This train service from Toronto will bring you right to NYC
Those looking to travel south of the border without setting foot in an airport this summer are in luck.
Railroad company Amtrak has announced that its Maple Leaf Train, in conjunction with VIA Rail, is back in business.
That means for the first time since 2020, passengers will be able to hop on to the train at Toronto’s Union Station, as well as a handful of other stations in the GTA, before arriving in New York City’s Penn Station.
- Download our app to get local alerts to your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“On board the Maple Leaf, customers can experience some of the best views in the country through the beautiful Hudson River Valley, New York’s wine country, and the incredible gorges of the Finger Lakes region, before crossing the US/Canadian border near the dramatic spectacle of Niagara Falls,” Amtrak’s Executive Vice President, Marketing and Revenue and Chief Commercial Officer Roger Harris said in a news release issued Monday.
The route runs roughly 12 hours and 30 minutes with stops in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, and downtown New York.
A map of Amtrak's Maple Leaf Train route is seen in this image. (Amtrak.com)
However, there are some rules passengers should be aware of before they make the trip to the Big Apple.
Every passenger must wear a mask onboard the train while on Canadian soil and non-U.S. citizens will need be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with either a U.S. FDA or WHO-approved vaccine.
On the way back into Canada, all passengers must submit to using the ArriveCAN app and put their masks back on once the train crosses the border.
You can purchase a ticket for the Maple Leaf Train through Amtrak or VIA Rail -- the latter of which said it was “delighted” to be restoring the service between the two countries.
“After two years of pandemic, people are eager to travel again this summer, and the Maple Leaf experience allows passengers on both sides of the border to book a beautiful vacation and travel beyond Toronto on VIA Rail trains that can connect them right across Canada,” Michael Acosta, VIA Rail’s Senior Director, Commercial Affairs, said in a statement.
Tickets are now available with the first U.S.-bound train set to leave Union Station at 8:20 a.m. on June 28.
At the time of publication, a round-trip ticket is priced at approximately $400.
A full list of rules and regulations related to the route can be found here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Thanks to wildfires, air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.