Edmonton - Edmonton

Passenger trains are not a priority in Canada as a result the train will never be on time. Food is available from vending machines but is questionable at best. I strongly recommend bringing enough for a few meals before the train shows (I waited 6 hours past the original time for my train). There is no city transit nearby, you are looking at a minimum 10 min walk for a bus stop, food, shopping, etc.

Station is in a terrible location, both for the trains and the passangers. Trains either need to back in or out to get to the station, and once it drops off the people, they have nowhere to go. The station is literally in an industrial neighbourhood with no public transporation to or from it. Edmonton needs a new station ASAP

Such a disappointing experience. We bought the cheap seats from Kamloops to Edmonton. Train was 1 1/2 hours late with no way to check for arrival time and no employees at the station to ask. Estimated arrival times posted on their website were nowhere close to being accurate. Ended the trip in Edmonton more than 8 hours later than scheduled. Spent more than 24 hours on a train for a trip that was supposed to take less than 18. (One of the last delays was because our engineer was over his time limit — they didn’t tell the passengers this, but my ride was at the station and found out and texted me. So we parked 60 km from Edmonton and waited over an hour for a new engineer to come out and drive the train. Like they couldn’t have had that planned out and had an engineer out here already???) There was no info on their website about excessive delays until we were about 3/4 into the trip. Really difficult to get info re: checked baggage, station hours of service, normal check-in procedures, etc. Seats are incredibly uncomfortable, old, and dirty. Not at all how they’re portrayed on their website. Lots of other incorrect information online. No Wi-Fi / entertainment package, or at least no info on it. Certainly no kids activity kit. There isn’t even an indicator on the bathroom door to tell if it’s in use. Food available on board is different (and more expensive) than what is shown online and on the menu cards in the seat backs. And yes, they accept Visa, MasterCard, etc., but only if the card is embossed like we’re in the 80s. Where is that information given? Online? No. Apparently it’s posted in the Vancouver station, but certainly not in Kamloops, and even if it had been given there, there’s no ATM available anyway. Even my 11-year old couldn’t believe they wouldn’t just charge to the card we’d purchased our tickets on. Not sure if we’d have had a better experience with expensive tickets or not, but I’m certainly not going to spend the money to find out. I’ll stick to taking trains in Europe. I will probably never choose a train over a plane in Canada again. While Via Rail needs to update everything about their service, there are certainly many quick, inexpensive changes that could be made to better share information and help first-time travelers (like telling travelers to expect delays because of sharing the lines with freight trains). First- and last-time Via Rail traveler P.S. Haven’t been able to get off the train since Jasper at 12:30, so now people are smoking on the train.

Very helpful and nice staff. The VIA rail station is a lot safer now that the Greyhound station is gone. Would recommend calling in advance or looking online to see when your train is coming in to the station. If it is late and you don't have a ride, there is nowhere close to go and do something around the station while you wait.

horrible service i plan to visit calgary but the railway oonly arrive edmonton.without greyhound,i definaly can''t go calary. when i back to edmonton station in the mid night,office is close!.i remember schedule shows open!so i stay over night outdoor on the bench.i still feel cold when i wear 3 layer of shoes.in the early morning at 5am,stuff arrive.i ask him if i can get it in.he reject me.at 6am,another stuff arrive,i ask him same question ,he reject me rudely.i wait until 8am!

Very small and functional station. no transportation and no snacks. But you will survive if you go an the sleeping car. I would suggest stopping by a store before coming to the station. This place everything but a real station. It looks more like a rail truck in a factory yard. It is most of the time closed and most people in the city have no idea of its existence. You may have do difficulty find it.

Caught the midnight ViaRail in Edmonton & travelling to Vancouver. In Jasper at 8:30 am watching the sun hit the Rockies. Will post more as the adventure continues. So far great& friendly helpful staff & service!?

The live music was very very very bad. The band was tone def. "Major Tom to crown control atomic uaohhhh..." Is what he sang. What was that? People waiting here are a captive audience and can't go away. Will be looking into actionable means to stop this from happening ever again. What can I do?