Early bird train between Ottawa and Toronto returns with Kingston stop: Via Rail | Globalnews.ca
Early bird train between Ottawa and Toronto returns with Kingston stop: Via Rail | Globalnews.ca
The new early bird train is scheduled to start running May 27.
Train #641 is being introduced starting May 27th, 2024, which departs Ottawa at 4:15, Kingston at 6:15, arriving in Toronto at 8:48am, which would be useful for anyone trying to get into a Toronto downtown office at 9am.
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Someone on Twitter (I know) said this was mainly for commuters, but as someone using VIA Rail in the Corridor, I can't imagine commuting to work with their services. Unless it's for wealthy commuters...
AFAIK VIA doesn't have monthly passes or any kind of rebates on tickets for regular users (aside from accumulating points and "preference") and it's necessary to book multiple days in advance. Otherwise it costs way more if trying to buy last minute tickets. I really don't know who would commute this way.
I asked the person that said this but never got a reply. Maybe we have a different definition of commuting.
Anyway, one nore departure is good news. It obviously cannot hurt and only add more options, even if limited or slow.
(All prices $CA)
Yes. If you were commuting from Oshawa or closer you'd use GO so this train doesn't stop there anyway. It's quite cheap, arrives frequently so you won't have to book a seat and convenient.
I agree that not having a railpass/multi-ticket since Covid really sucks for Via. They recently changed their entire reservation system so maybe they will bring it back in a year or two.
Where this train is competitive is for business people I think. The base price from Ottawa to Toronto is $60, and the most expensive Business class fare with lounge access and a meal is $150. Compared to flying, sure its 1/3 of the flight time not including security and getting to the airport and boarding and getting out of the airport (which is especially rough if you pick YYZ), but you are pretty miserable and it costs $280 similarly booked in advance in El Cheapo class. Comparing the two when booking last minute (if seats are available) you have up to $331 in business class by train or $580 by plane. If you know you're going to commute you can book at least a week in advance which generally doesn't sell out or get overpriced so long as it's not a holiday weekend, whereas flight prices need about 3 weeks to be ideal.
As an addendum, compared to driving, I think even just considering gas it's cheaper and faster to get from station to station by train (and most businesses people would hire a ride on both legs if time was more of an issue) Depending on how far out your actual start and end points are the car might make sense but really, train travel is the least stressful of the 3.
Commuting:
travel some distance between one's home and place of work on a regular basis.
If we're comparing the price and convenience of "commuting" by plane versus VIA Rail... erh... do people regularly take a plane to work?
I mean, yes, it can be in competition with planes for this kind of distance but... commuters?! Like, going to work a few times a week using VIA Rail, and we're comparing it to taking a plane... to work?! And even if we compare driving the whole road instead of driving to a station; who is going to bother booking tickets days in advance for a few times a week in order to be able to drive to a train station? If you just buy the cheapest ticket for going to work one morning and miss your train, you can't even use that ticket for the next train! Gotta pay extra for that privilege!
I really, really can't understand the "commuting" part. Maybe if someone goes to the office once a week and doesn't mind having like, 2 or 3 departures to come back home, it can be a nice addition... but... relying on VIA Rail to go to work, on a regular basis?! What kind of mad person would do that?
I can't really vouch for every part of the argument your acquaintance on Twitter, such that it's "mainly" made for commuting. Like I laid out earlier, it's more geared for business as clients and employers would be the ones expecting you to be in Toronto downtown by 9am for one reason or another. There are manager type of roles that need to travel as frequently as once a week between two cities, that's still commuting in my eyes. A Monday to Friday 9 hour round trip commute would be utterly insane, that's a quarter of your week gone. I'd have to be paid big bucks to put up with that.
Then again: One summer I did take a Via roundtrip every weekend (using a very nice pass deal at the time ofc) and I'd consider that commuting also.
Sidenote: In the morning Via in the corridor is very reliably on time. It's usually in the afternoon and evening when Via sees cascading delays by freight traffic.
Renting a 3 bedroom house in Toronto is more expensive than a similar house in Belleville + $1500 in monthly VIA Rail tickets. Plus lots of jobs are partly remote which makes the equation even more appealing.
Have you already tried to use VIA Rail to go somewhere once in a while? It's absolutely not a commuter service. Tickets have to be booked days in advance, and the cheapest ones are non-refundable and non-changeable. So a person commuting to and fro would need two very specific tickets every day, or pay more to have "flexible" ones that can be used with any departure. Otherwise if a person has a cheap ticket and misses their train, that ticket is now useless.
The argument of living in a suburb where housing is cheaper can be understood if there are real commuter services, like trains from GO or Exo, but otherwise, commuting regularly with VIA Rail sounds like a real nightmare. They are rarely on time, there are even fewer departures than commuter trains, and their ticketing system is totally inappropriate for every day users.
I had to make a similar choice many years ago, with a job in Montreal and me living 60 km away. There were commuter buses in the suburb but it was taking nearly 2 hours to go to work, and 2 hours to come back. To each their own but I most certainly prefer paying more to live closer to work, than having to deal with commuting with Exo or heavens forbid, VIA Rail.
Seriously, I want to reiterate/ask again, do you use VIA Rail often? Because as someone that has to use it a few times a year, the idea of commuting with them, even just a few times a month, is horrifying.
I work remote, live in Belleville, and visit our Toronto offices every couple of months. My experience with VIA Rail has been positive though I appreciate that I have a lot of flexibility. I can work while on the train so the commute isn't wasted time for me. Working while commuting is not something I could do if I drove or took a bus. The train can be late so I wouldn't organize an in-person-meeting within an hour of the scheduled arrival.
I agree that the ticketing system should be improved to encourage commuting, it would be a headache to buy tickets individually weeks in advance if I were using the service more frequently.
I just got back from living in Japan recently, and the boiling-frog syndrome of Canadian rail is palpable. I once got to the train station ~90 seconds before the last train to my home city was to depart, and was able to run in and buy the fare all in time to be able to run to the platform just as the train was pulling in.
If you bought a ticket with a non-reserved seat, you can take any train (or combo of trains if transferring) at any time you want between your 2 selected stations. Only if you choose to get a reserved seat and miss that departure is that portion of the ticket price lost (you can always just take a non-reserved seat on the next departure or likely get some leniency if you ask for a new reserved seat on a subsequent departure). Plus, there are always large discounts available for commuter passes.
I don't expect that level of rail in Canada, even in the Quebec City-Windor corridor, but holy hell we're so far behind.