My Experience leaving Kingston
Leaving Kingston at 9:13am, I was expecting to be in Toronto by noon. Sadly, that’s not the way it worked out. Let me lay down the timeline.
7:50am – Woke up on time, so far so good. Already packed even!
8:15am – Called Modern Taxi to request transport to Via Rail train station.
8:30am – Called Modern Taxi again about taxi.
8:40am – Realized mobile was out of credit (this comes into play again later)
8:50am – Modern Taxi shows up! Back on schedule, woot.
9:03am – Arrive Via Rail station, check baggage and wait for train. Train is 15 minutes late, so check email from station.
9:30am – Train arrives, board as normal. Still confident about schedule! Though peeved that train wi-fi is iffy today, confident this won’t hurt day.
~10:40am – Big bump. Wi-fi dies totally.
~10:50am – Train slows, then stops. Odd, but being a railroaders daughter, I don’t question it. A stopped train is better than a train moving when it shouldn’t. 
~11:00am – Via Rep announces that a CAR hit our TRAIN. Will be detained indefinitely.
11:47am – Arr Bellville, ON, approximately 2 hours from Toronto. Train was meant to be in Toronto at this time.
12:30pm – Via Rep announces OPP are speaking to engineers and will be detained at least another half hour, possibly more.
12:45pm – Train cleared by OPP and allowed to continue. Approximate arrival time in Toronto, 2pm. (How the math worked out on this I’m not sure, but
During the time we were stopped in Bellville, the Via personnel on the train were very polite – one even stopped to explain to me where Bellville was in relation to Toronto after hearing I wasn’t from Ontario! Beverage and snack service continued during stop time, and free snacks were handed out.
Very luckily, the woman in the car that hit the train was shaken up but not hurt. From what I saw, Via Rail acted very responsibly in their reaction to this situation, and as per their policy, offered a 50% discount off your next fare with your receipt. This doesn’t help me in the slightest as an American citizen visiting Ontario, but I appreciate it nonetheless. I was told by a member of staff I can request a refund for my wi-fi purchase since it was down, which is a plus in my book.
All in all, when this situation started to unfold, I was prepared to write a scathing criticism of Via Rail, as I was certain they’d find a way to cock up the situation the way amtrak so frequently does. However, I have nothing but good things to say about the company and their staff and will continue to travel Via Rail on future trips to the “Great White North” and will recommend it to friends as well.
NOTE – I had a flight out of Toronto at 2pm. Managed to talk US Airways into changing it to Wednesday, January 21st at no charge to me, which goes to show that american airline companies aren’t all bad! Would still prefer to fly Air Canada, but eh, maybe next time. 
Cheers to my brilliant friend that booked me a hotel room for the night on Priceline.com for $50, you’re fabulous!
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January 21st, 2009 at 4:44 pm
We do our best
I’m glad to hear that poor woman was unhurt.
February 24th, 2009 at 12:44 am
Wow, I can’t believe that happened!! I’m glad the lady in the car was alright though, had she been seriously hurt you could’ve been delayed a lot longer. And it was nice of them for the discount, and for the refund for your wi-fi. That definitely sucks that it died, I don’t know how I would have entertained myself! Overall, nice story and glad to hear you made it safe, and glad it didn’t impact your wallet.