Passenger Service on the Canadian Pacific

Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway was built in the 1880’s to provide transcontinental

freight and passenger service. The train remained the primary mode of long-

distance passenger transportation in Canada until the 1960s. In 1955, the

Canadian Pacific Railway introduced a luxury transcontinental passenger train,

The Canadian. This train provided service through Rogers Pass and the Kicking

Horse Pass to and from Vancouver and either Toronto or Montreal (east of

Sudbury, Ontario the train was divided into two sections). The Canadian, which

operated on an expedited schedule, had streamlined stainless steel cars.

In 1978, Canadian Pacific transferred its passenger services to Via Rail, a new

federal Crown Corporation that was now responsible for intercity passenger

services in Canada. With declining ridership major cuts to Via Rail service in 1990

ended service by The Canadian over Canadian Pacific's track. Transcontinental

passenger service was rerouted to Canadian National through the Yellowhead

Pass to the north but kept the The Canadian.  Whereas the The Canadian was

once a daily train both ways (east and west), it now is only a three-times-weekly

operation.

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