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Concept
BC Rail
Summary
BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the British Columbia Railway, and in 1984 it took on its present name of BC Rail.
Until 2004 it operated as the third-largest railway in Canada, providing freight, passenger, and excursion rail services throughout BC on of mainline track. It was designated a Class II Railway until 2004, and remains a Crown corporation today. It also ran the Royal Hudson services, as well as the premier's private train.
In 2004, the freight operations (including a vast amount of land, buildings, and all rolling stock) of BC Rail were leased to Canadian National Railway (CN) for an initial period of 60 years, with the exception of the Deltaport Spur, for the price of $550 million.
BC Rail remains an operating Crown corporation today. It retains ownership of the entire rail bed stretching from Prince George to North Vancouver, as well as ownership of other assets leased to CN. BC Rail retains significant real estate investments throughout BC, and a stretch of track from Roberts Bank Superport in Delta to Langley. The planned sale of this stretch was cancelled after the initial BC Rail Scandal.
From 1978 to 2000, BC Rail was highly profitable, posting profits in every year throughout that period.
The Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) was incorporated on February 27, 1912, to build a line from Vancouver north to a connection with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) at Prince George. Although independent from the GTP, the PGE had agreed that the GTP, whose western terminus was at the remote northern port of Prince Rupert, could use their line to gain access to Vancouver. The railway was given its name due to a loose association with England's Great Eastern Railway. Its financial backers were Timothy Foley, Patrick Welch, and John Stewart, whose construction firm of Foley, Welch and Stewart was among the leading railway contractors in North America.
Official source
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