1.
Montreal
–
Montreal, officially Montréal, is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada as a whole. Originally called Ville-Marie, or City of Mary, it is believed to be named after Mount Royal, the city has a distinct four-season continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In 2016, Montreal had a population of 1,704,694, Montreals metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. Legally a French-speaking city,60. 5% of Montrealers speak French at home,21. 2% speak English and 19. 8% speak neither, Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 56% of the population able to speak both official languages. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris, historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, culture, tourism, gaming, film, Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design. In 2009, Montreal was named North Americas leading host city for international events, according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress. According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranked Montreal as the worlds best city to study abroad. Also, Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled, the Greater Montréal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics, currently, the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival. In 2012, Montreal was ranked as a Beta+ world city, in Kanien’kéha, or Mohawk language, the island is called Tiohtià, ke Tsi or Ka-wé-no-te. In Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language, the land is called Mooniyaang, though the city was first named by French colonizers Ville Marie, or City of Mary, its current name comes from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The most popular theory is that the name derives from Mont Réal, Cartiers 1535 diary entry, naming the mountain, according to the Commission de toponymie du Québec and the Geographical Names Board of Canada, Canadian place names have only one official form. Thus, Montreal is officially spelled with an accent over the e in both English and French. In practice, this is limited to governmental uses. English-speaking Montrealers, including English-language media, regularly omit the accent when writing in English, archaeological evidence demonstrates that First Nations native people occupied the island of Montreal as early as 4,000 years ago. By the year AD1000, they had started to cultivate maize, within a few hundred years, they had built fortified villages. Archeologists have found evidence of their habitation there and at locations in the valley since at least the 14th century
2.
Quebec
–
Quebec is the second-most populous province of Canada and the only one to have a predominantly French-speaking population, with French as the sole provincial official language. Quebec is Canadas largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division and it also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canadas second-most populous province, after Ontario, most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. Approximately half of Quebec residents live in the Greater Montreal Area, the Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples. Even in central Quebec at comparatively southerly latitudes winters are severe in inland areas, Quebec independence debates have played a large role in the politics of the province. Parti Québécois governments held referendums on sovereignty in 1980 and 1995, in 2006, the House of Commons of Canada passed a symbolic motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada. These many industries have all contributed to helping Quebec become an economically influential province within Canada, early variations in the spelling of the name included Québecq and Kébec. French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose the name Québec in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the seat for the French colony of New France. The province is sometimes referred to as La belle province, the Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of Canada to Britain after the Seven Years War. The proclamation restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, the Treaty of Versailles ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between Lower Canada and Upper Canada, with each being granted an elected legislative assembly, in 1840, these become Canada East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867, each became one of the first four provinces. In 1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the aboriginal peoples. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec. In 1927, the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was established by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Located in the part of Canada, and part of Central Canada. Its topography is very different from one region to another due to the composition of the ground, the climate. The Saint Lawrence Lowland and the Canadian Shield are the two main regions, and are radically different
3.
Canada
–
Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
4.
Berri-UQAM station
–
Berri-UQAM is the central station of the Montreal Metro rapid transit system operated by the Société de transport de Montréal. Berri-UQAM is located in the Quartier Latin, in the borough of Ville-Marie, in Montreal, Quebec, the station opened on October 14,1966, as part of the original network of the Metro. Berri-UQAM is the 2nd deepest station in the network, and the one to have 3 lines stacked on each other. Berri-UQAM is also the busiest station in the network, transfers not included, if transfers were included, the 13 million passengers number would rise to about 35-40 million a year. The Green and Orange Lines pass through Berri, and the Yellow Line terminates there, designed by Longpré and Marchand, the station serves three lines, the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines. This central volume contains three levels, staircases lead from the mezzanine to the landings on either side of the Orange Line. These landings provide views of the great volumes over the Green Line platforms below, from the Green Line level, escalators and hallways connect the rest of the station to the Yellow Line terminus, built in a tunnel a block away under rue Saint-Denis. Due to limited space in the tracks, trains reverse both in the tail tracks and in the foretracks leaving the station. All three lines have side platforms and this station was the first to be equipped with the MétroVision information screens which displays news, commercials, and the time until the next train arrives. In 2009, the station was made partially wheelchair-accessible through the addition of elevators, two elevators now connect the Orange Line platforms to the mezzanine. The other two lines are not yet accessible, however, there is an elevator in the Saint-Denis exit that opened in June 2010. The station also contains several underground city connections, listed below, the work of five artists is exhibited in this station. The largest work is a mural by Pierre Gaboriau and Pierre Osterrath entitled Hommage aux fondateurs de la ville de Montréal. A gift of the Union régionale de Montréal des caisses populaires Desjardins and installed in 1969, it depicts Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière, Jeanne Mance and it is located over the eastern portal of the Green Line tunnel. Three paintings by Robert LaPalme are located over the staircase leading to the Yellow Line terminus. Originally located at the entrance to Expo 67, they represent three themes of the Expo, science, recreation, and culture, a plaque by LaPalme and Georges Lauda, commemorating the inauguration of the Metro, is located at the centre of the mezzanine. It is enclosed in a circular bench, a popular meeting site. There is also a piece of work located in the newer Sainte-Catherine entrance pavilion, the work is a statue of Mother Émilie Gamelin by Raoul Hunter, commemorating Place Émilie-Gamelin in which the entrance is located
5.
Bus terminus
–
A bus terminus is a designated place where a bus or coach starts or ends its scheduled route. The terminus is the place that a timetable is timed from. Termini can be located at bus stations, interchanges, bus garages or bus stops, termini can both start and stop at the same place, or may be in different locations for starting and finishing a route. Termini may or may not coincide with the use of bus stands, for operational reasons and passenger routes to be their bus garage, where the legal terminus is just outside or nearby. For the purposes of integration of different public transport modes, termini may also be located in a hub or interchange. Minor termini may be a bus stop or loop in a residential street, while it may be of prime importance to the passenger, the location of a terminus may be made for reasons other than convenience of passengers. In rare cases, where the bus operator is commercially separate from the bus station owner, additionally, counter to the idea of integration, competing bus operators may use different locations as intermediate termini, to discourage passengers use of competitors services. This does not apply for true circle routes, where buses simply operate permanently in the clockwise or anti-clockwise direction, termini in bus stations will often include reversing/run-around space, negating the turning issue. Another consideration about the location of a terminus is the need to lay over before resuming in service, to allow layover at a terminus, many routes run through busy centres terminating either side in quiet termini, where a bus can lay over without causing an obstruction. This can be mitigated by using a bus stand, in the two-stop type, the arrival stop can be used as the layover point. Layover time is built into a schedule between arrival at the end of a route and the departure for the return trip, used for the recovery of delays. Terminus location may be positioned to allow driver changes, although this may be less of a factor than the location of the bus garage, centrally located termini may be more convenient for driver changes. Some operators operate pool cars to allow drivers to drive to and wait at a quiet terminus, many routes avoid the need to accommodate turning by having the end of the route form a small circuit as an official part of the route. The terminus is designated as one stop on this circuit, with the bus starting and finishing in the same orientation and this is often necessary in many town centres with one-way traffic systems. Space permitting, the terminus may be a purpose built run-around Bus turnout, often the infrastructure for this remains from a previous tram or trolleybus system. In rare cases, to allow a one stop terminus, routes may be arranged to start and finish at the terminus, with buses arriving as one scheduled route. This can also be done to allow a formal midpoint to split up a long route, reducing the knock-on effect of delays. As opposed to a one stop arrangement, some routes that need to reverse direction at a terminus will start and finish in different stops, and this necessitates running the bus out of service along other streets in order to position in the bus for the reverse direction
6.
Coach (bus)
–
A coach is a type of vehicle used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer-distance intercity—or even international—bus service. The term was applied to railway carriages in the 19th century, horse-drawn chariots and carriages were used by the wealthy and powerful where the roads were of a high enough standard from possibly 3000 BC. In Hungary, during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus in the 15th century and this cart of Kocs as the Hungarians called it soon became popular all over Europe. Stagecoaches were used for transport between cities from about 1500 in Great Britain until displaced by the arrival of the railways, one of the earliest motorised vehicles was the charabanc, which was used for short journeys and excursions until the early years of the 20th century. Coaches, as they hold passengers for significant periods of time on long journeys, are designed for comfort and they vary considerably in quality from country to country and within countries. Higher specification vehicles include luxury seats and air conditioning, coaches typically have only a single, narrow door, as an increased loading time is acceptable due to infrequent stops. Some characteristics include, Comfortable seats that may include a table, armrests. Comfort is considered to be an important feature in coaches, a minority of coaches are built with monocoque bodies without a chassis frame. Integrated manufacturers include Autosan, Scania, Fuso, and Alexander Dennis, major coachwork providers include Van Hool, Neoplan, Marcopolo, Irizar, MCI, Prevost, and Designline. A representative selection of vehicles currently in use in different parts of the world, a selection of vehicles in use in different parts of the world in the past. Pegaso Z-403 PD-4501 Scenicruiser GM Buffalo bus Anderson, R. C. A. and Frankis, history of Royal Blue Express Services. BBC Time Shift, The Modern Age of Coach Travel
7.
Montreal Metro
–
The Montreal Metro is a rubber-tired, underground rapid transit system and the main form of public transport in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Metro, operated by the Montreal Transit Corporation, was inaugurated on October 14,1966, in 2013,356.1 million trips on the Metro were completed. According to the STM, the Metro system had transported over 7 billion passengers as of 2010, with the Metro, Montreal has built one of North Americas largest urban rapid transit schemes, attracting the second-highest ridership per capita behind New York City. The Montreal Metro was inspired by the Paris Métro, which is seen in the Metros station design. Urban transit began in Montreal in 1861 when a line of cars started to operate on Craig. Eventually, as the then Canadian metropolis grew, a network of streetcar lines provided service almost everywhere. But urban congestion started to take its toll on streetcar punctuality, in 1902, as European and American cities were inaugurating their first subway systems, the federal government created the Montreal Subway Company to promote the idea in Canada. Starting in 1910, many proposals were tabled but the Montreal Metro would prove to be an elusive goal, first, the Montreal Street Railway Company, the Montreal Central Terminal Company and the Montreal Underground and Elevated Railway Company undertook fruitless negotiations with the city. The Montreal Tramways Company was the first to receive the approval of the government in 1913. The reluctance of elected city officials to advance funds foiled this first attempt, the issue of a subway remained present in the newspapers but World War I and the following recession hitting Montreal prevented any execution. The gradual return of the financial health during the 1920s brought the MTC project back, World War II and the war effort in Montreal resurrected trams crowding. In 1944, the MTC proposed a network, one line running underneath Saint Catherine Street. By this point, construction was well underway on Canadas first subway line in Toronto under Yonge Street. Still, Montreal councillors remained cautious and no work was initiated, for some of them, including Jean Drapeau during its first municipal term, public transit was a thing of the past. In 1959, a company, the Société dexpansion métropolitaine, offered to build a rubber-tired metro but the Transportation Commission wanted its own network. This was the last missed opportunity, for the re-election of Jean Drapeau as mayor, in the early 1960s, the western world experienced an economic boom and Quebec underwent its Quiet Revolution. The 1961 plan reused several previous studies and planned three lines carved into the rock under the city centre to the most populated areas of the city. The main line, or number 1 was to pass between the two most important arteries, Sainte-Catherine and Sherbrooke streets, more or less under the De Maisonneuve Boulevard and it would extend between the English-speaking west at Atwater station and French-speaking east at Frontenac
8.
Ontario
–
Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
9.
New York (state)
–
New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
10.
Montreal Central Station
–
Central Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Nearly 11 million rail passengers use the station every year, the main concourse occupies almost the entire block bounded by rue de La Gauchetière, Robert-Bourassa Boulevard, René Lévesque Boulevard and Mansfield Street. Its street address and principal vehicular access are on de La Gauchetière, the station is adorned with art deco bas-relief friezes on its interior and exterior. The station building and associated properties are owned by Cominar REIT as of January 2012, homburg Invest Inc. was the previous owner, since November 30,2007. Prior to that, from the inception in 1943, it had been owned by Canadian National Railway. Inter-city trains at Central Station are operated by Via Rail and Amtrak, the station is also connected to the Montreal Metro subway system. Central Station is the second-busiest Via Rail station in Canada, after Toronto Union Station and its Via station code is MTRL, its Amtrak code is MTR, and its IATA code is YMY. Central Station opened in 1943, after years of construction. It stands on the site occupied by the terminus of the Canadian Northern Railways Tunnel Terminal which had originally opened in 1918. The merger left CNR with a somewhat viable patchwork of different networks, CNR endured a highly uncomfortable position in Montreal due to the scattering of its terminals. At the end of the 1920s, the newly formed Canadian National Railways struggled with disparate Montreal terminals, what made matters worse was that the various stations were only connected to each other via long detours. The solution chosen was to take advantage of the Mount Royal Tunnel to bring trains from the north, trains from the south and west gained access by a new elevated viaduct. Interurban electric trains, however, remained at McGill Street Terminal until the service was abandoned in 1956, the new station plan allowed for the development of air-rights, similar to Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, both in New York City. The new Central Station would be situated in the bounded by De la Gauchetière Street to the south, Mansfield Street to the west, Cathcart Street to the north. Central Station was designed by John Schofield, architect-in-chief of CNR, construction started in 1926, but was halted in 1930 as a result of the Great Depression. Construction resumed in 1939, the economy having improved, the new station finally opened on July 14,1943, as the first of a series of large-scale urban redevelopment projects undertaken by CNR and the federal government in Downtown Montreal. But the Central Station that came out was a more modest central station with 20 tracks, Central Station was an important passenger station for CN trains from 1943 until the creation of Via Rail in 1978. Following Vias full absorption of CPs passenger trains in 1978, intercity rail traffic from Windsor Station was slowly redirected to Central Station, the final Via trains switched from Windsor Station to Central Station were the Quebec City trains that operated by way of Trois-Rivières
11.
Via Rail
–
Via Rail Canada is an independent Crown corporation, subsidized by the Minister of Transport, mandated to offer intercity passenger rail services in Canada. Via Rail operates 475 trains per week in eight Canadian provinces over a network of 12,500 kilometres of track, 98% of which is owned and maintained by other companies, mostly by CN. Via Rail carried approximately 3.8 million passengers in 2015, yearly passenger levels on Canadas passenger trains peaked at 60 million during World War II. Following the war the growth of air travel and the automobile caused significant loss of mode share for Canadas passenger train operators. By the 1960s it was obvious to both Canadian National Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway that passenger trains were no longer economically viable, CN, being a Crown corporation at that time, was encouraged by the federal government and political interests to invest in passenger trains. These increases proved temporary, by 1977 total passenger numbers had dropped beneath five million, the decline of passenger rail became a federal election issue in 1974 when the government of Pierre Trudeau promised to implement a nationwide carrier similar to Amtrak in the United States. Starting in 1976, CN began branding its passenger services with the bilingual name Via or Via CN, the Via logo began to appear on CN passenger locomotives and cars, while still carrying CN logos as well. That September, Via published a timetable with information on both CN and CP trains, marking the first time that Canadians could find all major passenger trains in one publication. On January 12,1977, CN spun off its services as a separate Crown corporation. At its inception, Via acquired all CN passenger cars and locomotives, following several months of negotiation, on October 29,1978, Via took over operation of CP passenger train services, and took possession of cars and locomotives. At this time, Via did not own any trackage and had to pay fees to CN and CP. Over 150 scheduled trains per week were in operation, including services, regional trains. If Via were enabled by legislation, the company could be permitted to seek funding on the money markets as other Crown corporations such as CN have done in the past. Greater numbers of passengers would not be Vias saviour, in 1981, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeaus government endorsed Minister of Transport Jean-Luc Pépins plan which cut Vias budget, leading to a 40% reduction in the companys operations. Gone were frequently sold-out trains such as the Super Continental and the popular Atlantic, the LRC locomotives and cars used advanced technology such as active tilt to increase speed, but proved troublesome and took several years to work out problems. Prime Minister Mulroneys government gave Via funding to some of its cars, and purchase new locomotives. It was during this time on February 8,1986, that Vias eastbound Super Continental collided with a CN freight train near Hinton, Alberta, the resulting derailment killed 23 people. Minister of Transport Benoît Bouchard oversaw the reduction in service on January 15,1990, the Canadian was also moved from its home rails on CP to the northerly CN route
12.
Amtrak
–
Founded in 1971 to take over most of the remaining U. S. passenger rail services, it is partially government funded yet operated and managed as a for-profit corporation. Amtrak serves more than 500 destinations in 46 states and three Canadian provinces, operating more than 300 trains each day over 21,300 miles of track, some track sections allow trains to run as fast as 150 mph. In fiscal year 2015, Amtrak served 30.8 million passengers and had $2.185 billion in revenue, nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas, 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles. Its headquarters is at Union Station in Washington, D. C, the name Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and trak, the latter itself a sensational spelling of track. From the mid-19th century until about 1920, nearly all intercity travelers in the United States moved by rail, historically, U. S. passenger trains were owned and operated by the same privately owned companies that operated freight trains. About 65,000 railroad passenger cars operated in 1929, from 1920 into the later 20th century, passenger rails popularity diminished and there was a series of pullbacks and tentative recoveries. Rail passenger revenues declined dramatically between 1920 and 1934 because of the rise of the automobile, in the same period, many travelers were lost to interstate bus companies such as Greyhound Lines. However, in the mid-1930s, railroads reignited popular imagination with service improvements and new, diesel-powered streamliners, such as the gleaming silver Pioneer Zephyr and Flying Yankee. Even with the improvements, on a basis, traffic continued to decline. World War II broke the malaise, passenger traffic soared sixfold thanks to troop movements, in 1946, there remained 45 percent fewer passenger trains than in 1929, and the decline quickened despite railroad optimism. Passengers disappeared and so did trains, few trains generated profits, most produced losses. Broad-based passenger rail deficits appeared as early as 1948, and by the mid-1950s, by 1965, only 10,000 rail passenger cars were in operation,85 percent fewer than in 1929. Passenger service was provided on only 75,000 miles of track, the 1960s also saw the end of railway post office revenues, which had helped some of the remaining trains break even. The causes of the decline of rail in the United States were complex. Until 1920, rail was the practical form of intercity transport. By 1930, the companies had constructed, with private funding. In 1916, the amount of track in the United States peaked at 254,251 miles, some rail routes had been built primarily to facilitate the sale of stock in the railroad companies, they were redundant from the beginning. These were the first to be abandoned as the financial positions deteriorated
Berri-UQAM (Montreal Metro)
15 Sainte-Catherine (West bound on Boulevard de Maisonneuve)
