Santa trains, Polar Express runs and North Pole Expresses — the family season on rails, November to Christmas.
From mid-November, excursion railways across Canada hang the lights, load the hot chocolate and hand the railway over to Santa. These are the biggest family dates of the railway year — and the ones that sell out first, sometimes within days of tickets opening. Every train below runs a holiday program according to its operator; dates are set each fall, so book from the operator's site as soon as their calendar opens.
About the Polar Express name. THE POLAR EXPRESS™ is a licensed production — the name belongs to the licence, not to any Christmas train with hot chocolate. In this calendar it runs at two Alberta railways, billed under that name by the operators themselves: Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions at Stettler, and Aspen Crossing Railway at Mossleigh. Every other railway here runs its own holiday trains under its own names — Santa trains, Christmas Expresses, North Pole Expresses. Best Train Rides is an independent guide, not affiliated with any of them.
Christmas train rides in British Columbia run from Vancouver Island to the Okanagan — 6 railways below run Santa trains, Christmas Expresses or a North Pole Express in November and December. The Squamish North Pole Express is the famous one, and its operator's own warning stands: the trains sell out.
Port Alberni, BC · British Columbia
SeasonJun-Sep weekends, plus spring/fall and holiday specials (Easter, Halloween, Santa)
A revived Vancouver Island heritage line running two trips from Port Alberni's waterfront station: a diesel-hauled Alberni Express through the summer, and steam behind restored 1929 Baldwin No. 7, back in service after a full rebuild.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Duncan, BC · British Columbia
SeasonApr-Sep (Thu-Mon), plus Halloween and Christmas Express specials Oct-Dec
A 100-acre forestry museum in the Cowichan Valley where admission includes a ride on 2.5 km of narrow-gauge track — steam (Hillcrest Shay No. 1) on summer weekends and for the Christmas Express, the little 'Green Hornet' on other days.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Surrey (Cloverdale), BC · British Columbia
SeasonMay-Sep weekends, plus Halloween and Christmas (Electric Express) specials
Restored BC Electric interurban car 1225 runs the Heritage Rail Adventure on Saturdays and the 55-minute Sullivan Excursion on Sundays from Cloverdale Station — big-city electric railroading as it was a century ago.
TripHeritage Rail Adventure about 60 minutes; Sullivan Excursion about 55 minutesAccessStation and interurban are accessible; wheelchair passengers transfer to the railway's transit wheelchair to pass the interurban's narrow doorways. The Honeybee Express is accessible.ParkingPassenger parking on the east (Hwy 10) side of Cloverdale Station.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Summerland, BC · British Columbia
SeasonMay-mid-Oct scenic runs, plus fall specials and Christmas Express in Dec
Ninety minutes behind ex-Canadian Pacific steam locomotive No. 3716 on the last surviving piece of the Kettle Valley Railway, climbing above Okanagan Lake to the Trout Creek Trestle — plus the famous Great Train Robbery and a December Christmas Express.
Trip1.5 hours (about 90 minutes)FaresScenic Run: Adult $35 / Senior $32 / Youth $30 / Child $24 (+ GST & booking fee); infants 2 & under free AccessStation and coaches are wheelchair accessible, with a limited number of accessible spaces — book early if you need one.ParkingStation parking lot, for train passengers only.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Squamish, BC · British Columbia
SeasonSaturdays mid-Apr-Oct, plus special-event weekends and North Pole Express Nov-Dec
The West Coast Railway Association's Squamish museum runs full-size rides on Saturdays and event days — a BC Rail Budd car out onto the main-line spur, track speeders, and the North Pole Express in the holidays — beside one of Canada's largest preserved passenger-car collections. (A separate miniature railway on site is not counted here.)
AccessAccess2 program participant — a support person accompanying a visitor with a permanent disability gets free admission.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Surrey, BC · British Columbia
SeasonSeasonal event trains; Christmas Train Dec 1 – Jan 3
Surrey's Bear Creek Park train reinvents itself with the seasons — best known for its Christmas Train, which runs a day train and a Wednesday–Sunday night train from December 1 to January 3.
Fares$12.50 per person (Christmas Train); children under 2 free
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Christmas trains in British Columbia — the full regional page →
Christmas train rides on the Prairies — 4 railways, headlined by Alberta's two Polar Express trains at Stettler and Mossleigh (the licensed production — see the note above the calendar). Add Santa trains at Forestburg and a Christmas Express out of Wakaw, Saskatchewan.
Stettler, AB · Alberta
SeasonMay-Oct themed/dinner excursions, plus Polar Express Nov-Dec
Vintage 1920s coaches behind steam or diesel out of Stettler, most trips themed — meals, onboard entertainment and a staged train robbery on the run to Big Valley or Warden Junction — ending the year with Polar Express trains.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Mossleigh, AB · Alberta
SeasonMay-Dec themed excursions (near year-round specials)
A prairie resort on a former branch line running a dozen-plus themed trains a season — the 3.5-hour Great Alberta Prairie Tour with its Mossleigh grain-elevator stop, brunch and dinner trains, an October Train of Terror and Polar Express in December. Trains are not wheelchair accessible.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Forestburg, AB · Alberta
SeasonMay-Dec, a handful of themed excursion days
A not-for-profit 1950s coach over a working short line, running a handful of big-hearted themed days a year — Sip n' Ride, Farm to Fork, a November murder mystery and the Santa Daze run to Alliance.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Wakaw, SK · Saskatchewan
SeasonMay/Jun-Dec, select dates
A non-profit prairie excursion train running 2.5–3.5-hour round trips between Wakaw and Cudworth, with onboard characters, musicians and prairie menus — Train Heist and Murder Mystery dates all summer and a Christmas Express to finish the year.
Trip2–3 hours round trip (22 km between Cudworth and Wakaw)AccessWheelchair accessible — contact the team ahead of time so arrangements can be made.ParkingFree parking around the platforms; accessible parking directly in front of the station.
Official site ↗ · Book tickets ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Christmas trains in Alberta — the Polar Express province, in full →
Christmas train rides in Ontario — 5 railways: Santa trains at Port Stanley and St. Jacobs, Christmas on the Rails with the streetcars at Milton, a North Pole Express at Smiths Falls, and a Christmas train day in Huntsville.
Milton, ON · Ontario
SeasonMay-Oct weekends/holidays, Thu-Mon Jul-Aug; early Dec Christmas on the Rails
Full-size vintage streetcars and interurbans carry you over 2 km of track at Ontario's electric railway museum near Milton — ride as much as you like on one admission, and come back in December for Christmas on the Rails.
⚠ Planning a late-season visit? The museum's own website disagrees with itself about November — one page says closed for the month, another says open weekends until November 1. Confirm before you go.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Huntsville, ON · Ontario
SeasonMid-May to early Oct (2026: May 16-Oct 10), Tue-Sat; Dec Christmas train
The little Portage Flyer — 1926 steam in summer, a 1948 diesel in the shoulders — runs 1 km along the Muskoka River between Rotary Village Station and Fairy Lake, reviving the old portage railway that once linked Huntsville's lakes, plus a Christmas train in December.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Port Stanley, ON · Ontario
SeasonMay-Dec; weekends spring/fall, Wed-Sun Jul-Aug, Santa trains Nov-Dec
Hour-long scenic rides from the Lake Erie beach town of Port Stanley toward St. Thomas, running through most of the year — murder-mystery dinner trains in September and Santa trains to finish it.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Smiths Falls, ON · Ontario
SeasonEvent-based year-round; regular caboose rides Sundays Jul-Aug plus holiday specials
Short caboose rides from a 1912 station in Smiths Falls, run as a season of event days — Easter, Mother's and Father's Day trains, Sunday rides through summer, Thanksgiving, and the North Pole Express in late fall.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
St. Jacobs, ON · Ontario
SeasonApr-Oct regular Heritage Hopper Thu/Sat (Tue Jul-Aug); Nov-Dec Christmas specials
The Heritage Hopper links Waterloo with the St. Jacobs Farmers' Market, the village of St. Jacobs and Elmira — hop on and off through the season — then gives way to Christmas trains from mid-November.
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Christmas trains in Ontario — the full regional page →
Christmas train rides in Quebec and Atlantic Canada are a short, honest list — 2 railways: Exporail's Christmas Train at Saint-Constant, part of its Railway Christmas, and festive farm-train rides at Aulac, New Brunswick.
Saint-Constant, QC · Quebec
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)
Official site ↗ · Book tickets ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Aulac, NB · New Brunswick
SeasonFarm season to October, plus festive train rides from late November
A small farm railroad at Trueman Blueberry Farms in Aulac: the train carries you through acres of crops and natural splendour, and rides are included with admission to the Adventure Farm. The farm season runs to October, and festive train rides return from late November for the holidays. Weather-dependent, like everything on a working farm.
Fares$10 per person (2 and under free); included with Adventure Farm admission
Official site ↗✓ Last verified: November 2026
Christmas trains in Quebec — the full regional page →
Earlier in the year: the same railways run their most scenic trips in autumn — see the fall colours calendar.
