In a major expansion of Canada’s fledgling bike train network, VIA Rail now offers cyclists daily service between Toronto and Montreal.

There is space for six bikes per train on the selected runs. Instead of being required to box bikes, as is now the case, passengers will deposit them at a baggage counter or take them directly to the platform where they will be loaded into a baggage car equipped with a limited number of racks.

Tickets are available online through www.biketrain.ca, a non-profit initiative started by green transportation activist Justin Lafontaine and a group of Toronto cycling advocates.

The adult fare, which compares favourably with regular prices, is $109 one-way for a passenger and a bike. There will be two bike trains daily during the week and one daily on weekends. The pilot project runs until Oct. 7, 2009.

In 2007, Lafontaine persuaded VIA Rail to launch a Toronto-to-Niagara Falls service for cyclists on weekends. The so-called Greenbelt Express — a two-hour train trip to Niagara’s wine country and its 150 kilometres of trails — has since carried more than 1,000 passengers, including groups from Germany and the United States.

“The goal is to promote Ontario as a cycle-touring destination and it seems to be working,” says bike train spokesman Peter Lipscombe.

Unlike the Niagara run, there will be no bike train volunteers on hand to help cyclists travelling between Canada’s two biggest cities. However, the website includes guides to trail networks in both places — along with a list of local cycling organizations and bike-friendly accommodations.

For now, the service is only available to through passengers — which leaves Cornwall and Kingston out of the loop.

And, despite the national capital region’s extensive trail network and well-developed cycling culture, Ottawa, too, is out of the running for the immediate future. The official explanation is that there are no baggage cars on the regular Ottawa-Toronto or Ottawa-Montreal lines, which means no place to stash cycles.

So far, the prospect of bringing the service here has no powerful political champions, either.

However, Lafontaine and his partners — including provincial tourism officials, municipal councils and chambers of commerce, environmental groups and non-profits — are bent on expansion.

This summer, an inaugural bike train operated between Toronto and North Bay and there are plans for regular service between Toronto and points east, including Kingston, next summer. Huntsville is also lobbying to become a destination.

In Europe, rail-and-cycle travel is commonplace, particularly in Germany, Holland and Switzerland. Most regional European trains will carry assembled bikes, although there are sometimes time restrictions and extra charges.