Trains and bicycles are finally getting along again at VIA Rail.
The Canadian rail company has made many cyclists happy — especially those dreaming of travelling differently, without relying on a car to reach a cycling destination.
After five years of absence, bicycles will once again be allowed aboard certain VIA Rail trains connecting Ottawa and Quebec City.
The rollout will happen gradually, but customers can already reserve a bike space ($25 per direction) on four selected trains. For now, four bicycles are accepted per trip on trains linking the Canadian and Quebec capitals.
Quebec City train station. / Facebook Via Rail
The bike-train service is available on trains travelling from Ottawa to Quebec City (trains 26 and 28) and from Quebec City to Ottawa (trains 33 and 35).
For many cycling tourists, this announcement opens the door to entirely new travel possibilities. One can imagine leaving Quebec City by bike, riding all the way to Montreal or Ottawa… then returning by train without having to retrace the same route.
A different way to travel.
Some rules will still need to be respected. Passengers will be responsible for handling and storing their own bicycles, whether
« Parliament Hill in Ottawa. / Facebook Via Rail
regular or electric. Bikes must be suspended in the spaces provided onboard.
For electric bicycles, the battery must be removed before boarding. VIA Rail also specifies certain limits regarding the dimensions and weight of bicycles accepted onboard.
The company says the decision was made in response to Canadians’ growing interest in domestic tourism and active travel.
With cycling tourism continuing to gain popularity, VIA Rail hopes to contribute to the development of a more sustainable and flexible transportation network. The goal is also to encourage intermodality — the ability to combine different modes of transportation during the same trip.
The rail carrier says it wants to offer a new way to discover Canadian landscapes and communities while making its services more attractive and better adapted to travellers’ needs.
The project could eventually expand in the coming years. VIA Rail says it will closely monitor the impact of this gradual reintroduction in order to evaluate how the service evolves and how many people use it.
A first step in the right direction
At Vélo Québec, the announcement has been welcomed as “a first step in the right direction.” The organization also highlighted the importance of allowing electric bicycles onboard.
“The combination of train and bicycle is an essential tool for regional mobility and a key factor in developing tourism across Quebec,” Vélo Québec noted.
The organization recognizes, however, that the return of the service could present logistical challenges, particularly regarding the sharing of onboard spaces between passengers.
Vélo Québec now hopes that this relaunch will eventually lead to a gradual expansion of the service in order to better meet the growing interest in bike-train travel.
Because in the end, cycling tourism sometimes begins long before the first pedal stroke. It begins the moment you board a train with your bicycle… and watch the landscape roll by through the window.