Quebec Terminal

[NetworkGuy]

How far is the train start from the Quebec Terminal? We are taking the VIA Rail to Montreal.

I am thinking we take a can or Uber.

[GTJ]

While there are a few places within the port where a vessel might dock, the main port area is about one kilometre from the Gare du Palais, an easy 10-minute walk. The same station in Québec for both trains and buses, and so if the Via Rail schedule in inconvenient then Orléans Express provides quality bus service to Montréal as well.

[LHT28]

Are you boarding in Montreal or Quebec City?

 There is  a train station a few blocks from the port 

 

I am guessing you are taking the Amtrak  Adirondack route 

station is

Montreal, Quebec

Gare Centrale / Central StationTrain Station -

 

895 rue de la Gauchetiere ouest
Montreal, QC H3B 4G1

About  a 20 min walk or 10 min ride to the port in Montreal

If you are leaving from Quebec city,  Quebec that is  another story

 

[NetworkGuy]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Our cruise ship is docking in Quebec City.

 

From the Quebec City Terminal we need to get to the VIA Rail Station Gare du Palais
450 rue de la Gare du Palais, Québec

 

 

[LHT28]

10 minutes ago, NetworkGuy said:

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Our cruise ship is docking in Quebec City.

 

From the Quebec City Terminal we need to get to the VIA Rail Station Gare du Palais
450 rue de la Gare du Palais, Québec
 

 

It is  a 10 min drive  so taxi or Uber will work

 You mentioned Montreal which is 3+ hrs from Quebec City  That confused me  😉

 

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Port+of+Quebec,+Québec+City,+QC/450+Rue+de+la+Gare-du-Palais,+Québec,+QC+G1K+3X2/@46.8194746,-71.214939,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x4cb895ffd01bc951:0x327250d68fa1c9f6!2m2!1d-71.2066107!2d46.8210729!1m5!1m1!1s0x4cb8960acece8ba9:0x23280948ea967f18!2m2!1d-71.2140984!2d46.8174679!3e0

[NetworkGuy]

Hopefully there will be cabs waiting. Thanks.

[GTJ]

17 hours ago, NetworkGuy said:

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Our cruise ship is docking in Quebec City.

No, you were perfectly clear for all of us who know Québec.

 

17 hours ago, NetworkGuy said:

Hopefully there will be cabs waiting.

Ordinarily there should be. It is such a short distance.

 

I assume that you're looking at Via Rail no. 37, departing Gare du Palais at 12:36 p.m., due in Montréal, at Gare Centrale, at 3:54 p.m. (It would be difficult trying to board the earlier train, departing at 8:10 a.m., though there are two trains later in the afternoon should you desire to do some sightseeing while in Québec. In that case, there are luggage lockers at the Gare du Palais, within the bus part of the station, and you might also leave baggage with Via Rail itself, all so that you can explore the city freely.)

[genealogyfan]

On 10/4/2022 at 6:02 PM, NetworkGuy said:

Hopefully there will be cabs waiting. Thanks.

There are cabs at the Quebec terminal, but just be aware before you get inside one. If you need to pay by credit card - ask ahead of time (don't rely on the port employee), ask for the approximate price and if they don't take credit cards, ask for the price in Canadian dollars or US dollars. We were ripped off by a taxi cab driver at the Quebec port going to a local hotel.

[GTJ]

14 hours ago, genealogyfan said:

We were ripped off by a taxi cab driver at the Quebec port going to a local hotel.

How were you cheated? Did the taxi driver demand more than the metered fare? Did you call for police intervention?

[NetworkGuy]

On 10/5/2022 at 11:24 AM, GTJ said:

I assume that you're looking at Via Rail no. 37, departing Gare du Palais at 12:36 p.m., due in Montréal, at Gare Centrale, at 3:54 p.m. (It would be difficult trying to board the earlier train, departing at 8:10 a.m., though there are two trains later in the afternoon should you desire to do some sightseeing while in Québec. In that case, there are luggage lockers at the Gare du Palais, within the bus part of the station, and you might also leave baggage with Via Rail itself, all so that you can explore the city freely.)

We are planning on the 8:10am train. The ship get to Quebec city on Thursday night. We have reservations for Saturday morning. We are just going to request to get off early.

[genealogyfan]

6 hours ago, GTJ said:

How were you cheated? Did the taxi driver demand more than the metered fare? Did you call for police intervention?

It wasn’t metered. First the port employee told us all cabs took credit cards so it was our fault we didn’t confirm until the driver started driving away. The port employee also said the local city hotels were about $22 Canadian dollars. The driver first said it would be $25 (as in Canadian dollars). As we were driving I then asked if she took credit cards and she said no. When I told her I just had US dollars and what’s the cost in US dollars she said $25, when I said that was the cost in Canadian dollars then she said no that’s in US dollars and then she claimed she didn’t speak much English. 

 

She got a nice exchange rate and tip. There was nothing we could do. I just like to warn people to confirm the cab drivers take credit cards in case they don’t have Canadian dollars.

 

Yes I understand she should get a little more then the exchange rate, but not that much.

[GTJ]

7 hours ago, genealogyfan said:

It wasn’t metered. * * * I just like to warn people to confirm the cab drivers take credit cards in case they don’t have Canadian dollars.

It sounds like you got snared by a gypsy cab. It may be that all legal taxicabs within the city of Québec must accept credit cards (I am not certain of the local laws within the city and the veracity of the port employee's assertion), but my suspicion is that did not actually use a legal taxicab. The law in Québec is that "[n]o taxi driver may require a customer to pay, in addition to the fare calculated in accordance with the rate structure, any charge other than a charge prescribed by regulation," the regulated fare being based on distance traveled. In some cases a taximeter may not be required, but in those cases the odometer is used to calculate distance traveled. In this situation I likely would have exited the vehicle without paying, or called the police if there were any resistance from the driver. I find it disheartening to hear stories of innocent tourists feeling obligated in some manner to these hucksters. We have the same problem with gypsy cabs in the city where I reside, and we get a bad reputation when they cheat our visitors.

[GTJ]

7 hours ago, NetworkGuy said:

We are planning on the 8:10am train. The ship get to Quebec city on Thursday night. We have reservations for Saturday morning. We are just going to request to get off early.

A good plan for that type of situation. Many vessels arrive the day prior to the final disembarkation day, and so you will have completed all sightseeing the day before. But since you will be leaving the vessel around 7:00 a.m., it might be too early for there to be many taxis available at the port (I don't possess that specific knowledge of taxi availability at that hour to be able to advise). If your baggage is on wheels, you can walk to the station in about 15 minutes, so that could be a fall-back plan in the event there are no taxis to be found.

[NetworkGuy]

4 hours ago, GTJ said:

If your baggage is on wheels, you can walk to the station in about 15 minutes, so that could be a fall-back plan in the event there are no taxis to be found.

It is on wheels. Thanks!

[Tiggerwudz]

On 10/6/2022 at 3:31 PM, NetworkGuy said:

We are planning on the 8:10am train. The ship get to Quebec city on Thursday night. We have reservations for Saturday morning. We are just going to request to get off early.

If the ship has an overnight stay, how early can you disembark. I assume you still have to clear customs and a 7.00 am disembark would be early enough for the 8.10 am train. Any thoughts ?

[martincath]

16 hours ago, Tiggerwudz said:

If the ship has an overnight stay, how early can you disembark. I assume you still have to clear customs and a 7.00 am disembark would be early enough for the 8.10 am train. Any thoughts ?

If it's an overnight at the end of a cruise, then any required customs/immigration would have been done on arrival; the main limiting factor is whether there are ship/terminal staff available if you need help with bags - perhaps an issue if you wanted to walk off at 4am, but at 7am no worries.

 

I would err a little on the earlier side if you plan to check bags - VIA have a 45min requirement for bags being checked at the start of the route, and that includes pretty much every train running west from Quebec, so I'd be aiming for a 7am arrival at the station to give you some padding in case roadworks, detours, long queue of other folks checking in etc. delay you.

 

 

[GTJ]

6 hours ago, martincath said:

I would err a little on the earlier side if you plan to check bags - VIA have a 45min requirement for bags being checked at the start of the route, and that includes pretty much every train running west from Quebec, so I'd be aiming for a 7am arrival at the station to give you some padding in case roadworks, detours, long queue of other folks checking in etc. delay you.

The only train operating from Québec that provides checked baggage service is the final train of the day, no. 29, departing at 5:45 p.m. So if one desires to utilize checked baggage service, there would be plenty of time to get from the vessel to the Gare du Palais.

 

But would one really need to check any baggage? Allowed carry-on are one personal item up to 25 lbs., one large or two small items up to 50 lbs. total (or two large items up to 50 lbs. each for business class). Free checked baggage allowance, in addition to carry-on. is two large items up to 50 lbs. each. Additional large items are charged at CAD 40 each.

[martincath]

19 hours ago, GTJ said:

The only train operating from Québec that provides checked baggage service is the final train of the day, no. 29, departing at 5:45 p.m. ...

Well that's changed since the last time I rode the rails on the Windsor corridor - there were baggage cars on at least one of the morning trains too; thanks for the update. 

 

As to checked vs. carry-on, I've seen a lot of folks who have a matched pair of large and small suitcases plus a daypack or similar - which exceeds the VIA carryon limit. Technically any additional article beyond the 2 or 3 is charged, but purses, small laptop bags/briefcases and the like are ignored by VIA staff in my experience. However one never knows how pedantically rules will be applied - especially when it nets them an extra $40 if enforced - and I've seen people arguing about e.g. a camera bag for a couple of SLR bodies and lenses, despite being easily small enough and obviously valuable enough it's going to stay at the persons feet not take up luggage rack space!

[GTJ]

16 hours ago, martincath said:

Well that's changed since the last time I rode the rails on the Windsor corridor - there were baggage cars on at least one of the morning trains too; thanks for the update.

I don't think that Via Rail Canada has done a very good job generally with checked baggage service in the Québec-Windsor corridor, and it has long been sporadic. Amtrak suffers as well in its Boston-Washington corridor, but a number of intercity trains operating along the corridor with baggage cars picks up much of the slack from regional trains with no such cars. Unfortunately, the Via Rail Canada corridor does not really have any overlapping intercity trains with baggage cars. (Indeed, one of the problems is that connections to and from the Canadian at Toronto, and the Ocean at Montréal, are hampered, both as to checking baggage and temporally.)

 

I have never seen the carry-on baggage issue to be a substantial operating concern, and it is easy to bring on and take off carry-on baggage . . . and with little relevance as to baggage weight but for the passenger carrying his or her own baggage. It seems to me that the $40 charge for excess is mostly a way for Via Rail Canada to squeeze dollars from passengers without really providing any service. Moreover, it has the opportunity to create unnecessary conflict between staff and passengers, all to the detriment of the railroad.

[Tiggerwudz]

Thanks for all the information, I will look a little deeper into the baggage issue. We most likely will have one suitcase each (max 50 lbs) and a small carry on or backpack each. Is the walk from cruise port to train station straightforward ? I believe it takes around 15 minutes pulling luggage.

[GTJ]

14 hours ago, Tiggerwudz said:

We most likely will have one suitcase each (max 50 lbs) and a small carry on or backpack each. Is the walk from cruise port to train station straightforward? I believe it takes around 15 minutes pulling luggage.

No need to check baggage. A straightforward walk, but do print out a map in advance so that you can be certain as to how you're walking. The closest docking position is about 15 minutes walking, but other positions could take a bit longer.

[Tiggerwudz]

Thanks again GTJ, I usually have local maps downloaded on my phone.

[Cruisin Kay D]

As I recall it is somewhat an uphill walk from ship to train station.   We have used both the train to Montreal and the express bus.....Been there several times.  

[GTJ]

19 hours ago, Cruisin Kay D said:

As I recall it is somewhat an uphill walk from ship to train station. We have used both the train to Montreal and the express bus.....Been there several times.  

I think that you might be referring to a different port. Vessels arriving at the port in Québec do so, of course, in the lower city, and there is a steep cliff (climbed by a funicular railway) to the upper city where you would find the Château Frontenac and the rest of the walled city. However, the Gare du Palais is part of the lower city, and there is a very flat path from the port by walking along either rue St-André or rue St-Paul.