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Travel by Rail, Ottawa


See all Ottawa Transportation
Inside train car - Ottawa
Inside train car
by Simonneeddy
Ottawa Transportation: Travel by Rail tips and advice posted by real travelers and Ottawa locals.
Travel by Rail
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Travel by Rail: Ride the O-Train
  • Tip Rating:
  • Ride the O-Train once in Ottawa if you get a chance.

    This type of local transportation is still an experimental stage and expected to expand in the near future. The train system has been developed by a famous Canadian company, Bombardier and it was implemented into the Ottawa urban epicenter to ease road traffic on the streets. The route is not very long but quiet interesting. The price of the ticket is only $2- which is not much and the train will take you from station Greenboro to Bayview. There are five stations all together. Each station has one platform for both directions of travel except Carleton Station which has a separate platform for each direction accessed via a pedestrian underpass. I hope the O-Train will expand in the future and we'll see more of these red, futuristic looking trains cruising around town.

    There are also plans to create a high speed train going from Kanata to Orleans. These are the two districts at the opposite side of the city, (East end & West end) This would greatly loosen traffic on the already congested Highway 417 (Queensway)

    Hope you have a chance to ride the O-Train when you come to Ottawa. If you do, enjoy! :)

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  • Theme: Train
  • Phone: 613-560-1000
  • Website: http://www.octranspo.com/train_menue.htm
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    Travel by Rail: The Beauty of Via Rail!
  • Tip Rating:
  • My verrrry comfortable seat! - Ottawa
    My verrrry comfortable
    seat!
    by Lisser
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    I took a VIA rail overnight train to Ottawa and absolutely loved it! I think travelling by train is one of the best ways to see the countryside while you're enroute to your final destination.
    I had a lower berth, so I had a comfy seat during the day, and an even more comfortable bed at night! There's always lots to do, you can spend hours just looking out the windows! As well, the people you meet on the train are always interesting and definitely entertaining!
    The train I took stops in Montreal, and then has a 2 hour layover until you pick up your connecting train to Ottawa.

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  • Theme: Train
  • Website: www.viarail.ca
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    Travel by Rail: To Ottawa by train
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  • VIA RAIL runs several trains per day between Toronto and Ottawa. Also Quebec and Montreal have good train connections to Ottawa. Moreover Greyhound buses operate between these cities.
    The local buses of the Ottawa Public Transportation are frequent, but most of the main attractions are in walking distance from the city centre.

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  • Website: http://www.viarail.ca
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    Travel by Rail: We took the train from...
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  • We took the train from Montreal to Ottawa and then the bus from Ottawa to Toronto. I wish sometimes that the system were a bit more like in Holland where the buses and the trains are all together in one station. It would have given us little more extra time in Ottawa had we not had to look for that other station.
    The whole bus system is pretty hard to figure out I thought. We ended up just taking a cab back and forth because that was the easiest.

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    Travel by Rail: I took the train into and out...
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  • I took the train into and out of Ottawa.
    www.via.ca
    From the train station it is one city bus to downtown.
    Public transport is quite efficient, www.octranspo.com There is an OC Transpo info booth set up in Rideau Centre, at the McKenzie King bridge exit.

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    Travel by Rail: I took the train to go to...
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  • I took the train to go to Ottawa (from Toronto). From the trainstation I went by bus to Rideau Shopping Center. From there it was not far to the hostel.

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    Travel by Rail: Taking the train
    Most of us who were from Eastern Canada travelled by VIA Rail to get to Ottawa. We boarded it in Moncton, spent the night on the train, and switched trains in Montreal in the morning. The train is a great place to chat and get to know people, and we also had a very comic moment. The train porter, Dimitri, knew from our name tags that we were on our way to the Terry Fox Centre, so he told us a funny story: "Don't fall in love! Every time I see the Terry Fox girls coming back they're always crying because they'll never see that guy again... It breaks my heart to see them cry... Love is a wonderful thing but don't fall in love!" It became an inside joke among us Maritimers.

    On the way back home, we took the train again. Fortunately, Dimitri didn't see Chelsea crying her eyes out... (not over a guy, it was because she would soon part with her new best friend...).

    On an overnight VIA rail train, you have the option of having a coach seat (cheapest), a bunk, a single room, or a room for 2-3 people. If you're only travelling a few hours, you'll be in coach.

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    Travel by Rail: VIA Rail
  • Updated By luke82 on February 24, 2006
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  • Name me a city that has the central train station 15 km south of downtown? You got that right ... the answer is Ottawa. Sometime in the mid 60s, or even later (don?t know the date exactly) the counselors of this city decided to move the train station from downtown (5 min walk from the Parliament Buildings) to the Alta Vista area. I am sure they had their reasons at the time, but right now the move looks totally illogical. The old central train station building is still standing in downtown Ottawa, but it is now being used as an exhibition centre or maybe a museum; don?t really know as I have never been inside. I just shake my head every time I walk past it.

    The new train station is fairly modern, with lots of parking, and is located on the transitway, so overall it is still easily reachable. VIA rail is the national rail company of Canada, and it serves Ottawa quite nicely. Frequent trains run to and from Montreal (2hrs) and Toronto (4hrs).

    Prices with the ISIC card are as follows: One way to Montreal around 25$, one way to Toronto $50. Without the card, expect to pay 30% more.

    Trains are comfortable, but not as fast as the ones across Europe. They are also hardly ever full, so last minute tickets should be available.

    To get to downtown, take bus 95 BASELINE / FALLOWFIELD. Should take about 15 min or so. A cab ride from the train station to downtown im guessing would be around 20$.

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  • Theme: Train
  • Website: http://www.viarail.ca/
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    Travel by Rail: Take a train
    In May 1989, we took a tour on an old steam train that travelled around Ottawa, through a tunnel going under Dow's Lake in the middle of the city, across a bridge to Hull/Gatineau, and back to the Museum of Science and Technology. It was really cool!

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    Travel by Rail: Take the Train
    The train station for Ottawa is located a little ways from the center of town - it used to be right on the Rideau Canal across from Elgin Street. But it is very reachable by public transportation - particularly by fast busses that zoom out speeding on special lanes.

    I took the train from Ottawa to Montreal. The trip took about 2 hours each way, and my Return ticket was around $85.

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