Amtrak in Canada – Riding Amfleets in VIA service

 Amtrak in Canada – Riding Amfleets in VIA service

Yes, that is a VIA train.

There are three passenger trains that operate across the border between the United States and Canada. On the west coast, there’s the Cascades service from Vancouver to Seattle (with connections onward), which I rode and covered as part of my trip report series last summer. To the east, the Adirondack connects Montreal to New York. I’ve never ridden that train, but I’ve spotted it plenty of times coming and going on the Ocean, and it has made a few cameos in my previous reports (like in this one, from my 2017 cross-Canada trip). Finally, there’s the Maple Leaf, which connects Toronto to New York.

While all three of these services operate across the border between the two countries, they are each quite different operations. The Cascades and Adirondack are both fully Amtrak trains, using Amtrak equipment and crews for their entire route. Despite passing through a number of well populated areas on its way to the border, the Cascades has no stops at all outside of Vancouver, with full customs clearance facilities at the Vancouver station. The Adirondack has one additional stop outside of Montreal, allowing passengers to board or disembark at the suburban station of St-Lambert, but with no local traffic allowed and a customs clearance stop at the border.

The Maple Leaf stands out as a very different type of service. Unlike the other two Amtrak services, the Maple Leaf is actually operated as a joint service between Amtrak and VIA Rail. On the Canadian side, the train runs from Toronto all the way to Niagara Falls, where it crosses the border to the same named community on the American side and then continues on through to New York City. As a result of the joint operation between the two carriers, the Maple Leaf actually makes Canadian stops at Oakville, Aldershot, Grimsby, St. Catharines, and Niagara Falls ON. Customs inspections are handled at the border crossing, so those staying entirely on the Canadian side never need to deal with any cross-border complications.

Though the same physical train operates the whole length of the route, with equipment provided by Amtrak, it operates as a VIA Rail train on the Canadian side of the border and an Amtrak train on the American side. The train operates between Toronto and Niagara Falls ON as VIA Rail train 97 headed to the US. On the American side, what was westbound VIA 97 becomes eastbound Amtrak 64, as the train is now heading east toward New York. In the inverse, the train leaves New York as westbound Amtrak 63, and becomes eastbound VIA 98 on the Canadian side. Both the head end and on board crews are provided by the respective railways, so between Toronto and Niagara Falls the train has VIA engineers and a VIA Service Manager and attendants.

The really neat thing about this train from a railfan perspective is that it provides a unique opportunity to ride Amtrak equipment without ever leaving Canada. You can book tickets for any stations between Toronto and Niagara Falls with VIA the same as any other VIA service (and in fact, this is the only VIA service on that route since previous VIA service to Niagara Falls was dropped), but you’ll be riding on a very typical Amtrak consist. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while now, and this October I finally had a chance to check off at least one part of this particular route.

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, I headed up to Burlington ON for the RealRails convention in late October. This was a convention jointly organized between several Canadian railway historical societies/associations, and turned out to be a really top notch event, with a wide range of interesting talks, industry tours, a train show, and an excellent banquet on the Saturday night. I had been invited to participate with the VIA Historical Association, and hoped to be able to attend much of the full 3-day event.

Unfortunately, work commitments meant I wouldn’t be able to make the whole event, but I decided it would still be worthwhile to go for as much as I could, and I’m very glad I did! More than anything, getting to meet and catch up with many people from across the Canadian railway scene, including many I knew by name but had never met in person, was worth every bit of the effort to get there. I was disappointed not to be able to attend the tours or many of the talks, but still made the most of the time. Both Eric Gagnon and Steve Boyko have been covering the convention events on their respective blogs as well, and I’d encourage you to go check those out!

So what does this all have to do with the Maple Leaf? Well, as I planned out my travel for the event, I decided to work in something fun on the train front. I couldn’t get away from Halifax until Friday evening after work, so I decided I’d just fly to Toronto on Friday and stay there overnight, with the plan to head out to Burlington on Saturday morning. I figured I could take a GO train or bus, but then noticed that the Maple Leaf leaves Toronto at 8:20am, with arrival at Aldershot at 8:56am. This would allow me to then catch a GO train back to Burlington shortly thereafter, and would have me at the convention at a reasonable time in the morning (with my own talk in the afternoon). Getting the opportunity to fit in even a short Amfleet ride on this unique VIA/Amtrak train seemed like it would be a really fun addition to the weekend.

I had this planned out for a while, but then as the weekend got closer another interesting wrinkle popped up. Metrolinx would be doing work on the Lakeshore West line that weekend, so a portion of the line would be closed for most of the weekend (re-opening mid-day Sunday to facilitate travel for the Blue Jays game that evening). This would mean that GO train service would be shut down between Union and Oakville, with trains only operating on the west side (between Oakville and Niagara Falls). All VIA trains, including the Maple Leaf, would be detouring over the Halton Subdivision. This would mean rare mileage (a first for me), as well as a longer trip. VIA pre-emptively adjusted the schedule, so the normal 36 minute travel time to Aldershot was rescheduled to 1h19min, with arrival now scheduled for 9:39am. Fortunately, the GO connection back to Burlington would still work, with a little bit of a buffer for the next scheduled train.

So with all that preamble out of the way, let’s go ahead and jump into the trip!

I left Halifax on Friday, October 17^th. I would be flying out with Porter from YHZ to YYZ (Pearson). There are more flight options from Halifax to Pearson than to the downtown island airport, and I also prefer having the option to fly on Porter’s Embraer jets. The departure from Halifax ended up being a bit more stressful than expected, as my bus to the airport was extremely delayed due to construction and then the security line at the airport was an absolute nightmare – easily the worst I’ve ever seen in Halifax! It seems issues with the baggage check infrastructure was causing cascading delays, and I entered the airport to find the security line snaked around and all the way through the airport to the check-in desks. Fortunately, with Halifax being a relatively small airport, staff were actively pulling people out of the security line for flights that were about to depart, so I was able to get expedited through and up to my gate, just in time to get right on board the flight.

Flights rarely rival train trips for beautiful views, but sometimes they're pretty impressive - with a westbound heading, this sunset last for almost the whole 2-hour flight.

The flight itself was pretty smooth with just a few brief bits of turbulence, and the Porter service was pleasant as usual. The main highlight was an absolutely beautiful sunset, which went on and on for most of the flight as we chased it west. After landing at Pearson, I was able to snag a neat E195 trading card from the crew as I left the plane. Apparently several airlines are doing these, and Porter has joined the club. I had seen something about this online recently, so made a point to ask the crew on my way out.

Trading card! Since Porter only has two plane types, there's only one other to get (on my next Dash 8 flight), but this would be quite fun with participating airlines that have larger and more varied fleets (like Delta)  

Once off the plane at Pearson, I found my way to the terminal link train and then to the UP Express terminal to downtown. I was impressed to see the UP Express was pretty well packed full leaving the airport, with a few people even standing when we left.

YYZ is a huge airport and can be complicated to get around. On arrival, it took a little while to find the first of these signs, but if you do make your way general towards the exits, you will eventually see signage for the train to the city (UP Express)

First "train" - terminal link, with clear signage also indicating that this will get you to the UP Express.

More signage, right at the UPX terminal.

On board! This photo was actually taken at Union after most other passengers got off the train.

Lots of luggage space on these DMUs. Large racks available, and there are smaller enclosed bins over every seat that will easily accommodate standard carry-on sized items (much more spacious than the planes anyone just got off)

Seating near the end of one car, showing an accessible space to the left. The seats don't recline, but they are more than comfy enough for the ~25min ride. They also have power outlets, overhead reading lights, and fold-down tray tables. 

Toronto! CN Tower in blue for the Jays

The evening in Toronto was pretty uneventful, aside from getting thoroughly soaked on the way to my hotel. The next morning I made my way down to Toronto Union Station by around 7:45am. 

Union Station - I'll never stop being impressed by this cavernous main hall.

Most of the departure boards in the station don't seem to work anymore, but this one was - and there's my train, right up at the top line.

Grand entrance to the much-less-grand lower concourse beneath the tracks, where VIA trains board.

Heading down into the lower concourse, I found a reasonable line had already formed at the boarding gate for train 97. VIA staff were checked in with passengers and directing them based on their destination. All Canadian-bound passengers were waiting in one line, while all US-bound passengers were sent into an alcove off to the side to wait. Staff were checking ID of all passengers, and verifying that US-bound passengers had appropriate documentation for crossing the border. There appeared to be a pretty sizeable group in both lines, smaller than the crowd waiting to board an upcoming Ottawa-bound departure, but still a decently busy train.

Boarding sign for train 97. We would board across the hall to the left, and passengers going to the US were seated in the alcove to the right. As the sign shows, most of this train's route and stations are on the US side, but there are five Canadian stops. 

The first boarding call came at 8:03am, with US-bound Business class passengers boarding first. This train offers Business class only for those going into the US, as it is the Amtrak product offering and not VIA’s business class product. So for travel between Toronto and Niagara Falls on VIA, it’s all Economy class. US-bound Economy boarded started right after, and then Canadian boarding started at 8:06am.

As I reached the top of the escalator to the platform I was immediately greeted with the giant Amtrak travelmark emblazoned on the side of P42 #127, followed by the distinctive tubular profile of the stainless steel Amfleet cars in tow. Passengers going to Niagara Falls were being directed to one of the first cars on the train, while those of us going to Aldershot and other shorter intermediate stops were directed to the second last car on the train. There’s no assigned seating on this train so it was first come first served once on board, but with lots of space in the car I was directed to.

That's not something you see every day at Toronto Union...well...actually, somebody does see this once every day of the week, but only for this train!

Weird looking VIA train...

Let’s have a look at the consist for today’s train:

VIA 97 – Maple Leaf – October 18, 2025

Amtrak 127 – P42DC

82787 Amfleet I coach

82737 Amfleet I coach

82789 Amfleet I coach

82661 Amfleet I coach *

48195 Amfleet I Club-Dinette (Half-business, half-café seating)

 

I found a forward facing seat near the front of coach 82661, the fourth car on the train. Amtrak has these cars oriented in a 50/50 forward/backward layout, but unlike VIA, they have the seats facing the ends of the cars, so there are no 4-seat pairings set up by default.

Inside my Amfleet I coach. The Amfleets were famously designed to mimic aircraft interiors at the time, when air travel was taking over as the dominant form of intercity travel. Unfortunately this has resulted in cars that feel darker and more cramped than they should need to be. 

Amfleet I seat pair. Seat pitch feels comparable to LRC or HEP2 economy cars.

All coaches on this train were Amfleet I, which is typical on the Maple Leaf. Amtrak has two types of Amfleet coaches – Amfleet I are optimized for shorter distance travel, with tighter seat spacing, smaller windows, and vestibules at both ends of the car. Amfleet II cars are meant for longer distance travel, with wider seat spacing (fewer total seats) and more recline, as well as larger windows with curtains, and only a single vestibule at one end of the car. The Amfleet I cars are comfortable, and the seat spacing is reminiscent of economy seating in VIA’s corridor equipment (like an LRC or HEP2). These cars have been refurbished and the seats are comfortable enough, though nothing truly remarkable. They felt very similar to the Horizon cars I rode on the Cascades last year. 

Tray table in coach. Similar to VIA's HEP1, the supports are supposed to keep the table from jamming into the passenger behind when the seat reclines. Much like on the Horizons I rode last year, I found the spacing is a bit narrow and the metal arms are a nuisance for hitting your knees. They are also hard to keep level and bounce around a fair bit.

The windows are of course miniscule, so the view is not the best and the cars don’t feel very bright. The interiors definitely feel dated, but they are comfortable and functional, and there’s a good amount of luggage space. Each seat pair has power outlets by the wall, and tray tables that drop down from the seat ahead. The bathrooms I checked out were in good working order and clean.

One end of the coach -large luggage racks, and washrooms both sides at this end. 

Amfleet bathroom. Gotta love those purple remnants of the old flashy interior decor. 

Broader view of one of the washrooms.

Larger washroom on one side in the cafe car. 

There is WiFi equipment on the train, however, we were informed right away that the Amtrak WiFi equipment only operates within the US, so there would be no WiFi service available on the train on the Canadian side of the border.

We departed Toronto exactly on time at 8:20am, with an announcement right away letting us know (in case we didn’t already) about the detour, the adjusted schedule, and the lack of service to Oakville. There were a couple such announcements made through the course of the trip. Leaving Union station we were greeted to the unusual site of a whole bunch of VIA trains staged just west of the station, since they wouldn’t have access to the TMC thanks to the trackwork.

VIA Venture out the window - much better views looking back out from over there! As Amtrak's Airo trains roll out over the next few years, the Maple Leaf will eventually look very similar to VIA's fleet. 

J-train - two Venture sets combined on VIA 52 (to Ottawa) and 62 (to Montreal) run combined from Toronto to Brockville, before separating for their respective end points. 

Just west of Union, a bunch of VIA Ventures (and a single F40 guard unit) are staged for trains through the day, with TMC inaccessible. 

The SM came through validating tickets shortly after departure, starting from the rear of the last car and moving forward. As he came by, he also announced that the snack car was open.

This brings us to probably the most interesting thing about this train while in VIA service. VIA’s Corridor operations provide all food service by cart at-seat, something that was first introduced as standard on the LRCs, and became universal across the Corridor as VIA phased out the last remnants of the blue and yellow fleet in the early 1990s. By contrast, Amtrak has kept dedicated café cars on their trains, and because this train operates with Amtrak equipment, food service is from the café for the Canadian section of the Maple Leaf as well; however, while the train is in VIA service, the café is stocked with VIA’s standard Economy class food selection, so you get the extra unique experience of having an Amfleet café stocked with a VIA menu.

As I wandered back one car to the café, I noticed that this train had the café car rotated the opposite way from what seems to be standard, with the Business class seating section at the front, and the café section at the rear. This gave me a chance to have a good look at the Business seating, and also meant that the café was right at the back, allowing for some nice views out the rear of the train. The Business section is normally at the rear and curtained off so that Business class passengers don't have to deal with a lot of foot traffic to and from the café. 

Another interior view of this Amfleet I coach.

Heading between cars - high vis grab irons! Amfleets have power sliding doors similar to the end doors on LRCs. 

Inside the Amfleet I club-dinette, looking at the Business class seats, in 2+1. Large and cushy, and curtains on the windows. You can see the mid-car counter just beyond this. Normally, with the car oriented the other way around, the Business class section would be curtained off to avoid excessive foot traffic. 

The Amfleet I food service cars have gone through many variations over time, with most cars modified from how they were originally built. Some were built as “Amcafe”, with the snack bar in the middle and coach seating at both ends. Others were built as “Amdinette”, with booths at one end and coach seating at the other.  Finally, Amtrak also had a group of “Amclub” cars that were built with the snack bar in the centre, 18 club seats at one in, and 23 coach seats at the other. The car on this train – 48195 – started life as one of these Amclubs. It went through a few different re-orientations over the years, finally settling on its current club-dinette configuration with 18 club (Business class) seats at one end and 6 booths at the other.

The history of this car results in an interesting configuration. The café section shows clear signs that it once had seating, as there are still overhead luggage racks and other features identical to the coaches, as well as washrooms at the end of the car (a welcome feature if you’re spending some time here).

Closer look at a Business class seat. I had a chance to sit in one briefly to test it out, and they are certainly comfy - and very roomy. Aside from the seat, though, Amtrak's business class product is pretty lacklustre compared to VIA's. 

Looking ahead from the cafe section back to the takeout counter. VIA crew emulating the Amtrak practice of using tables for their paperwork and supplies. 

Cafe booth seating. The layout of these booths makes it a pretty tight squeeze between the seat and table edge. Note the power outlets along the wall, identical to in the coaches. 

Looking to the rear of the cafe section. The rearmost tables have seats on only one side, theoretically leaving room for someone in a wheelchair. Note the two washrooms at the end of the car just before the vestibule.

Rear view! Normally this would be off limits to coach passengers, as the Business class end of the car is usually at the rear.

While I wrote about some of the drawbacks of the café car model during my Cascades trip last year, I definitely enjoyed the benefits of the car on this trip. I picked up coffee and banana bread from the café (having had breakfast at the hotel earlier), and then snagged a table to enjoy the views. Even with the small windows, the more open setup of this end of the car made it easier to see the scenery speed by. Other passengers came through here and there, and while a few sat at other tables briefly, most took their food back to their seats.

VIA coffee...Amtrak napkin. A nice little reflection of this train's unique character.

Amfleet cafe, with VIA menu and products.

VIA menu in the cafe. Note the sign highlighting that Business class passengers only get their complimentary drinks (and snacks?) once in the US. No freebies from VIA!

Amtrak - this train can take you to Canada - and within Canada!

Leaving Toronto on this detour, we first followed the same line I had ridden the night before to the airport on the UP Express, on the same route that VIA and GO trains use to get to Kitchener. It’s been a while since I rode that whole line, but it ultimately wasn’t new trackage.

Early views on the way out of Toronto. Some nice colours in there.

More views

Starting to look more rural a bit further out of the city.

The tiny windows really aren't great, but with the wider open view in the cafe car (especially when it's empty), it's easier to enjoy the view.

More flashes of fall colour.

After Georgetown things got interesting, as we made our turn to follow the Halton Subdivision toward Burlington. I spotted the first of several railfans out watching us at Georgetown, clearly taking advantage of this unique opportunity to see Amtrak equipment on that line. We maintained a pretty quick pace along here, with the crew commenting on how unusually smooth this detour was going. Our first stop would come near Stewarttown where the line briefly goes down to single track to cross an impressive bridge over Black Creek, where we stopped at 9:03am. We had a short wait for the meet with the eastbound VIA 82, and then were back underway by 9:08am.

Fall trees and fields.

Crossing the bridge just before Georgetown.

We're now on rare mileage on the Halton Sub, and there's VIA 82 also detouring.

Crossing the bridge at Stewarttown.

More flashes of fall colour.

It's hard at this time of the year to capture the full feel of the colours, as bright trees pop out here and there but sometimes get lost to the camera.

Looking back on the Halton Sub, back into double-track territory.

We would then pass a freight train around Milton and meet VIA 70 just before Burlington, but neither of these forced a stop. I made my way back to my seat for the last 15 minutes of the trip, and we rejoined the Lakeshore West line just past Burlington GO at 9:44am. We would make our initial stop at 9:49am, about 10 minutes late from our re-scheduled time. The SM needed the train to stop further up so he could access the lift for one passenger, but the engineers informed that they first needed to drop off their pilot (a CN engineer who was on to guide them over the unusual territory) on the platform, so we had to make two stops. Finally off on the platform, I watched as the train departed, unfortunately unable to get a view up at the front end.

Maplehurst Correctional Complex, Milton. 

One final colourful view, from back at my seat, before our arrival at Aldershot.

Vestibule in an Amfleet I. Probably most reminiscent of VIA's LRCs, with the sliding door that recesses into the side of the car, and the traditional step trap.

Off the train at Aldershot, with a look at the steps deployed.

Rear of our train at Aldershot, with the classic Amtrak air whistle attached to the rear hose for use on any backing moves. No opportunity for a head-end view, as the train was off the platform ahead.

Our train departs - onwards to Niagara Falls, and eventually New York!

The eastbound GO train I would be taking to Burlington was already on another track, and after a brief bit of confusion, I found my way over there and onboard. Aldershot is a connection point where some GO buses transfer over to GO trains, so it seems common to have a train staged here for a little while waiting to depart. Once underway it was a short trip to Burlington, which has a really impressive intermodal terminal, and then I was able to find a bus in fairly short order that would get me to the convention.

 

GO Train awaits. Mix of schemes.

Entering, with a bit of a step up.

Inside a standard GO bilevel, lower level seating.

GO bilevel, upper level seating

GO bilevel, end intermediate level seating.

Bathroom in a GO bilevel. I believe this is one of the larger accessible ones, while some others are really tiny. 

Arrival at Burlington.

Out at the Burlington terminal. GO trains, GO buses, and Burlington Transit buses all serve this impressive multi-modal terminal. I didn't grab a photo of the Burlington Transit bus I took, but it was a fairly run of the mill Nova LFS.

That day and the next around the convention were excellent, with Adam Meeks’ talk on Saturday night (about the CPKC Canada-US-Mexico steam trip) standing out as a major highlight. Despite only having a short two days there, it definitely felt like a lot packed in there.

As Sunday afternoon rolled around, I wrapped up my time at the concluding train show and prepared to head back to Halifax. By late Sunday morning the Lakeshore West line was re-opened, so the return commute would be fairly easy. A friend at the convention offered a ride to the Burlington station, and then I grabbed a GO train to Union. On the way, I was surprised to see a set of Amtrak equipment parked at TMC, coupled between an F40 and an LRC set. It turns out that the locomotive for that day’s #97 had died (compressor failure), so they had to cancel the Sunday Maple Leaf departure. Good timing from my end, though lousy for people travelling that day.

Burlington GO, waiting for action.

A train! My train, but on the opposite side of the platform from what I was initially expecting (shows how well I was reading the platform numbers)

Upper level in a GO bilevel, with a roof-top view of a VIA Venture.

Approaching TMC, through the green tint of the GO windows. There's the VHA's FP9A just peaking its nose out!

Lots of HEP2s, stored at this end of TMC as they are slowly displaced by Ventures. A couple of ex-SP small window coaches really stand out.

More stuff at TMC. And hang on...what's that Amtrak equipment doing over there? Turns out compressor issues had forced cancellation, and the equipment was shuffled to TMC. 

Amfleet and LRC coupled up - something you don't see every day! A nice opportunity to compare the car profiles, and especially the dramatic difference in window sizes. 

UP Express! My next train (though I wouldn't quite make it on that specific one). 

Another VIA Venture, waiting at Union station. Even though the fleet turnover isn't complete, there are still an awful lot of these around.

In Union station, coming through the GO concourse - UP Express wayfinding on display here as well. 

From the UP Express terminal, there's a nice looking conventional LRC set, with wrapped P42 on the tail end. 

Rainy arrival at the airport, with another UPX train ready to go on the other track. 

Once at Union, I connected back to the UP Express to Pearson (which was very busy once again, with a mix of commuters to intermediate stops and a lot of people going to the airport itself). Arrival and security at Pearson were remarkably smooth (surprisingly much less stressful than Halifax had been two days earlier!), but then it took ages to get out to the gate where my Porter flight would be boarding – security only took 5 minutes, but the walk to the gate took at least 20!

There's my Embraer - it would be a pretty rainy takeoff and a bumpy flight, but not too bad overall. 

The flight back was relatively uneventful. We encountered somewhat more turbulence this way, and were informed early on that no hot drinks would be offered and the traditional glassware would be replaced with paper due to the anticipated turbulence throughout the flight. It didn’t turn out to be quite as bad as I feared based on the early announcement, but still a bit bumpy. One flight attendant commented: “winter’s on the way, and it’s always like this headed to Halifax this time of year. Worse to Newfoundland!” Much of the flight was in the dark, and landing was smooth at YHZ; and just like that, I was back home and wrapping up an enjoyable whirlwind weekend.

 

That wraps things up for this brief report. I’d like to get back and ride more of the Maple Leaf some time, at least on the Canadian side of the border, but for now it was nice to get in a brief look at this unique cross border train, and with some rare mileage to boot. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading along!

A final tail-end view, along the single-track section of the Halton Sub.