North American Rail Companies

Your North American US Rail Pass is a Must If You Are Backpacking Around the USA, Don't Leave Home Without It !!

AMTRAK
As a general rule, even-numbered Amtrak routes run north and east while odd numbered routes run south and west. However, some routes, such as the Pacific Surfliners, use the exact opposite numbering system, which they inherited from the previous operators of similar routes, such as the Santa Fe Railroad. Amtrak gives each of its train routes a name. These names often reflect the rich and complex history of the route itself, or of the area traversed by the route.
The most popular and heavily-used routes in the Amtrak system are those on the Northeast Corridor, which include the Acela Express, and Regional. These routes serve Boston,New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond (Regional only), and many other smaller cities and towns between Boston and Newport News. Shuttle trains operating between Springfield, Hartford, and New Haven and connecting to the Northeast Corridor at New Haven are also classified as Northeast Corridor trains.

Other popular routes throughout the country that operate many times per day include:

Northeast
Empire Service between Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Albany, and New York
Keystone Service between Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and New York
Downeaster between Portland and Boston

Midwest
Hiawatha between Milwaukee and Chicago
Wolverine between Chicago, Detroit, and Pontiac

West Coast
Pacific Surfliner between San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego
Capitol Corridor between Sacramento, Oakland, and San Jose
San Joaquins between Oakland, Stockton, and Bakersfield and between Sacramento, Stockton, and Bakersfield
Amtrak Cascades between Seattle, Portland, and Eugene.

VIA RAIL
VIA Rail Canada is an independent Crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada.
VIA Rail operates 480 trains in eight Canadian provinces (all except Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island) over a network of 14,000 kilometres of track spanning the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Great Lakes to Hudson Bay. VIA Rail carries approximately 4 million passengers annually.[1] It sees the majority of its traffic between Windsor, Ontario and Quebec City, Quebec.

Classes of Service

Canada-wide
VIA 1 LRC interior Comfort — Economy class seating in the coach cars. Depending on the train number, seats are assigned or first-come-first-serve. If the latter, passengers are often segregated into specific train cars according to passenger destination. Snacks, beverages and sandwiches are sold cash and carry.
VIA 1 — First class seating in the club car. VIA 1 passengers are given more spacious seating, inclusive hot three-course meals complete with complimentary boutique chocolate, wine and liqueurs, and pay-per-use 802.11b WiFi access. VIA 1 passengers are also granted priority boarding and access to the Panorama Lounges at major urban stations.
Sleeper aka Comfort Sleeper — As a class provided to late night passengers on lengthy routes, the sleeper class provides single, double and triple bedrooms which feature bunkbeds, electrical outlet, chairs and a private washroom. Each sleeper car is equipped with a public shower. To increase comfort, trains equipped with sleeper cars travel slower than their daytime counterparts.

Route-specific
Silver & Blue — A deluxe inclusive travel package onboard the Canadian, which features Sleeper Class accommodation, first-class meals in the Dining car, and access to the Skyline car and viewing salons in the glass-domed Park car. Passengers are also given priority boarding over Comfort Class and access to the Silver & Blue Lounge in Toronto Union Station.

Easterly — All-inclusive tour package onboard the Ocean with access to a tour guide (known as the "Learning Coordinator"), Sleeper accommodation, first-class meals and access to the Park car. Passengers also receive priority boarding and access to the Panorama Lounge in Montreal station.

Totem — Access to the Park car onboard the Skeena. A sub-class called Totem Deluxe provides its passengers with seating in the Panorama car. Totem and Totem Deluxe operates from May to September.