Have taken that route many times. Comfortable. Staffers are great. Biz Class is very good - although I agree Dan the food is nothing special. Delays due to GO Train or freight train traffic can be an issue. I always made sure I had no meetings scheduled for a couple of hours after the scheduled arrival time. After many years of construction Toronto's 'new' Union Station is pretty spectacular! That iconic building across the street from Union is the Royal York Hotel. At one time, it was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth.
Business class offers more privacy and personal space. Food was ok but space and privacy make the journey more enjoyable. I took the BC last summer from Toronto to Montreal. I will be doing it again soon. Great video.
Thank you so much Dan, your videos are very helpful, I watched a lot of your videos about Montréal last year, and it helped me out a lot when I visited during Winter. I have booked another stay in Montréal in September this year, traveling from Costa Rica to Toronto, then from Toronto I booked a Via Rail Economy class seat, this is great as to see how it looks like and how's the boarding process.
Fabulous video Dan! I'd love to take the train between Toronto and Montreal! I like the business class advantages but not if the extra cost is super high. $40 for price differential is amazing! I'd grab the business class seating and amenities for such a low cost! What a fabulous idea for a video!! So enjoyable!! Thanks Dan!! Hope you are super well!! 🙂
Thanks for the comparison, Dan. Very interesting. The point about comparing prices is worth noting. I once took business class from Ottawa to Montréal because it was $90 versus $60. The extra $30 was more than worth the cost of the food and two glasses of wine that I had.
Business class lounge at Union Station was a major historical restauration project early on in the Union Station rebuilding as it had been abandonned and allowed to rot and they had to look at historuical photographs to find out what to restore it to.
technically, there are 2 main entrances to Central Station: Corner of Mansfield and René Lévesque. (the Queen Elizabeth was built over it without it closing during construction). And at the 800 René Lévesque (main entrance) which used to be the main entrance from the parking lot which was one level below street (entrance was from Cathcart - the road still exists and is the parking entrance)(s) for Place Ville marie and Queen Elizabeth hotel. the Queen E parking used to be outdoor and the parking for Central station and where taxis deposited passengers. Today, you enter from street level though 800 René Lévesque and go down escalators to station level.
LRC coach cars also have plugs but are well hidden under the seat between the seats. On the original LRCs the pusg were on the wall back when they had the original and more cofmortable seats before installing those cheap seats. 10 or the Original LRC cars were totally rebuilt down to bare metal, and the bathrooms are new as opposed to just cleaned up, but they retained the original seats with new cushions and new fabric (the pocodot seats). This major rebuilding was to give the LRCs another 30 years of life, but contract abruptly cancelled by the previous goverbment sending the Moncton company ISRI into bankruptcy). This rebuild had totally new electrical and door systejs and they removed the deadweight banking system and all the old mechanical relays that never worked reliably with a huge saving in weight). Instead of finishing the lRC rebuild, VIA ordered the heavy steel cars from Siemens and ensure there was insufficient baggage space on it to force it to become petty about hand baggage and changing $25 for hand luggage.
From Toronto to Montreal (and back) I would def spend 40 dollars more for business. No more. If you plan in advance you can easily get tickets upgraded from ec to business for 25-30 bucks. It's worth it. However, if you want to save money, and I say this as a psychologist- if you are going to Montreal (from Toronto) for a party or to see relatives and you want to save a few bob, then take economy there and business class back to Toronto.
@@mitchellbarnow1709 Thx for that. That's pretty tall tbf. It's weird when you watch someone week in, week out, think you "know" them, then a simple thing like this pops up 😲
@@willlyons9823It’s something that you just don’t know without any perspective. His arms are very long, but lanky and strong 💪🏽 looking with a nice vascular structure. Sorry, this probably sounds weird to talk about on public comments.
In the original LRCs, business and coach were identical, but better seat pitch in business withs ame seats. After the big cuts of the 1980s, VIa cut attendants in coach to one service a few cars, and only filled one coach galley with the 1 attendant going around with trolley. The same galley in business class but it remained stocked and active for that bsiness class car. Coach galleys saw their ovens/microwaves removed since VIA no longer serves any hot items n coach, bot those were retained in business class. When VIA started to focus on business class only, it also started to put in better seats in business class. (the differentiation for current batch is much less than previous seats). Apparently from your video, the annoying curtains in business can remain open without obstricting a big part of window. In Coach you often can't fuilly expose the window because of the idiotic curtains they added.
2m00s - "Car 7, seat 13B. Help me remember that TH-cam" 2m37s - Sits in seat 7B 5m30s - My "wrong seat anxiety" passes when he reaches Union Station. 🤣
It’s not an airline. They should stop pretending, especially since the trains are slow and often late and very expensive, given the standard of service. Compare it to the difference between 1st and 2nd class on a TGV, especially the price différence between class tickets.
![ทุกครั้งที่หลับตา (Lucid Dream) - AYLA's [ Official MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4i1OBAQyv58/mqdefault.jpg)
Have taken that route many times. Comfortable. Staffers are great. Biz Class is very good - although I agree Dan the food is nothing special.
Delays due to GO Train or freight train traffic can be an issue. I always made sure I had no meetings scheduled for a couple of hours after the scheduled arrival time.
After many years of construction Toronto's 'new' Union Station is pretty spectacular!
That iconic building across the street from Union is the Royal York Hotel. At one time, it was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth.
Business class offers more privacy and personal space. Food was ok but space and privacy make the journey more enjoyable. I took the BC last summer from Toronto to Montreal. I will be doing it again soon. Great video.
Thank you so much Dan, your videos are very helpful, I watched a lot of your videos about Montréal last year, and it helped me out a lot when I visited during Winter. I have booked another stay in Montréal in September this year, traveling from Costa Rica to Toronto, then from Toronto I booked a Via Rail Economy class seat, this is great as to see how it looks like and how's the boarding process.
Fabulous video Dan! I'd love to take the train between Toronto and Montreal! I like the business class advantages but not if the extra cost is super high. $40 for price differential is amazing! I'd grab the business class seating and amenities for such a low cost! What a fabulous idea for a video!! So enjoyable!! Thanks Dan!! Hope you are super well!! 🙂
Thanks, mate! Just considering whether to take business for my upcoming trip. Your video is helpful.
Thanks for the comparison, Dan. Very interesting.
The point about comparing prices is worth noting. I once took business class from Ottawa to Montréal because it was $90 versus $60. The extra $30 was more than worth the cost of the food and two glasses of wine that I had.
Business class lounge at Union Station was a major historical restauration project early on in the Union Station rebuilding as it had been abandonned and allowed to rot and they had to look at historuical photographs to find out what to restore it to.
The Ottawa business lounge is by far the nicest one
Thank you for this great review. I'm traveling to Montreal for the first time and this definitely helped.
Great to hear!
I enjoyed the video. I love train travel. It’s usually less complicated than air travel.
technically, there are 2 main entrances to Central Station:
Corner of Mansfield and René Lévesque. (the Queen Elizabeth was built over it without it closing during construction). And at the 800 René Lévesque (main entrance) which used to be the main entrance from the parking lot which was one level below street (entrance was from Cathcart - the road still exists and is the parking entrance)(s) for Place Ville marie and Queen Elizabeth hotel. the Queen E parking used to be outdoor and the parking for Central station and where taxis deposited passengers. Today, you enter from street level though 800 René Lévesque and go down escalators to station level.
I was once moved from the economy car to business. The business seat was so awesomely comfortable and had so much legroom.
Great one mate, im going to Montreal next week and I was wondering whats the difference between those two.
Thanks
I love the video cam, easily to handle, where'd you get it?
LRC coach cars also have plugs but are well hidden under the seat between the seats. On the original LRCs the pusg were on the wall back when they had the original and more cofmortable seats before installing those cheap seats. 10 or the Original LRC cars were totally rebuilt down to bare metal, and the bathrooms are new as opposed to just cleaned up, but they retained the original seats with new cushions and new fabric (the pocodot seats). This major rebuilding was to give the LRCs another 30 years of life, but contract abruptly cancelled by the previous goverbment sending the Moncton company ISRI into bankruptcy). This rebuild had totally new electrical and door systejs and they removed the deadweight banking system and all the old mechanical relays that never worked reliably with a huge saving in weight). Instead of finishing the lRC rebuild, VIA ordered the heavy steel cars from Siemens and ensure there was insufficient baggage space on it to force it to become petty about hand baggage and changing $25 for hand luggage.
I think you are amazing man
I agree with you Adam, they don’t come any better than Dan Vineberg!
Thanks, trains are Great!✌🏼💜
I usually travel the way you just did in this video. Economy on the way there, businesses class on the way back.
From Toronto to Montreal (and back) I would def spend 40 dollars more for business. No more. If you plan in advance you can easily get tickets upgraded from ec to business for 25-30 bucks. It's worth it. However, if you want to save money, and I say this as a psychologist- if you are going to Montreal (from Toronto) for a party or to see relatives and you want to save a few bob, then take economy there and business class back to Toronto.
Hey Dan. Can you fit a 32L backpack (like Decathlon's Quechua NH 500) under the seat?
So how tall are you if you're always having to avoid bashing your head? Lol
You're super relaxed on this channel btw. Loving your insights 👏😃
I believe that he is 1.9 meters or 6’4” from my memory several years ago.
@@mitchellbarnow1709 Thx for that. That's pretty tall tbf.
It's weird when you watch someone week in, week out, think you "know" them, then a simple thing like this pops up 😲
@@willlyons9823It’s something that you just don’t know without any perspective. His arms are very long, but lanky and strong 💪🏽 looking with a nice vascular structure. Sorry, this probably sounds weird to talk about on public comments.
Do they weigh bags or go through luggage’s ?
In the original LRCs, business and coach were identical, but better seat pitch in business withs ame seats. After the big cuts of the 1980s, VIa cut attendants in coach to one service a few cars, and only filled one coach galley with the 1 attendant going around with trolley. The same galley in business class but it remained stocked and active for that bsiness class car. Coach galleys saw their ovens/microwaves removed since VIA no longer serves any hot items n coach, bot those were retained in business class. When VIA started to focus on business class only, it also started to put in better seats in business class. (the differentiation for current batch is much less than previous seats).
Apparently from your video, the annoying curtains in business can remain open without obstricting a big part of window. In Coach you often can't fuilly expose the window because of the idiotic curtains they added.
hey dan, arslan from solar camper car is in montreal, would love to see a collab 😂
I still find VIA to be expensive, prices are more then flight sometimes.
Economy is go to choice if height is ard 170cms
2m00s - "Car 7, seat 13B. Help me remember that TH-cam"
2m37s - Sits in seat 7B
5m30s - My "wrong seat anxiety" passes when he reaches Union Station. 🤣
How can you be in Canada and not have beer?
ah the wonderful inexpensive train system of canada. decades behind europe 🤨
And centuries behind east Asia.
You sat in the wrong seat on the first train 🤣
It’s not an airline. They should stop pretending, especially since the trains are slow and often late and very expensive, given the standard of service. Compare it to the difference between 1st and 2nd class on a TGV, especially the price différence between class tickets.
If you have a disability via rail upgrades you to business for free. At least I always get upgraded for free
I have the caregiver option so my caregiver is free, I was never offered free business though. Did you contact customer service and they offered it?