For a while, I’ve been wanting to use the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel Bus to make a cross-border connection to VIA Rail. Living in Ann Arbor, this first became a realistic possibility when D2A2 bus service from Detroit to Ann Arbor started. That was in 2020, and ultimately everything shut down (including D2A2 and the Tunnel Bus) before I could make the trip. Last year I made a few trips on VIA, but I was dropped off/picked up in Windsor for a couple of them and connected between the Michigan Flyer+Robert Q airport shuttles for the other, as the Tunnel Bus still had not resumed. Earlier this year I opted to try the new Trailways bus service across the border when I went to Toronto to check out a CFL game and Canada’s Wonderland. That was OK, but I still missed the train.
Ultimately, I wanted to do the cross-border bus connection to VIA, and this weekend served as a great opportunity. That’s because this weekend the Grey Cup is in Hamilton - I’ve watched the CFL quite a bit going back a while (in part due to playing in the summer and it’s unique rules), and I’ve always wanted to go to its championship game, the Grey Cup. The past few times it was relatively nearby (as in day train distance) it didn’t work out, but this time it finally did. Funny that is happens the same week that there is some mumbling about Amtrak a crossing the border to meet VIA in Windsor - though that may be another pipe dream based on VIA’s response…
As such, I booked tickets on VIA for the weekend - leaving Windsor on train 76 at 1:46pm today, and returning from Aldershot on train 73 at 12:13pm on Monday. Why Aldershot? That’s because Hamilton doesn’t have a VIA station, and Aldershot is the closest. Kind of like Emeryville for San Francisco - though VIA doesn’t run thruway buses (there are plenty of connecting GO buses/trains, which we’ll get to later - I think they used to through-ticket but don’t anymore). Conveniently, Windsor-Aldershot is about the longest trip you can take on a “short trip” VIA Preference awards ticket for 500 points (going to Toronto more than doubles it). Though they’re scrapping their award chart for revenue-based redemptions in a few days, much like Amtrak did…
However, to get there involved a maze of different bus connections I had to make. I did have a little spare time for misconnects, though not a ton (and a couple of these buses are only hourly, making a misconnect costly). First was the D2A2 bus from Ann Arbor to Detroit, departing at 10:30am and arriving at 11:15. Then was the Tunnel Bus, which left from Rosa Parks Transit Center in Detroit (about a 5min walk from the D2A2 stop) at 11:34am. Then I banked myself some time in Windsor for lunch - if I missed either the D2A2 or the Tunnel Bus, I’d just do the lunch in Detroit and miss the next one. After lunch take the Crosstown 2 to the VIA Rail station in Windsor, and then take VIA at 1:46pm to Aldershot, where I could catch a GO train or bus to Hamilton. I also had to bring cash for the Transit Windsor buses (thankfully US cash worked - though paying with Canadian would have been cheaper, I doubt it would be easy to find small Canadian bills/coins without going to Canada).
Ultimately, I wanted to do the cross-border bus connection to VIA, and this weekend served as a great opportunity. That’s because this weekend the Grey Cup is in Hamilton - I’ve watched the CFL quite a bit going back a while (in part due to playing in the summer and it’s unique rules), and I’ve always wanted to go to its championship game, the Grey Cup. The past few times it was relatively nearby (as in day train distance) it didn’t work out, but this time it finally did. Funny that is happens the same week that there is some mumbling about Amtrak a crossing the border to meet VIA in Windsor - though that may be another pipe dream based on VIA’s response…
As such, I booked tickets on VIA for the weekend - leaving Windsor on train 76 at 1:46pm today, and returning from Aldershot on train 73 at 12:13pm on Monday. Why Aldershot? That’s because Hamilton doesn’t have a VIA station, and Aldershot is the closest. Kind of like Emeryville for San Francisco - though VIA doesn’t run thruway buses (there are plenty of connecting GO buses/trains, which we’ll get to later - I think they used to through-ticket but don’t anymore). Conveniently, Windsor-Aldershot is about the longest trip you can take on a “short trip” VIA Preference awards ticket for 500 points (going to Toronto more than doubles it). Though they’re scrapping their award chart for revenue-based redemptions in a few days, much like Amtrak did…
However, to get there involved a maze of different bus connections I had to make. I did have a little spare time for misconnects, though not a ton (and a couple of these buses are only hourly, making a misconnect costly). First was the D2A2 bus from Ann Arbor to Detroit, departing at 10:30am and arriving at 11:15. Then was the Tunnel Bus, which left from Rosa Parks Transit Center in Detroit (about a 5min walk from the D2A2 stop) at 11:34am. Then I banked myself some time in Windsor for lunch - if I missed either the D2A2 or the Tunnel Bus, I’d just do the lunch in Detroit and miss the next one. After lunch take the Crosstown 2 to the VIA Rail station in Windsor, and then take VIA at 1:46pm to Aldershot, where I could catch a GO train or bus to Hamilton. I also had to bring cash for the Transit Windsor buses (thankfully US cash worked - though paying with Canadian would have been cheaper, I doubt it would be easy to find small Canadian bills/coins without going to Canada).