Quebec's excursion-train history is a cautionary tale — the Wakefield steam train, the Orford Express and others all died between 2005 and 2020. What survives is worth the trip: the Train de Charlevoix, Québec's only full-length scenic train, relaunched in 2025 and running 125 km of St. Lawrence shoreline.
Near Montréal, Exporail is the largest railway museum in the country and still runs trains and a streetcar. And because this directory labels things honestly, Quebec also contributes two rail-adjacent rides: Québec City's 1879 funicular and the pedal-it-yourself vélorails on Lac Aylmer.
The year at a glance
How many listings typically run in each month — patterns, not schedules.
- January1Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec
- February1Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec
- March1Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec
- April1Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec
- May2Exporail, le Musée ferroviaire canadien (Canadian Railway Museum)
- June4Exporail, le Musée ferroviaire canadien (Canadian Railway Museum)
- July4Exporail, le Musée ferroviaire canadien (Canadian Railway Museum)
- August4Exporail, le Musée ferroviaire canadien (Canadian Railway Museum)
- September4Exporail, le Musée ferroviaire canadien (Canadian Railway Museum)
- October4Exporail, le Musée ferroviaire canadien (Canadian Railway Museum)
- November1Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec
- December2Exporail, le Musée ferroviaire canadien (Canadian Railway Museum)
The listings
National railway museumOperating
Saint-Constant, QC
SeasonMuseum open year-round; passenger train mid-May to early November (2026: May 17 – Nov 1) on a shortened route; Christmas Train on select December days
Canada's largest railway museum, on Montréal's South Shore: a short passenger-train ride (about 15 minutes) runs Sundays and holidays, a heritage streetcar circuits the grounds all season, and more than 140 pieces of rolling stock fill the halls. The train ride currently runs a shortened route because of track damage beyond the museum's control. In December, the Christmas Train runs on select days — reserve seats.
Tripabout 15 minutes (passenger train ride)
Historic funicular — rail-adjacentOperating
Québec City, QC
SeasonYear-round, daily (9:00–21:00; to 22:00 in high season)
Not a train, but a rideable piece of 1879: the funicular hauls you up the cliff from the Petit-Champlain quarter to Dufferin Terrace for the price of a coffee, sparing you the Breakneck Steps. Year-round, all day.
Railbike (vélorail) — rail-adjacentOperating
Beaulac-Garthby, QC
SeasonLate June to mid-October (2026: June 21 – October 11; weekends only from mid-August)
Pedal a two-bike platform along the old Québec Central beside Lac Aylmer — 10 or 18 km return trips and you provide the power. A rail ride, honestly labelled: no locomotive involved.
Scenic coastal trainOperating
Québec City (Chute-Montmorency), QC
SeasonEarly June to early November (2026 season: June 5 – November 1)
Québec's only full-length scenic train: 125 km from the Montmorency Falls along the St. Lawrence shore — cliffs on one side, river on the other — through Baie-Saint-Paul to La Malbaie. It relaunched in 2025 under a new model after briefly announcing closure.
Gateway towns. Montréal covers Exporail (in Saint-Constant, on the South Shore). Québec City is the base for Charlevoix and the funicular; the vélorails are a day trip east toward Lac Aylmer.
Great journeys through Quebec
Heritage sites in Quebec
Railway heritage you visit rather than ride — each site checked against its official source and listed in the Heritage sites section, counted separately from the railways above.
