service attendant

engineer

diesel mechanic

gas station attendant

cleaner

VIA Rail

A typical day at work on board Via Rail is always different. Care to the passengers, ensure their well being and safety on board. Adapt to every passengers needs. Set up bedrooms for day time/night time; ensure cleanliness; serve meals; inform the passengers on any information I feel they might want to know (if the train is early or late, where they can have access to internet and/or reception, activities and souvenirs, meals and beverages on board) Transfer knowledge and interesting facts about my work, our country, the provinces, farming...ect.
I learnt how to adapt to all kinds of people. I learnt how to deal with difficult situations (personal situtations with passengers, language barriers, schedules and connections)
Management was very informative; approachable; always ready to help.
I worked with over 350 coworkers over a period of two years : again you have to adapt to not only the passengers, but the coworkers as well. Communication is key. Team work was crucial on the railway, I enjoy working together.
The hardest part of the job was not being able to go home at the end of the 18 hour work day. Having to sleep on the train 4 days in a row was difficult.
The most enjoyable part of the job was working with amazing co-workers; meeting my passengers that were from all around the globe and at the same time; travel accross Canada. It never ceased to fascinate me to travel from big cities, to the prairies and through the rockies as im working.

The job, for an entry level position, is all over the place. You are on call, so let's say you get a call on Monday, you go out Tuesday, you get in the station, pick what your job this trip will be (it is a choice of seniority) and then you do a briefing with the Service Manager for that trip. When the train arrives, you get on, do a turn over (which means that you discuss the passengers, job details, load on supplies that you need, etc) and get to work. Say you're going to Toronto. You would have gotten on at night so once the turn over is finished, go to bed and get up for 6:00am the next morning. Work all the way till 11:00-11:30, depending on the job. This part would include continuous bar service/ maintenance of that car, a lot of bed making in the morning if you're a porter, or constantly serving people their meals/setting up for each meal. The management is usually very nice, helpful, and informative, depending on the service manager. But they usually are all very good and easy to get along with. The co-workers, again, change from trip to trip but generally everyone is very nice and helpful, good to get along with and laugh with but also ready to work. The hardest part of the job would be the lack of sleep coupled with the 18 hours of staying on your feet while working in the diner. The most enjoyable part is the travel, getting to see Canada on a wide scale and meeting so many interesting people along the way.

Via Rail (Vancouver maintenance center), we do maintenance inspections and repairs for Canada’s national passenger train, as well as the West Coast Express commuter train. Our daily work tasks (for tradespeople at VMC anyhow) varies greatly, making every day different... which is refreshing! The company/mgmt team provides Literally Everything for a new employee to be successful (tools, ppe, procedures, schematics, work uniforms, coveralls, a safety orientation, trainer, trades coach, technical advisor, shadowing a current employee for a few weeks til competent). If you have industrial and/or maintenance experience, are willing to work smart/hard, and have a good attitude, you will succeed here. The ones who perform well consistently are generally rewarded and/or promoted around here, whereas lazy individuals, ones who are intentionally difficult, and especially those with negative attitudes don’t last too long. Oppurtunity for Mechanics to learn electrical, and Electricians to learn HVAC. Overtime is available usually. An overall great job (for journeyman Mechanics & Electricians)

I got hired at VIA in the summer, started out loving it. Unfortunately i was wrongfully let go yesterday. I was a trainee and was on board doing student trips. My trainer told me “I’m going to let you do the service alone and only help if needed”. Therefore leaving me alone to do the service. Then he ended up reporting all the mistakes i made
to management even though he left me alone. The meeting with the manager was humiliating, she spoke to me like a bully. When i tried to defend myself she didn’t believe me as the trainer had more seniority to me. She belittled me and made me feel like my feelings weren’t valid. HR was also present and they were cracking jokes and laughing as i sat there in tears.
Completely unprofessional and disgusting way to treat a new employee. As a trainee, i believe this is the time to make mistakes and learn from them but VIA saw me as useless and chose to let me go. More accountability should be put into trainers rather than trainees. The training itself wasn’t very good or clear. Overall i do not recommend applying here unless you want to feel like you’re being watched and having to walk on eggshells all the time. Super toxic environment.

Free travel, good pay and benefits. If you're after those things its decent. Don't bother applying unless you're bilingual french and english. The company loves nepotism. Technology on the job is always 15 years behind. Management is full of people who think they need to be ultra strict on their subordinates to advance in the company, yet they will go nowhere. Trust level amongst co-workers is low, and is a very toxic point. The union while strong protects everyone including the really bad apples that shouldn't be there. Job security comes and goes depending on which government is in power. You will not be recognized in any way whatsoever by working harder or more efficiently than anyone else at your job. There is plenty of room for overtime. Good hours are impossible to get and forget weekends off.  If you can separate your job from you own life it's not half bad, but again the toxic, drab, stressful atmosphere is not for the faint of heart. You're dealing with stressed customers, who constantly have a problem with prices, rules, regulations, missing luggage, late trains etc etc. If you don't have thick skin, don't even bother applying. 

Via is the worst company I've ever worked for! Like any railroad, money is the only way they can keep their employees...and that's the only reason I lasted as long as I did! You won't get any health benefits for at least 8 months, if not more as your benefits are dependent on how many hours you've worked, and it takes on average 8-9 months to meet your hours. But if you transfer to any department, Via fires you and rehires you in your new department which then makes your counter restart at 0 for your benefits and travel privileges. And the benefits are a joke. You also won't get any travel privileges for at least a year (unlike airlines where both start immediately). You often work 14 hours a day, and don't get a minimum rest period at the hotel. So they can happily send you at the hotels with 5 hours rest before making you work another 12-14 hour shift. Both unions representing different departments are useless. Via is also very poorly run with defective and unreliable equipment! If you want the glamor of transportation and layovers in different cities, consider the airlines! 

Days as a new hire are very long, though the workload and length of the day vary depending on position and business of the train. Trains are reliably late, sometimes by up to 24 hours but can result in a massive payout. If you want to work, you will be busy all season. The work requires a certain fortitude but it has its payoffs--an incredible, ever-changing view; co-workers that become close-knit like family; a solid paycheque and steady employment for customer service; dental while you're working, medical from start of season to end of year, winters off!
Nice for those that like travel, enjoy working with people, enjoy some autonomy but are comfortable with hierarchy. Room for advancement, training and movement within the company.
Not nice for people with young families, singles with pets, those who need the predictability of a 9-5.

You might work 4 out of 8 hours. 
You learn what you want, the more you learn the more you can do. 
I got along with management, the people who like to whine do not. 
No real work place culture to speak of it's a government organization with government rules.
The hardest part of the job is knowing no matter how hard you work it means nothing. There is nothing you can do to advance aside from wait for others to retire or quit.
The sense of pride from knowing I did my job well.

If you have a shift or position someone more senior to you wants they can take it. If your a better work the shift suffers, if you know more the shift suffers. If you were hopping to see your family you, and your family, suffer.

The Union will work against you if it protects people senior to you.

Working on a passenger train may not be for everyone, but I absolutely loved it, although it was sometimes hard to be away from family/friends up to a week at a time. I've overcome a big fear of mine, and that is to be in charge of someone's safety. I have learnt many responsibilities and duties to ensure my passengers' safety and well-being while being on the train. The hardest part about this job was that it was 17 hours long, and no matter what mood you were in, you had to stay positive and put a smile on your face. I've learnt that not everyone can be pleased, not matter how much effort you put in. The most enjoyable part of this job was seeing the country from the west-coast, to the east-coast, and spending layovers with co-workers that were like family.

Terrible work environment. The mental harassment and verbal abuse is ridiculous. Management is racist and will always try to instill fear in you like high school bullies. I would have never taken the job if I knew what I know now. I recommend never taking the job no matter what the pay is or how bad you need it. They make you work ridiculous shifts with ridiculous minimal time off. The union is a joke and never fights for the workers. The pension is small and benefits are worthless. If you dont do overtime they will harass you and threaten your job and when you do it they never pay you correctly. You have to fight for everything and if they catch a whiff of rebellion they will put a target on your back no matter how good of an employee you are. I wrote this in hopes of saving another soul from this slave camp.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Service attendant 6 salaries reported	$28.91 per hour
Engineer 10 salaries reported	$74.03 per hour
Diesel mechanic 9 salaries reported	$41.34 per hour
Gas station attendant 8 salaries reported	$29.37 per hour
Cleaner 8 salaries reported	$33.87 per hour

Working at VIA Rail: company overview and reviews

VIA Rail

VIA Rail ratings

Popular jobs at VIA Rail

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected