Getting There By Rail
VIA Rail (tel: (418) 692 3940; website: www.viarail.ca) is Canada’s national rail service provider. Quebec City’s main rail station, Gare du Palais, is located northwest of Old Quebec, at 450 rue de la Gare-du-Palais, adjacent to the main coach station. The château-like railway station contains restaurants, cafés and left-luggage facilities. Trains arriving from the west also stop at Ste-Foy Station, 3255 chemin de la Gare, to the southwest. National rail enquiries and reservations should be directed to VIA Rail’s central hotline (tel: (888) 842 7245).
Rail services: Quebec City lies at the eastern end of the Quebec City–Windsor corridor, which accounts for 85% of Canada’s passenger rail traffic. Both economy and first class (VIA 1) cars are available on corridor trains, which link Quebec City with Montreal (journey time – 3 hours) to the west. The carriages are clean and quiet, with large windows that confer a sense of the country’s vastness, as the train passes acres of farmland and mixed conifer and deciduous forests. VIA 1 fares include a surprisingly good meal and complimentary Canadian wines. From Montreal, connections to Ottawa (journey time – 2 hours) and Toronto (journey time – 4–5 hours) are possible, as are Amtrak trains (tel: (800) 872 7245, toll free in the USA and Canada; website: www.amtrak.com) to New York City.
Transport to the city: Gare du Palais is a short walk from Old Quebec. Bus 18 stops in front of the station and a taxi stand is located along the side of the building, directly opposite the exit from the platforms.
|
