British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains, and borders the province of Alberta to the east and the Yukon and Northwest Territories to the north. With an estimated population of 5.3 million as of 2022, it is Canada's third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria and its largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver is the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada; the 2021 census recorded 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver.
Whistler is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, approximately 125 km (78 mi) north of Vancouver and 36 km (22 mi) south of Pemberton. It has a permanent population of approximately 13,982 (2021), as well as a larger but rotating population of seasonal workers.
The Kettle Valley Railway was a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) that operated across southern British Columbia, west of Midway running to Rock Creek, then north to Myra Canyon, down to Penticton over to Princeton, Coalmont, Brookmere, Coquihalla and finally Hope where it connected to the main CPR line.
BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) was an historic railway which operated in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Originally the parent company for, and later a division of, BC Electric Company, the BCER assumed control of existing streetcar and interurban lines in southwestern British Columbia in 1897, and operated the electric railway systems in the region until the last interurban service was discontinued in 1958. During and after the streetcar era, BC Electric also ran bus and trolleybus systems in Greater Vancouver and bus service in Greater Victoria; these systems subsequently became part of BC Transit, and the routes in Greater Vancouver eventually came under the control of TransLink. Trolley buses still run in the City of Vancouver with one line extending into Burnaby.
Canada has a large and well-developed railway system that primarily transports freight. There are two major publicly traded transcontinental freight railway systems, Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP). Nationwide passenger services are provided by the federal crown corporation Via Rail. Three Canadian cities have commuter train services: in the Montreal area by Exo, 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 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.
The Island Rail Corridor, previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway, is a railway operation on Vancouver Island and is the only remaining railway on Vancouver Island after the closure of the Englewood Railway in November 2017. The Island Corridor Foundation owns the former Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway corridor. The railway line is 225 kilometres (140 mi) in length from Victoria to Courtenay, known as the Victoria Subdivision, with a branch line from Parksville to Port Alberni known as the Port Alberni Subdivision at 64 kilometres (40 mi) in length, for a total 289 kilometres (180 mi) of mainline track. In 2006, the Island Corridor Foundation acquired the railway's ownership from the Canadian Pacific Railway.
The Canadian is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail-tour company based in Vancouver that operates luxury scenic trains on four rail routes in British Columbia, Alberta, Colorado, and Utah.
Pacific Central Station is a railway station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which acts as the western terminus of Via Rail's cross-country The Canadian service to Toronto and the northern terminus of Amtrak's Cascades service to Seattle and Portland. The station is also Vancouver's main intercity bus terminal. The station is wheelchair accessible and is staffed with full Via services. The station is a candidate for the northern terminus of a possible future high-speed rail line being considered primarily by the US state of Washington.
Howe Sound is a roughly triangular sound, that joins a network of fjords situated immediately northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia. It was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2021.
Transportation in Vancouver, British Columbia, has many of the features of modern cities worldwide. Unlike many large metropolises, Vancouver has no freeways into or through the downtown area. A proposed freeway through the downtown was rejected in the 1960s by a coalition of citizens, community leaders and planners. This event "signalled the emergence of a new concept of the urban landscape" and has been a consistent element of the city's planning ever since.
The Whistler Sea to Sky Climb, previously known as the Whistler Mountaineer, was a sight-seeing railway service. It was operated by Rocky Mountaineer Vacations (RMV) tour company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who operate vintage trains over numerous sightseeing routes in Western Canada. It was established in 2006 and discontinued in 2015 after the retirement of Rocky Mountaineer's RedLeaf service fleet.
}} Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is a railway station which acts as the western terminus of the Rocky Mountaineer train service to Jasper, Banff and Calgary. Prior to 2005, the Vancouver terminus for the Rocky Mountaineer was the Pacific Central Station.
Whistler station is a railway station located in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, along the BC Rail line. The operations of the line are now run by Canadian National via a long-term lease between CN & BC Rail. Rocky Mountaineer runs a single train that calls at the station once a week in high-season, the Rainforest to Gold Rush which provides service from North Vancouver railway station to Quesnel railway station and Jasper railway station. Rocky Mountaineer discontinued the Whistler Sea to Sky Climb, its once-daily service to Whistler, in 2016.
Quesnel station in Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada is a railway station which is used by the Rocky Mountaineer train service. The station is used on the Rainforest to Gold Rush route that links Whistler to Quesnel. Service is infrequent and only occurs several days per month.
Kamloops station is a railway station in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the overnight stopover point for the Rocky Mountaineer train service to Jasper, Banff and Calgary from Vancouver.
Tower Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is an office tower and retail centre connected to the Calgary Tower. It is only three minutes on foot from the CTrain's 1 Street Southwest station and Centre Street station.
The Cariboo Prospector or Cariboo Dayliner or The BC Rail Budd cars was a passenger train service in British Columbia, Canada, which used Budd Rail Diesel Car trains. It was operated by the Pacific Great Eastern, later known as the British Columbia Railway Company and then BC Rail. The train ran from BC Rail's North Vancouver railway station, the one located a few blocks from the current North Vancouver railway station used by the Rocky Mountaineer, and ran to Lillooet railway station. From there a section was split from the train that would continue down to Prince George BC Rail station located in BC Rail's Prince George yards. This train service ended along with the other BC Rail passenger services in 2002. A section serving the line between Lillooet, Seton Portage, and D'Arcy was replaced by the Koaham Shuttle.
Lady Cynthia was a steel-hulled passenger ship converted from a minesweeper,, which served in the coastal waters of British Columbia from 1925 to 1957. Lady Cynthia was a sistership to Lady Cecilia, also a converted minesweeper. The ship was generally referred to as the Cynthia while in service.
