VIA Rail Train 641, launched in 2024 with an 8:48 a.m. arrival in Toronto, is withdrawn from October 25, and the early-morning alternative, Train 41, will arrive at 9:37 a.m.

VIA Rail Siemens Venture train at Oshawa station on the Toronto–Ottawa corridor
A VIA Rail Siemens Venture train at Oshawa station on the Toronto–Ottawa corridor. Photo: Dillan Payne / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Train 641 ends and Train 41 moves earlier

Train 641 currently runs Monday to Thursday. It is withdrawn under the corridor timetable change VIA Rail announced on September 16, which follows the company’s twice-yearly schedule review in the Québec City–Windsor corridor. VIA Rail says the revised timetable is meant to match service more closely to demand, make the network more resilient and keep trains more reliable and predictable.

For travellers who need to be in Toronto early, VIA Rail points to Train 41. From October 25 it will leave Ottawa at 4:56 a.m. and reach Toronto at 9:37 a.m. That is 49 minutes later than Train 641 was scheduled to arrive when it was introduced.

A train launched for arrivals before 9 a.m.

VIA Rail announced Train 641 in its April 2024 Ottawa–Toronto service release, and the train began running on May 27, 2024. It was scheduled to leave Ottawa at 4:19 a.m. and reach Toronto at 8:48 a.m., calling at Kingston, Belleville, Cobourg and Port Hope among other stations.

At the time, VIA Rail presented the train as an option for passengers who wanted to reach Toronto before 9 a.m. The company also said it would watch how passengers responded and adjust the service according to ridership and actual use. The September 2026 announcement does not publish ridership figures for Train 641.

The same 2024 announcement made Train 644 a daily service. From October 25 it returns to daily operation after running Monday to Thursday and on Saturday.

Other Ottawa–Toronto changes from October 25

Most of the other listed trains lose days. Train 43 drops its Monday run and keeps Friday and Sunday. Train 44 goes from six days a week to Tuesday only. Train 53 no longer runs on Saturday, and Train 54 no longer runs on Sunday. Train 645 falls from five days a week to Wednesday only, and Train 647 keeps only its Sunday run.

Two services grow. Train 55, which does not currently operate, will run every day, and Train 644 becomes daily. VIA Rail puts the overall effect at about one train a day fewer, on average, between Ottawa and Toronto. By Railway Supply’s count of the nine trains in the VIA Rail table, weekly runs fall from 39 to 31.

VIA Rail Ottawa–Toronto trains changing on October 25, 2026
Train Days before October 25 Days from October 25 Runs per week
Train 43 Monday, Friday and Sunday Friday and Sunday 3 → 2
Train 44 Monday to Friday and Sunday Tuesday only 6 → 1
Train 53 Daily Daily except Saturday 7 → 6
Train 54 Daily Daily except Sunday 7 → 6
Train 55 Not in service Daily 0 → 7
Train 641 Monday to Thursday Withdrawn 4 → 0
Train 644 Monday to Thursday and Saturday Daily 5 → 7
Train 645 Tuesday to Friday and Sunday Wednesday only 5 → 1
Train 647 Friday and Sunday Sunday only 2 → 1
All nine trains 39 → 31

Across the nine trains in VIA Rail’s table, weekly runs drop by eight. Runs per week are a Railway Supply count, with a daily train counted as seven runs. Schedule data: VIA Rail, September 16, 2026.

Outside the Ottawa–Toronto list, Trains 668 and 669 will replace the Saturday runs of Trains 68 and 69. VIA Rail will also stop serving Guildwood and Malton, saying both stations are close to Toronto Union Station and well connected to GO Transit and local transit.

Passengers whose existing bookings are affected will be contacted by VIA Rail in the coming days. They can rebook or take a full refund without extra charge.

VIA Rail ridership in 2025

The timetable review follows a year of flat ridership for the operator. In its results release for 2025, VIA Rail reported 4.4 million passengers, level with 2024, and total revenues of $514.8 million. The company described 2025 as a complex year, citing access constraints and the work of bringing its new corridor fleet into service, and said it covered 58% of operating costs from its own revenue. Railway Supply covered the VIA Rail 2025 annual report in May.