OTTAWA — Overnight train service between Ottawa and Toronto is about to make a comeback, with VIA Rail offering luxurious sleeping cars to match those of the heyday of train travel, the Ottawa Citizen reports.
Each standard sleeping cabin will have two beds, wash basin and toilet. Each car will also have several deluxe cabins, with shower as well as wash basin and toilet.
A good night’s sleep will not be cheap. A deluxe sleeping cabin is expected to cost about $400 for two people, all taxes included, for a one-way trip.
The service should enable business travellers to arrive in Ottawa or Toronto refreshed in perfect time for the start of the business day, VIA Rail says.
It will also make it possible, after a 12-year gap, for travellers to and from Ottawa to journey across the continent by train, without having to break their journey for an overnight stop in Toronto.
The Ottawa-Toronto overnight train will connect with the transcontinental, the Canadian, that runs three days a week from Toronto to Vancouver. The eastbound transcontinental will connect with the overnight train from Toronto to Ottawa.
An overnight train in each direction between Ottawa and Toronto will operate every night except Saturday, starting Oct. 27, VIA announced yesterday.
Overnight trains between Ottawa and Toronto were scrapped in 1990 when service suffered due to lack of money and shortage of passengers.
The new sleeping-car trains will use equipment purchased by VIA Rail to expand and improve its service, Malcolm Andrews, a spokesman for the rail company said.
The sleeping cars were built in Britain by Alstom. Each sleeping car has 10 double bedrooms, about half of them standard and half deluxe.
The overnight run will increase the number of trains most days from five to six in each direction between Ottawa and Toronto.
Also on Oct. 27, VIA Rail will open its new station in Barrhaven, where all Ottawa-Toronto trains will stop.
The overnight trains are expected to consist of three sleeping cars, two cars for passengers in seats, and a lounge car. There will be no dinner service. Passengers will get continental breakfast.
Trains in both directions will spend part of the night parked in Kingston. This is partly for the convenience of passengers, who would not want to reach their destination in the middle of the night, Mr. Andrews said. It also suits VIA, which will add several cars for commuter passengers to the train in Kingston for the run to Toronto.
The overnight train from Ottawa is expected to leave after midnight and arrive in Toronto at about 8 a.m. The overnight train from Toronto is expected to leave about 11:30 p.m. and arrive in Ottawa at about 6:15. the next morning.
There will be no single sleeping cabins, but a passenger travelling alone will pay less than two people would for the cabin.
Overnight sleeper fares have not yet been set between Ottawa and Toronto.
Between Montreal and Toronto, which already has overnight service using the new cars, the one-way fare for a person travelling alone is $252 for a standard cabin and $337 for a deluxe cabin. For two people, the cost is $379 for a standard cabin and $448 for a deluxe cabin. Fares include all taxes.