Railways in Canada

Railways in Canada
Major lines of the Canadian railway network
Operation
Major operators	CN Rail CP Rail Via Rail
Statistics
Ridership	80 000 000
System length
Total	49,422 km (30,709 mi)
Electrified	129 km (80 mi)
Track gauge
Old gauge	5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm)
Main	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

Canada has a large and well-developed railway system that today transports primarily freight. There are two major publicly traded transcontinental freight railway systems, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific. Nationwide passenger services are provided by the federal crown corporation Via Rail. Three Canadian cities have commuter train services: in the Montreal area by Réseau de transport métropolitain, in the Toronto area by GO Transit, and in the Vancouver area by West Coast Express. These cities and several others are also served by light rail or metro systems. Only one (Toronto) has an extensive streetcar (tram) system. Smaller railways such as Ontario Northland Railway and Algoma Central Railway also run passenger trains to remote rural areas. The Rocky Mountaineer and Royal Canadian Pacific provide luxury rail tours for viewing scenery in the Canadian Rockies as well as other mountainous areas of British Columbia and Alberta.

Canada has 49,422 kilometres (30,709 mi) total trackage, of which only 129 kilometres (80 mi) is electrified (almost exclusively part of urban rail transit networks). Canada uses 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) (standard gauge) track for the majority of its railway system. The exceptions to this are small lines isolated from the main North American rail network used in resource industries such as mining or forestry, some of which are narrow gauge, and the broad-gauge streetcar and subway lines of Toronto.