Toronto-Sarnia-Port Huron-Chicago

[PeterKsfo]

Greetings-
I know there have been a few posts on this some years ago, but has anyone recently taken VIA from Toronto to Sarnia to then cross the border for the Blue Water from Port Huron to Chicago?

I believe that there are still no public transit options for the Canada-US border crossing, but does anyone have any recommendations for any of the taxi or car services that will do the border crossing. I have seen several different taxi operators in the area.

Thanks
Peter

 

[amtrakpass]

Hi Peter, haven't done the trip through Port Huron since you can't make a same day connection with the train times. If someone else has taken the Port Huron Connection since the International was discontinued maybe they can have some tips. However I have made a Chicago to Toronto trip and back multiple times via Detroit in recent years. Coming back I take VIA rail #73 the 12:15pm from Toronto which arrives in Windsor at 4:30pm. I then take Amtrak #355 which leaves Detroit at 6:18pm. You could also take the early VIA Rail #71 however I think it just misses the earlier Amtrak so you would have a bunch of time in Detroit or Windsor. In between there is a tunnel bus that operates on a city-bus type schedule for $5. Follow this link and scroll down to the bus link for a PDF schedule.
https://dwtunnel.com/ Unfortunately the tunnel bus does not leave directly from the VIA rail station so you have to get from there to the Windsor bus station. You can take a local Windsor city bus and transfer but in the interest of time I have usually taken a taxi from the VIA rail station to the main Windsor bus station to catch the tunnel bus. Then after getting to Detroit I have taken the Q-Line streetcar to the Amtrak station in New Center. Although if you are running close for time because of traffic or a customs hold up you could optionally take a taxi-uber to Amtrak as soon as you get across the border. One time I did take a taxi straight from Amtrak to Via rail Windsor to make it easy and it was $50 one way. However perhaps the fare may be cheaper or more expensive for you depending on the service/driver or time of day. If you go the other way from Chicago to Toronto and take the first train #350 from Chicago there is more time between trains so I have taken publit transit completely and even went out to eat before catching the Via rail train to Toronto. Anyway, with all that I found the connection very easy and if you are used to traveling you shouldn't have much trouble. The customs agents of both sides were very used to the Windsor -detroit tunnel bus operation so it usually goes quickly at the border


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[PeterKsfo]

Thanks for posting the details on the Windsor-Detroit crossing. I did take that route recently and love it since it is public transit. The Tunnel Bus runs frequently and is quite efficient. This is certainly the best route to take for Toronto-Chicago. I actually started in Buffalo and got to do the Maple Leave leg from BUffalo-Toronto via Niagara’s Falls (pun intended.).

But since I have not yet taken the Blue Water, I thought it might be fun to trace the route of the old International.

I do know that I’ll need to overnight at the connection. VIA arrives about 10pm at Sarnia, and so I’d want to get across the border that night and stay overnight in Port Huron since the Blue Water leaves pretty early the next morning.

 

[amtrakpass]

Well that makes sense that you would want to give that route a try have then. I have never done that one since it requires an overnight as you mentioned but will be interested to read the details of how it works out for you.

 

[jiml]

Sarnia and Port Huron are both small towns with less transportation options than Windsor-Detroit, making that the better alternative as already pointed out. Hotel choices are also not great, since you'll need to add taxi/Uber costs as well. The Sarnia train also usually takes the slower, more circuitous tracks between Toronto and London, stopping at all the small towns on that route. The difference in travel time is about an hour. The International also did this, contributing to its many time-keeping issues. On the positive side, I always enjoyed the less-seen trackage on the Blue Water.