Rocky Mountaineer

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Rocky Mountaineer
Reporting mark	RMRX
Locale	British Columbia / Alberta
Dates of operation	1990–present
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Headquarters	Vancouver, British Columbia
Website	www.rockymountaineer.com

Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian tour company offering Western Canadian vacation packages that operates trains on four rail routes through British Columbia and Alberta.

Background

The Rocky Mountaineer boards passengers at Banff, Alberta

The company was founded by the Armstrong Group in 1990, and is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the busiest privately owned passenger rail service in North America, having transported over one million passengers since 1990.

Rocky Mountaineer was awarded the "World's Leading Travel Experience by Train" in 2005, 2006 and 2007 at the World Travel Awards,^[1] has been listed among the "World's Top 25 Trains" since 2005 by The Society of International Railway Travelers^[2], and was recognized by National Geographic Magazine as one of the "World’s Best Journeys" in 2007. The Society of American Travel Writers, the world’s largest organization of professional travel journalists and photographers, rated the Rocky Mountaineer as the world's top train ride in 2009.^[3]

Equipment

A window view when crossing the Canadian Rockies

Rocky Mountaineer operates 60 railcars in its fleet:

• GP40-2L locomotives, ex-Canadian National Railway, rebuilt by GEC - Alstom
• 35 Canada Car and Foundry single deck coaches, ex-Canadian National Railway.
• 10 Colorado Railcar (now US Railcar) bi-level Ultra Dome coaches, with wrap-over view windows on the top level.
• An unknown number of Colorado Railcar single-level dome cars

Previous equipment: GE B36-7 locomotives leased from BC Rail.

Routes

Enroute between Banff, Alberta and an overnight stop at Kamloops

Train arrival at Rocky Mountaineer Station, Vancouver

Rocky Mountaineer operates trains over four principal routes:

• Over the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) on the First Passage to the West route from Vancouver, British Columbia via Kamloops to Banff or Calgary, Alberta.

• Over the Canadian National Railway (CN) on the Journey through the Clouds route from Vancouver via Kamloops to Jasper, Alberta

• The Rainforest to Gold Rush route over the CN operated portion from North Vancouver via Whistler and Quesnel through Prince George to Jasper

• The Whistler Sea to Sky Climb return day trip from North Vancouver to Whistler.

The First Passage to the West and Journey through the Clouds route trains depart from Rocky Mountaineer's station at 1755 Cottrell Street just off Terminal Avenue in Vancouver. The Whistler Sea to Sky Climb route trains depart from a platform at the corner of Philip Avenue and West 1st Street in North Vancouver. The Whistler Sea to Sky Climb route connects to the Rainforest to Gold Rush route, which departs from Rocky Mountaineer's platform at the Nita Lake Lodge in the Creekside area of Whistler.

Trip structure

To allow for the best views, trains operate exclusively during the day. On the Calgary/Banff-Vancouver and on the Jasper-Vancouver routes an overnight stop is made in Kamloops, whilst on the Jasper to Whistler route, an overnight stop is made in Quesnel. The services do not operate during the winter months of October to April.

Connecting services

The nearest international airports to the Rocky Mountaineer are Calgary International Airport and Vancouver International Airport.

In Vancouver, Rocky Mountaineer trains depart from the Rocky Mountaineer Station while other rail services operate out of either Pacific Central Station (Amtrak and Via Rail) or Waterfront Station (WestCoast Express).

At the Jasper railway station passengers can transfer directly to Via Rail's Canadian and Jasper – Prince Rupert train services.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rocky Mountaineer Station

• Rocky Mountaineer

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