Via Rail

**Via Rail Canada** (reporting mark **VIA**) (/ˈviə/; generally shortened to **Via Rail** or **Via**; styled corporately as **VIA Rail Canada**) is an independent Crown corporation, subsidized by the Minister of Transport, mandated to offer intercity passenger rail services in Canada.

## Routes and connections

Via operates 900 trains per week over 25 routes, grouped into four broad categories:

* "International Travel": daytime, weekday services that cross over the Canada-United States border.

* "Rapid Intercity Travel": daytime services connecting major population centres. The vast majority of Via's trains–over 680 per week–operate along these lines.
* "Long-distance travel and tourism": the famous *Canadian* and *Ocean*, providing traditional transcontinental service.
* "Regional Services": rural services mandated by the Canadian Government for areas which otherwise lack reasonable year-round transportation.

### International travel

   International Travel lines refer to all lines operated by Via that cross over the Canada-United States border, connecting Canadian and American cities with quality train transportation. All International Travel lines are high-speed rail lines, operating the Bombardier Zefiro 300.

#### Lady

The *Lady* operates between Vancouver and Seattle, and operates 7 days a week.

#### Iron

The *Iron* operates between Toronto and New York City, and operates 7 days a week.

#### Hillside

The *Hillside* operates between Montreal and New York City, and operates 7 days a week.

#### Lakeshore

The *Lakeshore* operates between Toronto and Chicago, and operates 7 days a week.

### Rapid Intercity Travel

Rapid Intercity Travel lines refer to high-speed, high-capacity lines operated by Via along major population corridors. All Rapid Intercity Travel lines are high-speed rail lines, operating the Bombardier Zefiro 300.

#### Corridor

The *Corridor* refers to all Via Rail train operations within the Windsor-Quebec City corridor. The *Corridor* is Via's busiest route, and offers the greatest concentration of trains in the country, with 75% of all trains operating along the *Corridor*.

#### Magnate

The *Magnate* refers to all Via Rail train operations within the Calgary-Edmonton corridor.

#### Maritime

The *Maritime* refers to all Via rail train operations within the Maritime region, specifically the operations connecting the cities of Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax.

#### Prairie

The *Prairie* refers to the Via rail train operation between Regina and Saskatoon.

### Long-distance travel and tourism

These lines provide long-distance travel services, connecting both ends of the country.

#### Canadian

The *Canadian* operates between Toronto and Vancouver. It is the lineal descendant of the famous Canadian Pacific train of the same name which ran between 1955–1978, although since 1990 it has used the Canadian National's route instead of the CP's, replacing the discontinued *Super Continental*.

#### Ocean

The *Ocean*, which operates between Montreal and Halifax, has operated over essentially the same route since 1903, making it one of the oldest named trains in the world. It travels over the former Intercolonial Railway, built by the federal government as part of the terms on which New Brunswick and Nova Scotia agreed to join Canada.

### Regional Services

   Regional services often provide the only means of transportation and sustenance for smaller, rural communities throughout Canada. Via operates a total of a hundred trains a week to remote rural areas to fulfill government mandates for service to areas "where alternative, year-round transportation is limited or unavailable." These lines operate Bombardier TWINDEXX Express and Bombardier REGINA EMU trains.

#### Jasper-Prince Rupert

The *Jasper-Prince Rupert* train operates between Jasper, Alberta to Prince Rupert, British Columbia with an overnight stop at Prince George, British Columbia. It forms part of the Northern Corridor network.