How To Survive a 16 Hour Train Ride
Every year, usually for the Holidays, I find myself having to deal with the good people at ViaRail to get myself home to the Maritimes. I take the train because it is cheaper than flying and it stops right in my home town. However, while I may be saving myself money this way, I am definitely not saving myself any time. The ride from Ottawa to home takes an incredible 16 hours (give or take a time-change and the wait time in Montreal for your second train).
So, how do you survive such a trek?
First things first, for the Montreal-Halifax leg of the trip, whatever you do, do not take the “Comfort Class.” I will tell you right now that there is nothing comfortable about spending the better part of 16 hours trying to sleep in a chair next to a perfect stranger who hogs the armrest. Do yourself a favour and pay the extra money to upgrade yourself to the sleeper car. It will mean the difference between sharing a bathroom with 60 people who grew up in a barn and having your own private little corner where you don’t have to plug your nose before going in.
Other perks of being in the sleeper side of the train include a bar service where you can get a small bottle of wine for five dollars. You won’t find a deal that good in any restaurant. You should also take this opportunity to befriend the bar guy because he’s also the one who controls the movie you can see in his car. If he’s nice, he might let you pick it yourself.
Avoid the dining car if you can, since it is mighty expensive, and bring snacks. Or you can always see the aforementioned bar guy for sandwiches or microwavable pasta dishes (they are surprisingly good). Bring a book and hang out in the dome car or one of the many lounges found on the new train. This is also a great location to meet new people. I’ve met a lot of really interesting folks on the train and good conversation definitely makes the ride go by faster.
And then, of course, the whole point of a sleeper car is so you can sleep. ViaRail does not skimp when it comes to their blankets. Down-filled comforters all the way! At this point you can simply let yourself get lulled to sleep by the constant chugga-chugga as you speed towards your destination.
When you wake up, be sure to grab yourself a complimentary coffee (they used to have a continental breakfast included, but they’ve gotten cheap) before you hop off onto the platform.
And that’s how you survive a 16 hour train ride… of course, if you can afford to fly and save yourself all that time, you go right ahead M. Money-Bags.
So, how do you survive such a trek?
First things first, for the Montreal-Halifax leg of the trip, whatever you do, do not take the “Comfort Class.” I will tell you right now that there is nothing comfortable about spending the better part of 16 hours trying to sleep in a chair next to a perfect stranger who hogs the armrest. Do yourself a favour and pay the extra money to upgrade yourself to the sleeper car. It will mean the difference between sharing a bathroom with 60 people who grew up in a barn and having your own private little corner where you don’t have to plug your nose before going in.
Other perks of being in the sleeper side of the train include a bar service where you can get a small bottle of wine for five dollars. You won’t find a deal that good in any restaurant. You should also take this opportunity to befriend the bar guy because he’s also the one who controls the movie you can see in his car. If he’s nice, he might let you pick it yourself.
Avoid the dining car if you can, since it is mighty expensive, and bring snacks. Or you can always see the aforementioned bar guy for sandwiches or microwavable pasta dishes (they are surprisingly good). Bring a book and hang out in the dome car or one of the many lounges found on the new train. This is also a great location to meet new people. I’ve met a lot of really interesting folks on the train and good conversation definitely makes the ride go by faster.
And then, of course, the whole point of a sleeper car is so you can sleep. ViaRail does not skimp when it comes to their blankets. Down-filled comforters all the way! At this point you can simply let yourself get lulled to sleep by the constant chugga-chugga as you speed towards your destination.
When you wake up, be sure to grab yourself a complimentary coffee (they used to have a continental breakfast included, but they’ve gotten cheap) before you hop off onto the platform.
And that’s how you survive a 16 hour train ride… of course, if you can afford to fly and save yourself all that time, you go right ahead M. Money-Bags.
Labels: Random
posted by Nancy Kenny at
2:35 PM
4 Comments:
Hey: I'm back...
I'm interested in the actual price differences: do you mind telling us, your faithful throng, how much comfort, sleeper, and air cost?
I love the train, but i always found the price difference (particularly for shorter trips like ottawa-montreal or ottawa-toronto) between train and air (or driving, in the case of montreal) to be negligible... Where is your hometown anyway (email if you don't want to post that)
well, happy new year,
E
By
Ereek, at 9:39 AM
(man, I use a lot of parentheses)
(E)
By
Ereek, at 9:40 AM
I'm from Bathurst, NB.
The problem with flying home is that there is only a small airport in my home town that has one flight per day, from one flight carrier. Flying directly home from Ottawa and back would cost about 750$ (thank you Air Canada).
Now, I could fly to Moncton, which is about a two and a half hour drive from Bathurst for $500. One problem with that is that the weather can be very unpredictable. If there is a snow storm on the day of my flight, there is no way my mother would drive down. Another problem is that it would end up costing my mother at least 100-150$ in gas for her truck, so the price difference is negligeable.
The train, however, goes right through my home town and I can have a berth or a sleeper for about 400-500$ (depends on time of year and whatever deals may be in place). Comfort class would cost about 250-300$ but like I mentioned above, it's not very comfortable for such a long trek.
I'll post a price list for Ottawa-Montreal soon.
By
Nancy Kenny, at 9:51 AM
ah! Cool, thanks.
E
By
Ereek, at 10:13 AM
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