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