# VIA Business Class Returns



## NS VIA Fan (Sep 17, 2020)

'DrawingroomA' over on the 'TrainOrders Forum' has posted a recent trip report there on the return of VIA Business Class (similar to 1st Class) in the Corridor. A few points from that report as follows:


Station lounges have re-opened in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa but only cold drinks are available. No hot drinks or newspapers.

Passengers can sit anywhere. Most aisle seats are marked with a “do not sit here” sign. Two people travelling together can sit in adjacent seats. There was low occupancy of the car.

Regular meals are again served: At breakfast a choice of a cold or hot breakfast, at lunch, a choice of two hot and one cold meal, and at dinner a choice of three hot meals. Instead of a warmed dinner roll from a basket, a cold roll is on the meal tray.

The only bar service is red or white wine and a selection of beer. There is no longer a glass for wine but you are now given a plastic cup with an individual 200 ml. bottle of wine.
There is no china mug for coffee or tea.....but is served in a paper cup
The hot food and salad are still served on crockery and the cutlery is stainless steel. 

Although service has been simplified.....it still sounds pretty positive! I'm certainly anxious to give it a try but I'm in no rush to leave our 'Atlantic Bubble'! Maybe when the Ocean is running again I'll head for Montreal.


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## jiml (Sep 17, 2020)

NS VIA Fan said:


> 'DrawingroomA' over on the 'TrainOrders Forum' has posted a recent trip report there on the return of VIA Business Class (similar to 1st Class) in the Corridor. A few points from that report as follows:
> 
> 
> Station lounges have re-opened in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa but only cold drinks are available. No hot drinks or newspapers.
> ...


This actually is a minor improvement over the service model on our last trip from Montreal to Toronto on VIA 67 pre-Covid. Passengers boarding after Montreal often found their seats occupied and were told to "sit anywhere". At lunch there was one hot and one cold option* - both served in foil trays with packaged plastic utensils. Cold dinner roll was in a plastic package on the tray and wine was served in plastic cups, with coffee/tea in paper ones. It was a real letdown after the trip in the opposite direction only a week earlier. There must have been some expectation among the regular passengers on this train, as many brought take-out food onboard - the first time I'd ever seen in VIA BC. Of the dozens of corridor trips I've taken this wasn't the high point.

I'm still looking forward to getting back on however.

Edit to add: *Three lunch options were announced, but only two were available.


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## Exvalley (Sep 17, 2020)

Good news. It will be interesting to see what happens as Covid numbers appear to be growing again.


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## jiml (Sep 17, 2020)

Business Class: Fall in Love with Travel Again - Blog VIA Rail


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blog.viarail.ca


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