VIA Rail (tel: 1 888 842 7245/VIARAIL; website: www.viarail.ca) is Canada's national rail service provider. Quebec City's main rail station, Gare du Palais, is located a short walk northwest of Old Quebec, at 450 rue de la Gare-du-Palais, next to the main coach station. The château-like railway station contains restaurants, cafés and left-luggage facilities. Trains arriving from the west also stop at Ste-Foy Station, 3255 chemin de la Gare, to the southwest.

Rail services: Quebec City lies at the eastern end of the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, which accounts for 85% of Canada's passenger rail traffic. Both economy and first class (VIA 1) cars are available on corridor trains, which link Quebec City with Montreal to the west. The carriages are clean and quiet, with large windows that confer a sense of the country's vastness, as the train passes acres of farmland and mixed conifer and deciduous forests. VIA 1 fares include a surprisingly good meal and complimentary Canadian wines. From Montreal, Via has connections to Ottawa and Toronto; and Amtrak trains (tel: 1 800 872 7245/USARAIL; website: www.amtrak.com) travel to New York City.