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142 Toronto-Vancouver
TRAIN AT A GLANCE
Route
Distance
Travel Time
Classes of Service
Toronto-Vancouver
4,466 km (2,775 mi)
83 hrs
Economy
Sleeper Plus
Toronto-Vancouver Train (the Canadian )
Canada’s first national link was forged by the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1881-1885. The tracks stretched from the eastern cities, across the rugged Canadian Shield north of the Great Lakes, across the Prairies and through the mountain passes of the Rockies.
TfffTThe Great Northern Railway (1896-1917) and the Grand Trunk Pacific (1902-1923) laid track across the Canadian north and later amalgamated as the publicly owned Canadian National Railway. Both the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and Canadian National Railway (CNR) had freight and passenger networks and, in 1978, their passenger services were united as VIA Rail Canada.
Known simply as the Canadian, the Toronto-Vancouver train is arguably the most famous transcontinental passenger train of the national rail network. But the route it has followed between Union Station and Pacific Central Station has gone through some changes.
In 1990, the train switched from its original CPR line to the more northerly route on CNR’s main line, taking in Saskatoon and Edmonton in favour of Regina and Calgary. The overhaul also
meant that the Canadian no longer served the eastern cities of Ottawa and Montréal.
But the result was to enhance one of the most luxurious and romantic train journeys in Canada, lengthening its duration to four days but adding in some of the most breathtaking scenery found anywhere in the world. Understandably, the passage has become highly desirable amongst tourists and train lovers alike, and is VIA Rail Canada’s flagship western transcontinental route.
In fact, the route has been hailed as
the most complete portrait of Canada’s geographic diversity, presenting a mosaic of natural scenic beauty from the Muskoka Lakes in Ontario to the awesome expanse of the prairie grasslands, to the awe-inspiring beauty of the Canadian Rockies. It is a thoroughly unique experience, conveying the character and culture that has helped to shape the country.
TfT