Via Rail to Montreal

Our first experience of travelling by train in Canada was not without its challenges but it had a lot of plus points too.

First, we were later getting to the station than planned because the person who should have met us at the subway for us to return the car was delayed. Then the station was frustratingly short of signage.

Once we found the queue for boarding the train we were able to speak to a member of staff who took us to wait by the lift to the platform, but there was another issue! The seats we had been allocated were ordinary seats, not in the wheelchair accessible area as requested. Although the wheelchair space was available, the seats around it were not. We could either wait for a later train or transfer Racheal to an ordinary seat. The later train wasn’t really an option as it would mean arriving in Montreal at 10pm, an hour and a half later than our intended arrival time. We opted to transfer her to a seat on the basis that she can manage on an aircraft seat so a train for 5 hours should be ok.

Catching a Via Rail train in Canada is quite an experience. Boarding is similar to flying. Passengers queue at a ’gate’ in the station and are only allowed on to the platform when boarding commences. Passengers with disabilities and small children board first. As you walk along the platform every carriage has member of staff holding a placard or the appropriate number of fingers to indicate the carriage number. We were in carriage 3, almost the furthest from the lift. The train was much higher than the platform so Racheal had to go on a portable lift up to the doorway while I climbed up into the next carriage and made my way to meet her. Summer followed with all the luggage assisted by more staff. Once we had transferred Racheal to her seat, the wheelchair was stowed in the wheelchair space in the next carriage and we settled down to enjoy the journey. We were in ‘economy’ class but our carriage was better than first class in the UK. Added to this, every carriage had an attendant for the duration of the journey. The train manager walked the length of the train making sure everyone was comfortable and being attended to, and there was a regular trolley service for drinks and snacks.

Racheal was quite happy on her seat and in many ways it was better than the wheelchair space because Summer could sit right next to her making feeding and activities easier. One downside was the nice leather seats were slippery, but with the help of rolled up jumpers and coats we managed to keep her in a reasonable position.

When we arrived at Montreal the platform was level with the train door, only needing a small ramp to bridge the gap between train and platform. However there was a platform stair lift to get up to the station lobby which was a bit tricky due to the length of Racheal’s chair. A porter kindly brought our luggage up on a large sack barrow and showed us the way to a lift which took us up to street level. It was dark, and difficult to find our bearings in a strange city, so the 5 minute walk to our hotel took nearly 20 minutes. We went 3 sides of a square instead of straight there! It’s also a little difficult to manage 3 suitcases, 2 large backpacks, 2 small backpacks, assorted other small bags and a wheelchair between two of us. On smooth surfaces it’s not too bad, but Montréal’s roads and pavements have a lot of potholes! We were very pleased to get to the hotel!!