As part of my pre-Christmas travels last year, I used my VIA Preference points to knock another iconic sleeper train off my list: The Ocean. While not a bucket-list item like The Canadian, the Ocean was still a trip I wanted to try. It’s an overnight sleeper train from Montreal
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Jeff Jedras: Eating off the Hill: Is VIA finally upping its catering game?
As I’ve mentioned I am a frequent train traveler, usually between Ottawa and Toronto. With them extending the eligibility during COVID I was able to achieve the highest tier of VIA’s frequent traveler program this year. One of the perks? We get to choose our meal selection before everyone else
Continue readingJeff Jedras: Day 5 on VIA Rail’s The Canadian: Vancouver at last
Day five of my transcontinental journey began in my home province of British Columbia, with the Rocky Mountains having passed behind us in the darkness of night. Which, without any city lights, is really dark. As I lifted the shades for my glimpse of home I was greeted with —
Continue readingJeff Jedras: Day Four on VIA Rail’s The Canadian: Onward to the Rockies
You will recall that in our last installment we were stuck for most of the day in a largely closed for the holiday Saskatoon. Thankfully, I was woken in the wee hours by the shaking of the train as we finally got the green light to pull out of Saskatoon,
Continue readingJeff Jedras: Day three on VIA Rail’s The Canadian: The unscheduled Saskatoon stopover
After going to sleep as we pulled out of Winnipeg station to resume our westward journey, I woke up some hours later to a sunrise over the snowy prairie of eastern Saskatchewan. It took some time to get out of Ontario, but now the provinces were flying by. And we
Continue readingJeff Jedras: Day Two on VIA Rail’s The Canadian: Winnipeg bound and leaving Ontario behind
Day two was a Thursday, and my first full day on The Canadian — VIA Rail’s transcontinental train from Toronto to Vancouver. It was also the morning I woke up from my first night’s sleep on the train, and that was an experience in and of itself. I was in
Continue readingJeff Jedras: My first day on VIA Rail’s The Canadian: Toronto to Capreol, Ontario
VIA Rail’s cross country “The Canadian” — four-and-a-half days across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver — is something that has been on my bucket list for years. I set it as an aspirational. far off goal when I opened my VIA Preference account about 20 years ago. I watched a
Continue readingJeff Jedras: My trip to VIA’s The Canadian: Ottawa to Toronto in business class
If you follow my social media channels, you’ll know I just spent five days taking VIA Rail‘s iconic “The Canadian” train, from Toronto to Vancouver. I posted short recap videos along the way (day five will go up tomorrow) and I’ll also be posting a longer video for each day
Continue readingA BCer in Ottawa: Eating on the road: Three trains, three lunches with VIA Rail
I took the train down to Scarborough a few weeks back in business, which is really the best way to travel by train. But pro-tip: the bar car usually opens around 11AM so schedule your trip accordingly. After all, you don’t want to pay a premium for just an omelette
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Con Assault on Via Rail
Ever since I was a boy, trains have been my favourite way to travel. I love gliding along, stretched out in a comfortable seat with plenty of leg room, reading a book, checking out the web, having a snack and a coffee. Or just staring out of the big windows
Continue readingcmkl: Train drivers and bus drivers
So there are three train engineers dead after their train derailed in Burlington, ON today. It’ll be a year before we know the how and the why of what happened.
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