The Océan at Moncton, New Brunswick...

Go East, young man

The Man in Seat 61 says "You can head West from Toronto to the Rockies & Vancouver on VIA Rail's great transcontinental streamliner, the Canadian.  But what happens if you go East?  VIA Rail's other long-distance train is the Océan from Montreal to Halifax Nova Scotia, and if you ride it you'll discover a whole new Atlantic Canada.  What's this 836-mile journey like and what is there to see in Halifax & Nova Scotia like when you get there?  Read on to find out..."

  Train times for VIA Rail's Océan to Nova Scotia

  How much does it cost?

  How to buy tickets

  What's it like on board the Océan?

  Montreal to Halifax in pictures

  Things to see in Halifax & Nova Scotia

  Watch the video: Montreal to Nova Scotia by train

  Vacations & tours using the Ocean

Changes to the Océan from 2023 onwards:  VIA Rail are making significant changes to the Ocean from 2023.  Ex-Canadian Pacific 1954-55 stainless-steel sleeping-cars of the sort currently used on the Canadian will replace some or all of the Renaissance sleeping-cars built in Britain for the abortive Channel Tunnel sleeper services.  The booking system will show you whether the sleepers it is offering are Renaissance, Renaissance with toilet & shower, or (if it doesn't say Renaissance) the stainless-steel 1950s Budd cars.  There is now no 'Park' car at the rear of the train, so no observation dome, as there is no longer a facility to turn the train around at Halifax (needed to ensure the Park car is always at the rear).

Train times

* A VIA Rail shuttle bus leaves from Quebec City Station (Gare du Palais) at 21:00, arriving Sainte Foy station at 21:30 to connect with the train to Halifax.

** A VIA Rail shuttle bus meets the train, leaving Sainte Foy station at 06:40 and arriving Quebec City Station (Gare du Palais) at 07:10.

Montreal to Halifax is 1,346km or 836 miles.

How much does it cost?

• Fares vary depending on the season and how early you book.  But as an example, Montreal to Halifax might cost:

  Can$210 in an Economy class reclining seat.

  Can$366 per person sharing a Sleeper Plus class 2-bed sleeper with or without shower, including all meals.

  Can$421 for sole occupancy of a Sleeper Plus class 2-berth sleeper with or without shower, including all meals.

• To check prices for your date of travel between any two stations, simply use www.viarail.ca.

How to buy tickets

• Option 1, buy at www.viarail.ca

  You can buy tickets to Halifax Nova Scotia from Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa or Toronto at the official VIA Rail website www.viarail.ca, wherever you live in the world.  It'll book both economy seats and sleepers.

  When Select class and fare plan appears, select discounted or Escape fare against the type of accommodation you want, assuming you want the cheapest fare and are happy with limited or no changes or refunds.

  Booking opens 11 months (331 days) in advance.  You print your own tickets.

• Payment problems on viarail.ca?

  There are recent reports of VIA's payment system refusing non-Canadian cards because of a standard for card verification set higher than most foreign cards.

  One correspondent says he got it to work with a Visa Debit issued in Denmark like this: Proceed to pay as normal, when it goes into the redirect loop remove everything after .aspx in the URL, then the payment goes through with no issues.  Does this work? 

  Another traveller got it to work by creating a profile and using a browser other than Chrome or Safari.  Feedback appreciated.

• Option 2, buy at Omio.com

  If you have problems with viarail.ca and only want to book economy class, you can easily buy tickets at Omio.com in multiple currencies & languages, with no payment problems.  However, Omio can't book sleepers.

• To buy tickets by phone, call VIA Rail on 1 888 VIA-RAIL (1 888 842-7245).

• Vacations & tour packages using this train.

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What's it like on board the Océan?

The Ocean uses VIA Rail's modern air-conditioned Renaissance cars.  These were built in the UK in the 1990s for the abortive Channel Tunnel NightStar sleeper train service, but instead of running from London to Amsterdam & Frankfurt or Edinburgh and Glasgow to Paris, they were sold to VIA Rail and now run between Montreal & Halifax.  Some or all of these Renaissance sleeping-cars will be replaced by Ex-Canadian Pacific 1954-55 stainless-steel sleeping-cars of the sort currently used on the Canadian at some point from 2022 onwards.  Watch the Montreal-Halifax video.

Economy class reclining seats

If all you can afford is an Economy Class seat, don't worry.  The Renaissance seats cars were purpose-built for overnight journeys, with deep recline and spacious 2+1 configuration across the car width.  You step up into your seat from the aisle, as the seats are raised on a plinth giving you a welcome sense of private space.  Most seats are unidirectional and forward-facing but at one end of each car you'll find some bays of 4 seats around a table and 2 face-to-face seats across a table.

Economy class lounge car

There are two Renaissance lounge cars, one each side of the restaurant car.  The one on the Economy seats side of the restaurant car acts as the Economy Class lounge and has a food counter selling tea, coffee, wine, beer and snacks.  The one on the sleeping-car side of the restaurant car makes a pleasant place to wait for a restaurant table to be available or to play cards, for example.

Sleeper Plus class

Each Renaissance sleeping-car features 10 private sleeper compartments, all with an upper & lower berth, two 120V power outlets, and an en suite featuring either a washbasin and toilet, or (in half the compartments) a shower, washbasin and toilet.  All necessary bedding, towels, bottled water, body gel & shampoo are provided and meals in the restaurant car are included in Sleeper Plus class.  Sleepers seem to cost the same whether they are the sort with a shower or not, so book early and grab one with a shower!  Only whole compartments are sold, so solo passengers will be charged for a whole private compartment.

2-berth sleeper in night-time mode.		The same sleeper, converted to seats mode.

En suite toilet & shower.		Lying in bed...  You can see the door to the en suite.		The sleeper corridor.

Restaurant car

Passengers in Sleeper Plus class enjoy meals in the restaurant car included in the fare, and table reservations will be taken before each meal.  If space is available Economy class passengers can also use the restaurant car.  The menu has several choices of starter, main and dessert, with tea or coffee afterwards.  Alcoholic drinks are available at extra cost, a glass of red or white wine typically costs around Can$8 and there are also microbrewery beers.  VIA make it clear that these are 'catered' meals rather than prepared by a chef, but in spite of that the food is remarkably good.

A restaurant with a view.		A 3-course dinner is served.

...and breakfast then a 3-course lunch next day.		The restaurant car with tables for four & for two.

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Montreal to Halifax in pictures

1.  Montreal:  A great city with a distinctively French flavour, yet also thoughtfully provided with its very own Nelson's Column - pictured above left.  If you're coming from Toronto by connecting VIA train, see the information & photos here.

2.  Montreal Gare Centrale was opened in 1943.  There are art deco friezes at each end of the main hall, you could almost be in a French or Belgian station.  More about the station:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Station_(Montreal)

3. Sleeper passengers can use the comfortable Montreal VIA Business Lounge before departure.		4.  Just before boarding starts, sleeper passengers check-in & make a dinner reservation just outside the lounge.

5.  You board the train, greeted at the door by your sleeper attendant, and settle into your private sleeper in its seats mode.

6.  The train leaves Montreal and crosses the St Lawrence river as first sitting for dinner is called.

7.  Dinner in the diner.  Seafood chowder, beef bourguignon with potatoes dauphinoise, cake and coffee.

8.  Time for bed.  When we return to our compartment our sleeper attendant Kathryn has made up our beds, complete with chocolates on the pillow.  Nighty night!

9.  Good morning New Brunswick!  We're following a river, early morning mist shrouding the hills, and in several places intrepid fly-fisherman are trying their luck.

10.  Breakfast with a view.  Porridge, coffee, juice and frittata as lakes, forest & rural farms pass by outside.

12.  Forest, trees & more forest - with many waterlogged clearings.

13.  Vista dome time!  Time to go up into the dome for some sightseeing.  Update:  There is now no dome car.

14.  Lunch is served.  Soup, Chinese noodles with chicken then sugar pie.  Moncton New Brunswick is a major stop and there's time to stretch your legs on the platform.

15.  The Ocean passes from New Brunswick into Nova Scotia.

16.  Murals at Truro, the easternmost passenger station in North America.		17.  Passing Canadian National freight trains.

18.  A fabulous view of another Nova Scotia lake from the vista dome, which was attached to the Ocean until 2022.

19.  Approaching Halifax the train rounds the Bedford Basin.   After the Basin, the Ocean passes through a deep rock-cliff cutting, past some giant grain elevators and into Halifax station.

20.  Good evening Halifax!  The Ocean has arrived at Canada's prime Atlantic seaport.

21.  Halifax station, opened in 1928 near pier 21 & the ocean terminal, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_railway_station_(Nova_Scotia)

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Hotel in Halifax:  Westin Nova Scotian

The historic Nova Scotian Hotel, now the Westin Nova Scotian, is right next to the station, indeed it was originally a Canadian National Railway hotel and has its own entrance direct from the station booking hall.  It's a very comfortable place to stay with a good range of excellent local microbrewery beer in the bar.  For more historical information about the Hotel Nova Scotian see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Westin_Nova_Scotian.

Things to see in Halifax & Nova Scotia

Statue of Samuel Cunard who started his trans-Atlantic shipping line from Halifax.		Pier 21, now the immigration museum.  In WW2 the Queen Mary & Queen Elizabeth docked here & thousands of Canadian & US troops went to war through this pier.  Post-war, many war brides arrived here to start new lives.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pier_21.

The world's largest non-nuclear explosion occurred in Halifax on 6 December 1917 when the French munitions ship SS Mont Blanc collided with the Norwegian SS Imo and blew up.  This piece of anchor was blown 2.35 miles, right across Halifax. The town hall clock (above right) stopped permanently at 9:07pm, the time the explosion occurred.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion.

Halifax clock tower, a symbol of the city.		The Lieutenant-governor's residence, Halifax.

The Titanic graves, Fairview cemetery.  After the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912, the cable-laying ship Mackay-Bennett had the sombre task of recovering bodies.  Over 330 victims of the sinking are buried in Halifax, most here in the Fairview cemetery.

Ernest Freeman's grave.  Signed on as senior steward, but in fact secretary to White Star chairman Bruce Ismay who paid for the stone.  See www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/ernest-edward-samuel-freeman.html .		Tomb of the unknown child, paid for by the crew of the Mackay-Bennett.  The 2-year-old has now been identified by DNA testing, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Leslie_Goodwin

Peggys Cove.  The much-visited picture-perfect Nova Scotian fishing village some 25 miles from Halifax.

Lobster lunch.  Ryers Lobsters just beyond Peggys Cove serves Nova Scotia's best fast food:  Freshly-cooked lobster. With thanks to Les of www.halifaxtaxitours.com for the excellent tour of Halifax & Peggys Cove

Video guide:  Montreal to Nova Scotia by train

Vacations & tours

• You can book a vacation or tour package which includes a journey on the Ocean.  Train travel specialists Railbookers offer customisable trips including flights, hotels and train travel.  They know their stuff, look after their clients well and get a lot of repeat business.

    UK call 0207 864 4600, www.railbookers.co.uk. 

    US call free 1-888-829-4775, www.railbookers.com.

    Canada call free 1-855-882-2910, www.railbookers.ca.

    Australia call toll-free 1300 971 526, www.railbookers.com.au. 

    New Zealand call toll-free 0800 000 554 or see website.

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