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62 Chronology
1972 — The national railway system stopped using Morse code for telegramming.
1976 — CN erected the world’s tallest man-made structure in Toronto: The CN Tower. CN created VIA Rail to be Canada’s passenger train service.
1978 — CPR and CN combined their passenger train services under the VIA Rail banner — now a separate Crown corporation.
1979 —PrimeMinisterJohnDiefenbaker’s body was carried on a funeral train from Ottawa to its final destination in Saskatoon.
1981 —VIARailcutcloseto20percent of its services.
1982 —VIARailpublishestwoacclaimed, scenic rail guides by a conductor veteran, Bill Coo. A must-have book for train buffs.
1984 — VIA transported Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on her Royal Train. Similarly, Pope John Paul II was welcomed aboard the Pontifical Train.
1988 — CN abandoned the operation of Newfoundland’s railway.
1989 — CN abandoned the operation of Prince Edward Island’s railway.
A special, VIA Rail train for the Grey Cup’s 100th anniversary.
1990 — 50 percent of VIA’s passenger service was cut. VIA ran one route across Canada. The transcontinental train ran on the CN line going through Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper, Kamloops and Vancouver.
1990 — The Great Canadian Railtour Company purchased and privatized the daytime tourist train Rocky Mountaineer.
1992 — VIA Rail’s Silver & Blue class was offered providing high-class accommodation, premium service and delectable meals while travelling across Canada.
1995 — West Coast Express, one of Vancouver’s commuter services, began running on CP rail between Vancouver and Mission, British Columbia.
1995 — Needing to raise funds for the railway, CN offered shares on the TSE & the NYSE and walks away with $2.16 billion.
1996 — The longest passenger train in Canada’s history, by Rocky Mountaineer, began running using three GP40 locomotives and 34 cars from Vancouver to Kamloops.
1998 — Operation over the former CP line between Sicamous and Kelowna was taken over by the Okanagan Valley Railway.
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