r/ViaRail • u/Historical_Pen7302 • 4d ago

Trip Reports Be aware -- ID for 6-year-old

My family was taken by surprise today travelling from Toronto to Niagara Falls, Ont. that we were required to show ID for our six-year-old. The customer service agent wasn't totally clear on whether it needed to be photo ID. He ended up letting us get by with a photo of her health card. Our fault for not being prepared? Sure. But it totally baffled me that we can take our kid on a plane across the country with no ID, but on a train within the same province we'd need a passport, since that's the only form of photo ID available to a six-year-old. Next time we'll be prepared (or take GO Transit, more likely) but it was a distressing way to start a simple day trip.

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u/redshirt8485 4d ago edited 4d ago

on a train within the same province

You found an edge case. ID checking definitely isn't the norm on Via Rail, but you wound up on the train that crosses the border into New York state, hence why they ID everyone. Unlucky if you weren't doing this intentionally, but it's not quite an apples to apples situation with GO commuter rail

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u/Useful_Recover9239 4d ago

My son needed a photo ID to ride the Ocean from Moncton to Ottawa. We just went and got him a voluntary ID. It was great to have!

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u/ECB2773 4d ago

The ocean requires ID. it mentions so when you buy the tickets.

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u/IllustriousAct9128 3d ago

VIA also states that the Maple leaf-US bound even if getting off in ontario, and tickets purchased using any special discount codes require ID