VIA Rail Canada Arvostelua 

Train stopped for now 1.5 hours after fire on tracks extinguished. It is 1.30 am and no communication from via rail as to what is happening or how long we are going to be stopped. Very poor communication. Train almost four hours late at this point.

Had an absolutely horrible experience with via rail the last trip I took, where the train was not only delayed 62 minutes but also the whole ride the train felt like it was going to derail. I’ve never had an experience with a train moving like this (there was no wind, just some rain). When contacting customer service, they inaccurately told me that the train had only been delayed for 49 minutes ( which is inaccurate as we were meant to be at the location for 10:13 and didn’t get off the train until 11:15). it was a train that was packed so I’m guessing they didn’t want to compensate so many people. They also gave me a very general answer for the train moving the way it did, which is concerning for safety reasons.
For a company that uses surge pricing and charged 3$ for a tea bag and hot water that they’d have the money to compensate for such a horrible trip but doesn’t seem so. Will likely not be using via rail in the future.

In December 2025, I bought tickets for my wife and I to travel to a show in Toronto on the weekend of January 9th and 10th from Montreal. We had to cancel our trip because my wife had Covid. Via Rail accommodated us by changing our reservation to this weekend, June 12th and 13th.

However, we have guests in from overseas who are staying with us until next week, thus not permitting us to travel to Toronto this weekend. I called Via to see if we can change our plans until September, but they refused to, based on our tickets. I realize companies don't want the hassle of frequent changes to plans, but you would hope they could make exceptions to their rules for unforeseen circumstances.

As a result, I am out of pocket for $500 and will not book another train trip with Via Rail ever again.

I hope many people read this review.

Rick

Horrible, premium price, for third world service. Whilst on train from Montreal-Toronto delayed over an hour. Avoid VIA, drive, fly, anything but VIA. Epically bad.

We booked the overnight sleeper plus cabin from Halifax to Québec. This was very expensive, but we felt it would be an amazing experience.
The train was very old and dated. We were meant to have an attendant to support us, but we barely saw her during the 20+ hours we were on the train.
She presented as disinterested and didn't come to explain things for over 3 hours from setting off.
We had to make the beds up ourselves, as she didn't offer to come and do it.
Our toilet stopped flushing twice during the trip.
The food was good at lunch but the evening meal was dry and felt reheated (we had an 8pm sitting)
The staff in the evening were disinterested and not at all attentive.
A group of 5 staff sat chatting near our table, including a manager. It felt like a youth/social club and not at all focused on the customers.
Staff seemed reluctant to offer more drinks and seemed keen to get you out of the dining car.
The only lounge area was small, dated and not at all welcoming. There were 2 flasks of hot water to make tea or coffee, but no soft drinks or water on offer.
We paid for breakfast on the morning we got off the train, but as we got off at 6.30am, we could not have breakfast!!
We were not offered a hot drink in the morning or provided with anything to eat.
The scenery is not very interesting and mostly wood/forests, so don't expect great views.
For such an expensive overnight trip, I do not feel it is worth the money

The staff on board were friendly. Parking at the station in Smiths Falls was ludicrous. The actual train service is inefficient with a 25-30 min delay because of signal issues. Not a timely service.

Taking the train, Economy, Ottawa to Toronto same-day return for a rally. Excellent service by Tyler on the way there and Farouk return. Right on time to Toronto, and comfortable seating with a table. Return trip was delayed due to a freight train derailment, but snacks and water were provided in the station and every effort was made to ensure our comfort.

Hi wish I could rate this lest than 1 star, the service is absolute shit, especially the Windsor to Toronto corridor is it late by more than 45 minutes every single time and other cases by 1.5 hours. This despite the ridiculous amounts they charge for the tickets.

If you have meetings or any time sensitive thing to do, do not use this service under any circumstance you will be very late.

Charged EXTRA for my purse!
Wow via!
Also separated my son and I EVEN. though there were extra seats!
My son is not an adult.
On the way from Toronto to London I was not charged for MY purse! The check in desk in London told me that they weren't doing their job in Toronto! And they should have charged me EXTRA!
Thankfully, when the individual taking our tickets saw that there was space he placed my son and I TOGETHER!
He wasn't bored and filling his days with ways to make customers' lives more difficult!
Seems that the 4 clerks sitting at a relatively idle desk had to think of ways to make their day MORE exciting! Why not when taxpayers subsidize their salaries.
Thanks to the caring employee, our trip was not horrible.
Hey Via! Have some respect for your paying customers! Maybe it's time for new blood???

Very bad at following schedule. So far, I took the train twice over a month and it was never on time. Once by more than 1h30 mins late which made me miss the last métro in Montreal. Second time an hour late to go to Ottawa. Also, we were freezing on the train the first time. Sadly Canada doesn't have much reliable transportation system, wether its internal flights, train or buses.

Friendly services from start to finish. Food was grate. Require special aids and staff were great. Upcoming to help.

Job well done all

Canada, like USA is a car-oriented country with terrible public transport. Anyone taking a long distance train in Canada should bear in mind that timetables and reliability are of a 3rd world standard ..... We had a terrible experience with our Prince George - Jasper train being cancelled with no alternative means offered to get us to Jasper. It was due to a derailment and I later learnt that this is not that unusual.
In our case this affected us adversely with VIA refusing to take responsibility for getting us to Jasper with no buses or anything - And Prince George is not a great place to be stuck. In the end we had to take a Uride car to Jasper costing us CAD460 with no help from VIA Rail - they would not pay. This was my worst experience during a 3 week visit to Canada.

I have never experienced a train ride with this service that was on time, and it is highly unacceptable. I regularly travel from Quebec to Kitchener, and due to constant delays, I repeatedly miss my GO train connection.

This situation is extremely frustrating and has caused significant inconvenience in my travels. Reliable timing is essential for passengers who depend on connections, and this service consistently fails to meet that basic expectation.

At this point, I am seriously considering not taking the train anymore.

Le piiire service et le piiire voyage que j'ai fait. C'était ma première fois que j'ai pris un voyage aller et retour de Montréal à Toronto en classe affaire pour 3 personnes le tout ma coûter l700$ et je n'ai aucun service. Pour ma première expérience jai fais ma réservation par internet et le système a choisi pour moi l'heure de retours qui est a 6h30 le matin!!! J'ai une fille autiste de 6ans!! J'ai appeler pour changer l'heure car c'est ce qu'on ma dit a Montréal avant de partir. Car une dame m'a imprimer les billets et je lui ai demander et elle ma dit tu peu faire ça rendu là-bas. MAIS QUEL MENSONGE!!! Après avoir payer presque 2mil dollars ils me disent qu'ils y a un frais en plus de devoir payer la différence de billet!!! Mais de quoi ils parlent!!! C'est le même trajet mais avec une heure de sorti différente!!! C'est du vol que vous faite!!! J'ai détesté mon voyage avec vous de plus que la nourriture n'est pas bonne. Les sièges sont pas commodes pour une classe affaire.... bref c'est un vol que de prendre un train avec vous. DÉÇUE DÉÇUE DÉÇUE. ON PEUX PAS DIRE AUTRE CHOSE.

Terrible experience from start to finish. VIA Rail changed my seats to worse ones than the ones I originally selected and handled it as if it were no big deal. That alone was frustrating, but the service in the business lounge made it even worse. The attendant was rude, dismissive, and clearly uninterested in helping.

For a company selling a supposedly premium experience, this was embarrassingly poor service. Worse seats, rude staff, and zero sense of customer care. Completely unacceptable. I would not recommend VIA Rail to anyone, especially if you expect basic professionalism and respect.

I decided to use via rail to travel from Toronto Guildwood to Ottawa Fallowfield. The train was on time at the time of departure and also on our return. The experience was great with WiFi and plug charging. The food and drinks on the train were reasonably priced. My friend who travelled with me was a senior citizen and the girls on the train were very helpful and helped with our baggage and also helped her to use the washroom when the train stopped at the stations.
The service was great and it was a great way to travel to Ottawa.

Train had constant delays so if you have to be somewhere on time do not take the train.

Fréquents arrêts, aucun service, lumière trop vive, incapable de se reposer beaucoup trop de bruit et longueur du trajet interminable. Affreux service.

Let’s start with the great. Once you have a ticket you will have an excellent experience. I was fortunate to have Alan as a conductor, it is obvious that he loves his job. What is unfortunate is how difficult it is to get tickets. Their online service is kindly a failure, that cost me money, and a day of travel. Love Via rail, just wish they could do better, there staff deserve better.

Absolute garbage. Once again, my 4 hour train ride took 9 hours. They think a refund makes up for this. Toronto to Ottawa is the absolute worst route. Via and CN clearly think we're all idiots. No transparency. No urgency. No apology. No compensation. It's embarassing. This is why Canadians never travel in Canada. Air Canada, VIA, CN. You're all disgraceful. I happen to also see your compensation at my job. You're overpaid, clearly.