I Choo Choose You, I Choo Choose You Not

On Wednesday, I was heading back to Toronto though I was also there last week. The new parent company offered 3 days of paid travel for remote employees to go to the closest office Holiday party. Similar to my trip in May, I took advantage of the reimbursement but this time I took the train from Ottawa.

It has been almost 3 years since I rode the tracks and more than 15 years since I stayed in Business class. Via Rail had recently revamped their cars. I don't know what it's like in economy but up here it meant large, leather seats, (faux?) blonde wood panels, and multiple electric outlets. Best of all was the leg room and the modern toilet. The downside was the chatty business folks who preferred to be productive instead of just chilling out. Morning perks included pretzel nut mix and booze. For the all-inclusive lunch, along with white wine, I chose the salmon from a list that also had vegetarian chow mein and tandoori chicken curry. The salmon was reasonably tasty, sitting on a bed of pilaf rice and saute brussel sprouts which were good but not on quite the level of Lynn Crawford. It also came with a peach and cranberry coleslaw and a lemon square dessert. Post-meal had more alcohol (I opted for orange juice) and chocolate truffle. Business class might be 7 times more than my bus ride ($218 vs $29) but an economy ticket on the train wasn't cheap. So I don't know why company nickel-and-dime on these low-cost perks. Given how much people love free stuff, similar offerings for the "hoi polloi" instead of an over-priced snack menu would build much loyalty.

But the main reason I picked the rail was to avoid traffic on the highway. The last few times I was delayed for an hour arriving back in Ottawa. Unfortunately, the train came into Union station 40 minutes late. It was stuck behind another passenger train and then 2 freight trains. This trip made me realized I should also stick to planned itineraries. For the commute to the Ottawa station and the one from Union to my rental, I had mapped out the route with known timetables. On a whim, I deviated from both at the last minute and neither worked out. In the first case, I would have been late if I had not found an idling taxi nearby (a rarity in Ottawa). In the second, an emergency in the subway caused us to sit idling for a long while.