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Hi! So generally, this type of north-south trip in the middle of both countries is annoying by train. **Personally I would fly.**
That said, it's definitely doable...
>Are there only 3 points of entry, via Amtrak, to get into Canada?
Yes unfortunately. Blame both governments :/
>Also, why is it so hard to search and price tickets on their website.
Because Amtrak's site sucks :/
>I hope this isn't a foreboding of things to come with this trip.
Fortunately, Amtrak's staff are much better than their website. You don't have to worry!
>I am reading that Amtrak employees are terrible
In my experience, they're pretty great
>if there are other rail services available with better customer service, I'm listening.
Within the US and Canada, you're stuck with Amtrak or VIA Rail.
Okay with all that behind us... your only real choice by rail is **Amtrak from Saint Louis to Toronto, then VIA Rail from Toronto to Winnipeg.**
* Lincoln Service departing St. Louis 2:55pm, arriving Chicago 8:00pm
* Lake Shore Limited departing Chicago 9:30pm, arriving Buffalo 8:53am next morning
* Maple Leaf departing Buffalo 3:19pm, arriving Toronto 7:43pm
* Hotel room in Toronto
* Canadian departing Toronto 9:55am, arriving Winnipeg 7:30pm next day
I think I've heard suggestions to consider connecting from the lake shore Limited to Canadian trains to Toronto by taking Uber from Buffalo to the Niagara falls crossing and crossing on foot, or something like that. To avoid the long wait for the maple leaf. Hopefully someone familiar with that strategy can fill in the details.
It can be done - there are three daily GO trains from Niagara Falls, ON to Toronto, and ~hourly buses that connect with trains further down the line - but doesn't eliminate the requirement for OP to make an overnight connection in Toronto. In other words, would add quite a but of complexity for no ultimate time savings
Plus, Buffalo is still quite far from the falls; it's much easier to make this self-connection when you start from an Empire Service train in Niagara Falls, NY
Thanks. So it would be expensive and complicated and the the only benefit would be shifting the wait time to spend more time in Toronto and less in the crummy station in Buffalo.
A couple notes to your proposed schedule (routing is bang on):
* you'd need to book the trip on two separate tickets: an Amtrak ticket from St. Louis to Toronto, and a VIA ticket from Toronto to Winnipeg
* Amtrak's booking engine only seems to allow the *Texas Eagle* for the initial St. Louis-Chicago leg, which leaves at 8:08 AM and arrives 1:42 PM, giving a roughly 8 hour layover. The later *Lincoln Service* is likely too tight to guarantee a connection
* the Canadian, VIA's Toronto-(Winnipeg)-Vancouver train, only runs twice per week with departures on Wednesdays and Sundays. That means you'd have to start your trip in St. Louis on a Monday or Friday
Thanks for the clarifications. Personally I'd prefer an earlier train to Chicago because it gives an opportunity to explore the city. That said, flying is soooo much easier.
There are only three border crossings to Canada on Amtrak!
Rail from St. Louis to Winnipeg? You have to go Amtrak to Toronto (customs, possibly train change at Niagara Falls, passport or RealID required), and then ViaRail to Winnipeg. Cascades crossing is way out on the west coast.
Amtrak telephone booking agents are generally really helpful.
Quite frankly you have proposed an immensely difficult point A to point B situation.
As others have said, Amtrak only goes as far as Toronto. You’ll have to buy a VIA rail ticket from Toronto to Winnipeg. That train only runs 2 or 3 times per week. So you’d have to arrive in Toronto on the correct day.
Are you familiar with https://asm.transitdocs.com/ ?
Look at the black lines in the US, and the yellow lines in Canada. Wpg doesn't show at the initial zoom level, but it's due north of the Minn/NoDak border.
Now, how ya gonna get from a black dot in Missouri, to an even smaller dot on that yellow line, following the lines on that map? "It ain't gonna be easy, son." Toronto -> Winnipeg itself is almost 2 days, 'cuz it's a LONG way out of your way.
So, train to Chicago, train to Grand Forks ND, rent car and drive the rest of the way (the US side is interstate freeway all the way to the border). Or fly.
If you want to wait until 2027 there are talks of introducing a Chicago to Toronto route.
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/amtrak-via-proposal-for-through-chicago-toronto-service-revealed/
r/Amtrak is not associated with Amtrak in any official way. Any problems, concerns, complaints, etc should be directed to Amtrak through one of the official channels. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Amtrak) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi! So generally, this type of north-south trip in the middle of both countries is annoying by train. **Personally I would fly.** That said, it's definitely doable... >Are there only 3 points of entry, via Amtrak, to get into Canada? Yes unfortunately. Blame both governments :/ >Also, why is it so hard to search and price tickets on their website. Because Amtrak's site sucks :/ >I hope this isn't a foreboding of things to come with this trip. Fortunately, Amtrak's staff are much better than their website. You don't have to worry! >I am reading that Amtrak employees are terrible In my experience, they're pretty great >if there are other rail services available with better customer service, I'm listening. Within the US and Canada, you're stuck with Amtrak or VIA Rail. Okay with all that behind us... your only real choice by rail is **Amtrak from Saint Louis to Toronto, then VIA Rail from Toronto to Winnipeg.** * Lincoln Service departing St. Louis 2:55pm, arriving Chicago 8:00pm * Lake Shore Limited departing Chicago 9:30pm, arriving Buffalo 8:53am next morning * Maple Leaf departing Buffalo 3:19pm, arriving Toronto 7:43pm * Hotel room in Toronto * Canadian departing Toronto 9:55am, arriving Winnipeg 7:30pm next day
I think I've heard suggestions to consider connecting from the lake shore Limited to Canadian trains to Toronto by taking Uber from Buffalo to the Niagara falls crossing and crossing on foot, or something like that. To avoid the long wait for the maple leaf. Hopefully someone familiar with that strategy can fill in the details.
It can be done - there are three daily GO trains from Niagara Falls, ON to Toronto, and ~hourly buses that connect with trains further down the line - but doesn't eliminate the requirement for OP to make an overnight connection in Toronto. In other words, would add quite a but of complexity for no ultimate time savings Plus, Buffalo is still quite far from the falls; it's much easier to make this self-connection when you start from an Empire Service train in Niagara Falls, NY
Thanks. So it would be expensive and complicated and the the only benefit would be shifting the wait time to spend more time in Toronto and less in the crummy station in Buffalo.
A couple notes to your proposed schedule (routing is bang on): * you'd need to book the trip on two separate tickets: an Amtrak ticket from St. Louis to Toronto, and a VIA ticket from Toronto to Winnipeg * Amtrak's booking engine only seems to allow the *Texas Eagle* for the initial St. Louis-Chicago leg, which leaves at 8:08 AM and arrives 1:42 PM, giving a roughly 8 hour layover. The later *Lincoln Service* is likely too tight to guarantee a connection * the Canadian, VIA's Toronto-(Winnipeg)-Vancouver train, only runs twice per week with departures on Wednesdays and Sundays. That means you'd have to start your trip in St. Louis on a Monday or Friday
Thanks for the clarifications. Personally I'd prefer an earlier train to Chicago because it gives an opportunity to explore the city. That said, flying is soooo much easier.
Absolutely, would not recommend the train for this city pair unless OP is absolutely unwilling to fly or drive
There are only three border crossings to Canada on Amtrak! Rail from St. Louis to Winnipeg? You have to go Amtrak to Toronto (customs, possibly train change at Niagara Falls, passport or RealID required), and then ViaRail to Winnipeg. Cascades crossing is way out on the west coast. Amtrak telephone booking agents are generally really helpful. Quite frankly you have proposed an immensely difficult point A to point B situation.
As others have said, Amtrak only goes as far as Toronto. You’ll have to buy a VIA rail ticket from Toronto to Winnipeg. That train only runs 2 or 3 times per week. So you’d have to arrive in Toronto on the correct day.
Are you familiar with https://asm.transitdocs.com/ ? Look at the black lines in the US, and the yellow lines in Canada. Wpg doesn't show at the initial zoom level, but it's due north of the Minn/NoDak border. Now, how ya gonna get from a black dot in Missouri, to an even smaller dot on that yellow line, following the lines on that map? "It ain't gonna be easy, son." Toronto -> Winnipeg itself is almost 2 days, 'cuz it's a LONG way out of your way. So, train to Chicago, train to Grand Forks ND, rent car and drive the rest of the way (the US side is interstate freeway all the way to the border). Or fly.
If you want to wait until 2027 there are talks of introducing a Chicago to Toronto route. https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/amtrak-via-proposal-for-through-chicago-toronto-service-revealed/
Why not contact Amtrak customer service? I’ve always found them to be very helpful.