Business Class Luxury on European-Inspired Canadian Trains

hello and welcome or should I say bouru today we're heading down to Montreal with a business class ride on VR rails Renaissance train sets gardu pal or Palace Station is Quebec Central Railway Terminus and serves via rails Corridor trains built in 1915 by the Canadian Pacific Railway the beautiful chat esque building is modeled after the Chateau deir in France it is also very similar in style to that of the shto frak hotel about a half mile from the station entrance the station is named after Palace Street which in turn was named after the Palace of the intendent or civil administrator of New France the station Now lies on rud de lag gardu pal the street renamed in 1986 the interior of the building is just as stunning as the exterior the station foyer features a vated ceiling with stained glass in set in the Skylight unfortunately a net partially obscures The View upwards a part of the ongoing station Renovations taking place at the time of filming an ornate station clock and old signs from the Quebec Central and Canadian national Railways are spotted here as well the main waiting Hall is a little less fancy than the foyer but it's still very pretty large windows on the walls l in plenty of natural light Illuminating the seating area and two shops for waiting passengers flirt Le are everywhere in this station these beautifully painted ones inset along the bricks are just one example of the many scattered throughout the Terminus with our business class ticket this afternoon comes access to Quebec's business class Lounge the lounge is located in the far corner of the station next to the doors out to the platforms the lounge is super small with only around 20 seats although a separate area the lounge isn't actually a separate room the wall nearest the ticketing desk reaches only halfway to the ceiling meaning we hear almost everything going on outside the lounge at least we get complimentary beverages including coffee tea sodas juice and water again there's no food but will be served dinner shortly after departure so no worries there while we wait for boarding to begin let's take a quick look at our route down to Montreal Our Journey Begins heading Northwest out of Quebec City before wrapping around to Sis station and the pier laort Bridge with no stops to Drummondville the speeds pick up our train darting through the Canadian Farmland the station's then come in quick sucession or Corridor service stopping in ranville STI asent and S LOM within an hour approaching Montreal we cross back over the St Lawrence River the tracks turning North before arriving at Montreal's garal we'll cover a total of 167 M on our ride today with a travel time of 3 hours and 15 minutes our inbound train soon backs into the station and we can head out to Platform One for boarding as expected our train today is made up of a set of via Renaissance coaches a European designed Canadian operated fleet of cars with a rather interesting pass the Renaissance Fleet is beautiful their striking green color scheme paired with their rounded European shape makes for some of the best looking rail cars in North America business class is located in car 1 at the front of the train stepping on board we find our assigned seat 12s and get settled in for the ride ahead coach class concludes their boarding in Via Real train 29 departs Quebec the Rena coaches were initially constructed in the 1990s for the night star an overnight train between the UK and Continental Europe operating via the channel tunnel the nightstar project was scrapped in 2000 with v electing to purchase all 139 complete and incomplete night star coaches the coaches were shipped to Canada before entering service in 2002 of the 139 coaches purchased only 106 cards ever made it into service both coach and business class on vs Renaissance trains are operated in a 2x1 with almost exclusively Airline style rows there are two tables for group seating plus a row for passengers with disabilities at the ends of each car business class seats feature a brown and beige mikette with what I believe to be the only modern use of the V1 logo embroidered into the leather antim masser each seat offers around 9 Ines of leg room though there's a little space beneath the next seat to stretch out a foot rest is also provided though I find it's much too close to be useful the small seat back pocket is located on the lower half of the seat back inside of which is the safety information card for our Renaissance coach instead of folding down each tray table slides up and out of its holster before folding across the seat the Dual segmented table can can then be unfurled farther for a very large dining or working space other at seat amenities include two power outlets and a trash bag on the wall with a single LED reading light built into the ceiling Comfort is a must on overnight trains and Via did a fairly good job at continuing that Trend into these daytime running cars the seats are curved for optimal lumbar support include plenty of soft padding on the back and bottom with an aggressive winged headrest to help passengers get some sleep on longer rides beside each seat are two massive padded armrests their addition adding to the already excellent seating for when it's time to relax or get some shut eye each seat can be reclined quite far pulling up on the latch integrated into the armrest allows the bottom to slide forward and the back to recline into an excellent lounge chair the forward movement of the bottom allows these seats to recline without intruding on the space behind so there's never any need to be concerned with ruining another traveler's experience the actual layout of the coach is where things get interesting for starters all of the seats are elevated above the central aisle which gives a sense of separation and privacy when seated the sleeper design is also seen in the luggage hold below the seat is a large slanted storage space with easily enough room for a medium-sized suitcase and a backpack for items too big to fit in the seat back pocket but too small to store below a mid-range storage space is built into the ceiling it's a little less traditional than a standard overhead rack but the net helps prevent items from falling out the biggest advantage to each of these strange spaces is that they're blocked off from the other rows which gives some peace of mind for overnight Travelers if you're enjoying our ride on Via Renaissance coaches why not hit that subscribe button it's totally free and it really helps support the channel if you want to go the extra Mile with your support then check out the Channel's patreon or become a channel member if you two want your name in the video or just want to support the channel in more ways than one then head on over to the links in the description below drinks are the first service in business class on VIA Rail complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are available to all business class passengers I went with an evening Jin and tonic which is followed shortly by a refreshing cold towel and a small snack pack our train twists and turns as it leaves Quebec views of The caparo Trestle and the St Lawrence River visible through the tree line [Music] departing sanoa our train makes another sharp curve to begin its crossing of the St Lawrence [Music] River Canadian Nationals Quebec Bridge hosts the railway The Bridge opened in 1919 the 3,238 Ft or 987 M long structure supports three Highway Lanes one rail line in a pedestrian walkway going across the bridge looks a little something like this yes the footage is reversed but just use your [Music] imagination beside the Quebec bridge is another massive structure the Pierre leaport Bridge constructed in 1970 the bridge is the longest main span suspension bridge in Canada a title which it will soon lose once the Gordy how international bridge opens in 2025 the Shier river is our next Waterway crossing the sun reflecting off the shallow Waters [Music] below now running parallel to the Trans Canada Highway our train accelerates to its top speed of 100 [Music] mph having concluded the first service our business car attendant comes back through to deliver our dinner vrl offers complimentary meals to all business class passengers for our meal this evening I opted for the homemade meatballs which come served with a roll cheese and grapes and a caramel chocolate mous for dessert wine is also available to complete the dining experience but I chose water instead the main course is okay at best the meatballs are plated on a bed of sauteed greens with a side of Penta the meatballs themselves are tender and very well seasoned and the penta adds a milder note to the dish the problem is that the greens are really terrible it's all super bitter and it looked like I'd been served more stem than Leaf plus their excess moisture has pulled around the palenta making them a bit soggy not a good start to the meal the bread is much better with bits of olive scattered throughout the cheese and grapes are delicious though it would have been nice to have more than two grapes to go with the Savior to the meal is of course the dessert the chocolate mousse is Rich and sweet contrasted wonderfully by the salty sweet caramel on top unfortunately I really can't give this meal anything higher than a 4 out of 10 so I won't it's a 3 and 1/2 I would likely rate it closer to a five if those greens just weren't so bad outside rural Canada continues to whip past the window dining now finished it's time to get up and explore our car and the rest of our train set starting up at the front of the business class car we find a coat rack the affirm Mission table seating and the bathroom at the other end of the car are the accessible seats and two large luggage racks between business and Coach is the service car a combination Kitchen Cafe and Lounge area the service car serves as a committal space for passengers to hang out dine or get some work done on longer Journeys it's also the only car on the train to offer Wi-Fi though the connection isn't great continuing through the cafe car we enter coach class or at least we attempt to the door refusing to open fully another car another broken door although comfortable these cars have been plagued with mechanical issues throughout their lifetime hoping for an unobstructed view of the Rails behind us I continued through the broken doors to the rear of the train of course the view out the back is anything but unobstructed because there's no permanent door to isolate the end of the car a fabric door has been installed in addition to the vestibule being locked closed there's also some hastily posted danger signs taped on the walls in the vestibule and on the innermost door while we can't get a good look at the tracks behind us we can at least take a look at coach class while we're here coach class is virtually identical to business class with the same 2x1 layout and elevated seats coach seats offer a similar 9 in of leg room and a footrest which folds down from the seat back above the foot rest is a small seat back pocket which again contains the safety information card the tray table deploys by sliding up and out of its holster before folding out across the seat Outlets are found between the Dual rows or towards the window on the single side of the train reclining works in the same way as business class with the latch integrated into the armrest the only major difference between coach and business is the seat maette coach class features a mild blue with black anti-c cassers and fabric armrests instead of leather ones we'll see these seats again in a couple weeks when we climb back aboard the ocean to head down to Montreal but for now it's back to business class returning to our business class car it's time to take a look at the bathroom on board the bathroom as we found is located at the front of our car although on the smaller side this bathroom is functional and fairly clean the sink works well with plenty of soap paper towels and two 120 volt Outlets found just below the mirror there's also plenty of toilet paper and a hand sanitizer dispenser for an alternative cleaning option for a bathroom it's fine it's very basic and doesn't really fit in with the rest of the business class car but it works and sometimes that's all you need outside rural Canada continues to whip past the window the sun slowly setting Beyond the Horizon much like the day comes to a close so too must the life of the Renaissance coaches from the moment they entered service via's Renaissance fleet has been plagued with mechanical and accessibility issues taking the place of the Renaissance coaches and later the lrc's in Bud coaches are 32 Seaman Venture train sets the new trains feature modern comfortable seating larger Windows improved lighting greater accessibility and a potential top speed of 125 mph should track infrastructure be upgraded that's also not to mention that they look fantastic the Seaman SCV 4 2 is aggressive and improved for the Canadian environment delivery completing the sleek and stylish look 10 of the 32 train sets have been delivered so far with more on the way in the coming years Darkness sets in as the Montreal Skyline grows ever closer on the horizon our ride must end in the same way it began by crossing the St Lawrence River our train wraps its way through Montreal pulling into Montreal's G Cal at the end of the line as our train crawls into gar Central it's time to bring today's video to a close next week we'll be starting off a new series on the channel where we'll take a look at all of Amtrak's sleeping accommodations starting off with the super liner room Mets if you're new around here I would really appreciate it if you hit that subscribe button down below it's totally free and it really helps support the Channel I want to extend a huge thank you to my patrons and members y'all are amazing and your incredible generosity is greatly appreciated if you two want your name in the video or just want to support the channel in more ways than one then head on over to the links in the description below but anyways that's all I have for today thanks for riding with me and I'll see you in the next next one

Channel: Lonestar Trip Reports

Views: 17,094

Keywords: via rail review, long distance train, via rail first class, Montreal to halifax train, canada sleeper train, via rail montreal, via rail, quebec, quebec station, quebec via rail, quebec trains, via renaissance, renaissance coaches, renaissance business class, via renaissance train, VIA venture, venture trainset, VIA rail business class, renaissance train set, nightstar sleeper, The Ocean, The Ocean Sleeper, Sleeper Trains, Amtrak, Amtrak Venture Train, Amtrak Sleeper Train

Id: 5WXkZjslmwA

Length: 18min 39sec (1119 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 10 2024