VIA Rail Canada Reviews 

If you are in a hurry, don't use the Canadian or Ocean trains. There are lots of other ways to get you where you want to go, within the time you have.

HOWEVER if you want to experience the scenery & vastness of Canada this is a great way to travel & experience this in relative comfort & luxury.

Plan & view it for the experience & it needs to be viewed as such, as delays are inevitable for a variety of reasons, all valid.

The food is fabulous, the staff are really helpful & great.

It's a great way to see Canada & make new friends. Highly recommended as 'a once in a lifetime' experience ✨️ 👌

Via rail... They will always force you to pay double what you had planned for. Their service is SHITTY and they will always be late by at least an hour. That is the promise of via rail. Just get the bus. Any day.

My recent experiences with Via Rail have been nothing short of disastrous. As someone who relies on efficient and dependable transportation to make critical connections like flights, I entrusted Via Rail — a decision I now deeply regret. The service has deteriorated to an unacceptable level.

The staff at the Kingston station are consistently rude, dismissive, and unprofessional, showing little regard for basic customer service. Their passive-aggressive and condescending behavior makes an already stressful situation far worse.

To make matters worse, the trains have been plagued by extreme delays with no clear communication or accountability. Passengers are left completely in the dark about speed reductions and disruptions, as even the staff seem uninformed or unwilling to provide answers.

If you must travel with Via Rail, I strongly advise booking a trip that arrives several hours ahead of any important event — and even then, prepare for uncertainty. In contrast, buses — despite traffic — have proven far more reliable and predictable.

After these repeated failures, I will not be using Via Rail again. They have lost my trust.

I wish I could give a zero. What a completely lousy service. I’ve taken two trains this week. The first one arrived two hours late, the second one, which I am sitting on right now, has been sitting on the tracks for two hours with no word of when we’re going to be moving again. I’ve missed a job interview and am going to have to spend $200 for a hotel room. I’m never using VIA again and YOU spoils consider spending double to fly so you actually get to your destination.

Montreal Toronto first class is worth the money. Better food than what they serve on a flight. Great choice of menu. Healthy and tasty, friendly service, good wine but despite having a brand new wagon that is beautiful and practical the seats are hard as a rock and very uncomfortable. The seats in economy are better. Also even in economy the food choice is better then in a flight even has Mandys salad! Sadly the train was 1:30 minutes late really not cool for people waiting for you at Union station which is a nightmare for parking.

Train to and from Ottawa to Oshawa was delayed first, 3 hours, to which I got a 50% discount towards my NEXT ticket. Then coming back another hour long delay, with no communication towards travel credits or the situation.

Train from Montreal to Toronto over an hour late. 50% offer off future train journeys. I am one off tourist who won't be able to use their trains again. They won't give me any compensation. Took them nearly 2 wwwks yo reply to mh email. My taxi had to charge over an hour waiting time. Feel they are racist against tourists.

Only one of five trips was less than 30 min late. Over hour late again from toronto to london.

This is the worst company with the worst policies ever. I traveled for many years with my trained service animal without issue. After the service animal policy changes in 2024 I was denied access with my dog. My options were to retain the animal or provide proof of his abilities. I paid a trainer for an evaluation and he confirmed his abilities. But this was not enough. They failed to provide a trainer they wanted me to use and because of a wording error by my physc Dr. I'm still refused. He clearly states that I have ptsd and my dog is trained for me but because he put that he is also for emotional support I'm denied. I put up for years with there delays and awful service and this is what you get. Boycott! I will never give them my money again. Trains are junk and the people are rude and entitled.

One of the worst train systems I’ve ever been on. Never get anywhere on time, waiting for nearly 40 mins in between stations every ride I have been on so far. Honestly the worst system ever, I have been on atleast 30 rides or more on this train and not once has it been on time.

Travelled Toronto to Montreal in Business Class. Onboard crew had a cold and impersonal manner about them. I asked for help with seat power not working and they gave couldn’t care less and incorrect solutions. Never offered a seat change. The train arrived just over 4 hours late. Their customer relations department refused my claim for late arrival compensation despite their published policy. It really means nothing as they can simply decide due to weather they will deny and claims for that date. We paid $500 for two one way tickets. We feel we did not receive our moneys worth.

The trains are always late, I’ve never had a train that was on time and it’s so disorganized when it comes to time management

Via is absolutely terrible. I’ve taken 8 trains in the last 6 months and only 1 arrived on time. The rest are 1-2 hours late. I’ve missed connections in Toronto. All they do is blame CN but GO transit also uses their tracks and manages to be on time. I wouldn’t recommend Via to anyone!!

Always delayed. Never on time. I have ridden several times and every time it has been A MINIMUM OF 3 HOURS LATE. Brutal travel experience. The cabin smells like farts on the old fleet as well.

7 hours for Québec City - Montréal. The train was stuck because of cargo trains (why?) that were blocking the way ahead. Nobody told us why.

I would avoid taking the line from Toronto to ottawa or vice versa if possible. It is never on time, I’ve taken this route at least 5 times both ways before and it is always late by an hour or more to the final destination.

Perhaps most frustratingly, even during peak hours Via Rail insists on stopping at the 12 stations along the way, like Trenton Junction or Cobourg, where hardly anyone boards or disembarks. You will spend upwards of 20 minutes sitting still on the tracks to let other trains go by.

If you have a mode of transportation scheduled later the same day as the via rail train, you will most likely miss it. Despite this being a routine issue, via rail fails to do anything to fix it and fails to offer any sort of compensation. Once again. Avoid this route unless absolutely necessary.

They are a victim of the rail lines that they use but don't own (CN track) and must 'share' with freight, but the whole operation is outdated, pathetic and frustrating. Constant delays, Soviet type experience in train stations waiting in line for hours. Poor updating of status of delays. They have spend billions on new rolling stock - so some great trains - but don't expect to arrive within an hour of the stated time.

Very bad experience, it will drive you to a crazy

Ottawa to Toronto. Delayed by over 90 min. The worst part was its -12C outside and the heat in the train was non existent. Everyone was wearing their winter coats as if we were outside for 6 hours. Costs twice as much as gas for driving would have been. Awful experience and I will never use VIA again.

Train is always late and they don’t give compensations if they are late for less than one hour. Often late by about 40 minutes, which is frustrating considering ticket prices