Canada

when i was in the UK, i took a train from london to Glasgow. train was >200kph, and, without exaggeration, as quiet as a library.

Arrived 15 minutes before it left, had a beer on it, was in glasgow in no time. Highly recommended.

I rode from Stockholm to Copenhagen and back. There were 2 issues with delayed or canceled trains, leading to potential missed connections and some pragmatic opportunism.

Still. It was awesome. It was fast, effective, safe and comfortable.

I worry that our own rail system has never been all those things, and will never be all those things, and I dearly hope to be proved wonderfully wrong.

I implore you to go to some place outside North America for a month and use trains twice a day. Even the worst choices are better than VIA rail.

but I bet the train is still more comfortable

It's not. In business class, you're immediately behind the engine -- you get to hear it blast the horn multiple times at every crossing.

And no matter which class you're in, the freight trains have beat the piss out of almost every set of tracks, so that when you're at speed, it just about knocks your fillings out -- nevermind the idea of actually getting any work done on paper or laptop because of the constant motion.

Your best bet is to get high/drunk before you get on the train and sleep through it.

From the handful of times I rode the train, it's only more comfortable if you plan to sleep. At full speed, it's pretty rough. That being said, you won't be at speed for long--you'll get stuck behind freight and go at a snail's pace for an hour or two at a time, most of the way. If someone is picking you up, tell them not to bother until a few hours after you're scheduled to arrive.