VIA Rail Toronto-Montreal line


	Toronto - Montreal
Number of Branches		2
Service type		Corridor
Distance		539km
Duration		MISSING
Stops		MISSING
Ridership (2019)		MISSING

The VIA Rail Toronto - Montreal corridor route is a route operated by VIA Rail as part of the VIA Rail Corridor services. It is the most heavily-used route in the VIA Rail network.

Route Details

Trains on this route run primarily on the Canadian National/Metrolinx Kingston Subdivision. They serve the cities of Belleville, Kingston, Brockville, Ottawa, and Cornwall, in addition to their terminuses of Montreal and Toronto.

Branches

This line has one branch:

Toronto Union Station - Montreal Gare Centrale (via Cornwall), trains 60-69; 660-669

History

Service on the Corridor between Quebec City and Windsor have existed early on, since before Confederation, in the form of a Grand Trunk Railway line between Quebec City and Windsor (continuing to Detroit and Chicago). By 1919 the GTR had been absorbed by Canadian National, which still owns the rails. The route of the Corridor has remained the same since the GTR's line was built.

Between 1976 and 1978, operations and rolling stock were transferred from Canadian National to VIA Rail Canada.

In the mid-1970s to the late 1990s, in an effort to increase ridership on the Montreal-Toronto route, Canadian National and VIA Rail Canada experimented with high-speed gas-turbine and diesel tilting trainsets. These experiments were jeopardized after numerous equipment failures and fuel problems with both types; however the latter's railcars still remain in service though powered by newer, more efficient locomotives.

Today, there are 9 runs serving the Cornwall branch, and 3 trains serving the Ottawa branch in both directions, on weekdays. The top speed for Corridor trains is 100mph (160km/h)