I love via rail! The staff are always friendly, kind, knowledgeable and very understanding. I prefer to travel business class and it is SO worth it! We spoke with a viarail rep at the Union Station ticket office named Kim- she was absolutely amazing. The trains are always clean and comfortable. Even when there are delays in the train schedule, the staff are very accommodating. There was one staff member who was guiding the passengers up the escalator to board the train who was very rude and would not let my friend or I bled claiming “they weren’t ready for business class to board” so she let the long long line of economy passengers walk by, then allowed us up the escalator for no apparent reason. When we got to cart 1, we were the last business class passengers to board and everyone was already seated and ready to go. I’m not sure why she had such attitude but I was not impressed.

 Being a monopoly, Via can charge customers nearly whatever they want without reprocussions. I've ridden via trains fairly regularly for years and they count being up to 15 minutes late as being "on time" they are so consistently late that if I'm getting picked up by by a friend, I will tell them my train gets in 15 minutes later than it's scheduled for, so not to inconvenience them; this has also caused me to miss public transportation to get to other locations, causing me to spend even more money on the trip than needed

 Take business class from Toronto to ottawa numerous times a year. Excellent service, spacious seats, ok food, nice snacks, generous cocktails. Book early, forward facing full window seats are great, business class lounge is comfy.