Canada Travel Guide

The railway may have created modern Canada but passenger trains are now few and far between - at the beginning of 1990 more than half the VIA Rail services were eliminated at a stroke and fares were increased dramatically. Services are notoriously slow and delays common as passenger trains give way to freight, though the city links between Montréal and Toronto are still speedy and efficient. However, rail travel can still be a very rewarding experience, especially on trains with special "dome cars" that allow an uninterrupted rooftop view of the countryside.

One of the saddest losses of the VIA cutbacks was the legendary Canadian train which followed the old Canadian Pacific lines daily from Montréal to Vancouver. Today's Canadian departs three times a week from Toronto and uses the more northerly old Canadian National lines, through the monotonous muskeg of northern Ontario, stopping at Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton before hitting Jasper. However, the scenery between there and Kamloops, the last big station before Vancouver, is some of the Rockies' best. The trip is scheduled to take three nights but usually runs late; it costs a minimum of $418 per person one-way in low season, $615 in high.

The other major VIA trains still running are the Western Canada services from Winnipeg to Churchill, Jasper to Prince Rupert, and Victoria to Courtenay; Ontario has services linking Toronto with Windsor, Ottawa and Niagara Falls; Québec has trains between Montréal and Québec City - as well as Ottawa; and the Eastern Canada network runs between Montréal, Halifax and the Gaspé.