The trip to Woodstock Ontario was flawless.The staff to care of my semi disabled Wife and we sat together the whole time as I'm her helper .Now,on the return trip ,it was not flawless.The staff were awesome etcc.However the 2nd hand party booking agent hadn't put down that my Wife needed help.So,there was no wheelchair for her and the long walk from train to train was almost to much for her and from Toronto to Montreal we were in different train cars.Appersntly our seating arrangement was changed because of someone with a service dog?Anyway,I just want to say we were not impressed with booking part of our trip .Alistair and Cindylou Irving ... Update:the personal on the train found us two seats that were unoccupied and gave them to us.Well down to all and thank you so much.Just and FYI,always use only via rail for booking.