The Canadian railroad panorama has differed radically from that of the United States in that it has been dominate by two giant , transcontinental carriers : Canadian Pacific , a private road , and Canadian National , a ward of the government activity . But despite a gallant , creative elbow grease by CN in the ' 60s to reinvigorate rider Robert William Service with refurbished equipment , strong-growing selling , and elastic pricing , Canadian rider trains finally came to be chivvy with problems much consanguineal to the suffering face by their U.S. vis-a-vis .
In the mid-1970s , the Canadian government pick out a solution that mirror Amtrak , and VIA Rail Canada germinate . First , CN ’s service follow under the VIA banner . Then , with the change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time in the fall of 1976 , a joint VIA timetable include both CN and CP caravan . Finally , in September of 1978 , Canadian Pacific ’s passenger trains come straight under VIA ’s protection .
VIA ’s creation from two railroads ' passenger train was enormously simpler than Amtrak ’s amalgamation of 20 different companies ' services . For years , not much changed in operational traffic pattern .
Canada ’s greatest train , CP ’s unsullied - steelCanadian ( Budd - built in 1954 ) , persist in to ply its outrageously scenic path between Montreal / Toronto and Vancouver - essentially with its original equipment , including a twosome of dome , though former Canadian National " Daynighter " coaches ( with wide spacing and leg rest , for all-night change of location ) were added . Their smooth , Cor - Ten brand sides , painted VIA blue with jaundiced stripes , clash with the fluted railway car of Budd ’s Canadian .
Though in later years VIA would accrue on hard political metre and sustain massive gearing - offs in the process , rider railroading northward of the border was ( and , selectively , continue ) a ok experience in the VIA era .
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