by George L.
My husband and his cronies travelled to Ohio as part of their hunt for the best roller coaster ride and they decided to do most of the journey by train.
They left Montreal first thing in the morning on Saturday, June 30th — the day after the service disruption. For the two days prior to departure, he was antsy about what might happen to their trip if the disruption continued, but VIA Rail kept them well informed and they were obviously relieved to have service restored just in time.
They had never travelled in VIA 1 before, so they didn’t know what to expect, but wow, were they surprised. Great breakfast, tons of coffee, croissants, eggs and fruit. Since it was an early departure, they greatly appreciated the clean, quiet environment and the excellent service. (I just hope they weren’t snoring too badly – apparently, they slept most of the way).
The only unpleasant event on that first leg was an aggressive passenger who refused to stop smoking in the bathroom. VIA staff caught him twice and had to warn him twice. My husband and his friends were wondering if they should intervene, but the attendant dealt with him very firmly. End result? The attendant cancelled the aggressive passenger’s return trip!
This impressed all – it's a relief to see that VIA Rail will not tolerate belligerent behaviour and that staff is conscious of maintaining a peaceful environment for all travellers.
The train was only a few minutes late, arriving in Toronto shortly after mid-day. Since they were squeezing this trip in over the long week, a missed connection would have been disastrous. When they realised they might miss the connection in Toronto, my husband approached VIA personnel about the possibility of holding their connecting train to Windsor. The VIA staff member was totally amenable and the boys were able to make their connection after all.
All in all, they spared themselves a 12-hour car trip, had a great breakfast and snoozed most of the way. I think VIA 1 has made four more converts!
They left Montreal first thing in the morning on Saturday, June 30th — the day after the service disruption. For the two days prior to departure, he was antsy about what might happen to their trip if the disruption continued, but VIA Rail kept them well informed and they were obviously relieved to have service restored just in time.
They had never travelled in VIA 1 before, so they didn’t know what to expect, but wow, were they surprised. Great breakfast, tons of coffee, croissants, eggs and fruit. Since it was an early departure, they greatly appreciated the clean, quiet environment and the excellent service. (I just hope they weren’t snoring too badly – apparently, they slept most of the way).
The only unpleasant event on that first leg was an aggressive passenger who refused to stop smoking in the bathroom. VIA staff caught him twice and had to warn him twice. My husband and his friends were wondering if they should intervene, but the attendant dealt with him very firmly. End result? The attendant cancelled the aggressive passenger’s return trip!
This impressed all – it's a relief to see that VIA Rail will not tolerate belligerent behaviour and that staff is conscious of maintaining a peaceful environment for all travellers.
The train was only a few minutes late, arriving in Toronto shortly after mid-day. Since they were squeezing this trip in over the long week, a missed connection would have been disastrous. When they realised they might miss the connection in Toronto, my husband approached VIA personnel about the possibility of holding their connecting train to Windsor. The VIA staff member was totally amenable and the boys were able to make their connection after all.
All in all, they spared themselves a 12-hour car trip, had a great breakfast and snoozed most of the way. I think VIA 1 has made four more converts!
