VIA corridor turn from Toronto

[MARC Rider]

I have a whole day layover in Toronto, and I am considering the possibility of sampling the VIA Toronto - Montreal corridor service for at least part of the day.

According to the timetable on the RPA website, it seems that there's am 8:32 AM departure from Toronto (#52/62) that stops in Oshawa at 9:11, Coburg at 9:43, Belleville at 10:20 and Kingston at 10:57, with an arrival in Montreal at 1:43 PM. Return trips seem to be Oshawa (Dp 11:25, ar 12:03 PM #61), Coburg, Dep. 11:25, Ar 12:03), Belleville (Dep 11:20 Ar 1:18 PM #643), Kingston (11:38, 2:18 PM #63), and Montreal (dp 4:56 PM, ar.10:30 PM). I think a day trip all the way to Montreal is a little more than I care to do. My main concern is that I have at least an hour (or more) wait at the outlying stations, and some of them appear not to be close to the downtown, so I'd like some opinions about which stations would be the most interesting places to wait. I'd also want to try the on-board corridor food service to see how it compares to Amtrak, and I'm not sure if all trains have business class, or only some of them. Any suggestions or recommendations would be welcome

 

[jiml]

You won't get far from most of the stations you've mentioned without a car or taxi. Belleville is probably the best for train-watching and there is a coffee shop within walking distance. Kingston is not close to anything and the Oshawa station (also used for commuter GO trains) is basically on the grounds of a giant GM plant and features a large parking lot with little in walking distance unless you want Home Depot or Best Buy. Cobourg is a quaint small town and there is a KFC near the station.

Don't forget to include in your calculations that many Ottawa trains from/to Toronto also stop at these intermediate stations, so your wait might not be as long if you've only considered Montreal trains. Service is the same on either. Going to Montreal is too far given your criteria IMHO.

 

[jiml]

Of course if you did go to Montreal, a really good smoked meat sandwich is a 2-block walk from Gare Centrale.