132-528: The Canadian ( French : Le Canadien ) 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. Canadian Pacific introduced this service on April 24, 1955, serving Montreal , Toronto and Vancouver. In 1978, Via Rail Canada acquired the service, and, on January 15, 1990, designated
264-598: A photo op . South of Valemount , the train passes a memorial to the Canoe River crash . The train then crosses the river over a 240-foot (73 m) bridge before arriving at Valemount station . North of Valemount, eastbound and westbound trains routes again diverge. Eastbound trains use CN's Albreda Subdivision , which continues to climb until Milepost 65.6, a curve near Jackman . The line then runs eastward at constant elevation through Mount Robson Provincial Park , with views of Mount Robson . The line passes through
396-480: A 1,670-foot (510 m) tunnel and then descends to Redpass Junction , where it joins with CN's Robson Subdivision . The latter is used by westbound trains; it is lower in elevation and has more favourable grades than the Albreda Subdivision. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of
528-720: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
660-529: A cafe car with light meals available for purchase. A Sleeper class which included accommodation but no meals was discontinued in 2015. Meals include breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast is open seating, with an additional continental breakfast available in the Skyline car. Lunch and dinner are served in two or three seatings, usually chosen the previous evening. All classes have access to their own Skyline car. Sleeper Plus and Prestige passengers also have access to
792-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
924-455: A dedicated business lounge area. Sleeper Plus and Prestige passengers are pre-boarded. No smoking is permitted in any Via station or on board the Canadian, including e-cigarettes and marijuana. The Canadian will make extended stops at some stations, which allow passengers to step outside the train and smoke if they so desire. Economy class cars are kept separate from sleeper cars. One concierge
1056-543: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1188-658: A large order for new lightweight equipment . This order consisted of 218 coaches from the Canadian Car and Foundry in Montreal, as well as 92 sleeping cars , 20 dining cars , 17 parlour cars, and 12 buffet-sleepers from the Chicago-based Pullman-Standard Company . Deliveries of the new cars were essentially completed by 1954, but CN waited until April 24, 1955, to introduce its new transcontinental flagship Super Continental to replace its former flagship,
1320-462: A location 90 miles (140 km) north of Kamloops, British Columbia . The head-end crew sustained minor injuries, but all 243 passengers were reported as uninjured. An eastbound freight train and the westbound Super Continental collided at around 2:30 am on September 28, 1974, at a location about 105 miles (169 km) north of Kamloops. Initial reports indicated the accident may have been caused by an "automatic switching malfunction" that put
1452-419: A massive fireball that sped along the train's length; both trains buckled from the impact. Initial reports stated that at least 29 people died in the accident, although this was later reduced to 26, then later 23. making it one of the more deadly incidents in Canadian railway history. Subsequent investigation showed that the freight train passed a stop signal and ran through a closed switch to pull in front of
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#17328477016651584-688: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1716-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
1848-573: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
1980-513: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
2112-897: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
2244-420: A shared shower in each car. Prestige has both private washroom facilities and private showers. Sleeper Plus and Prestige include three-course meals in a dining car, including non-alcoholic drinks during meals and coffee/tea/snacks at all hours. Prestige additionally includes unlimited drinks, including alcoholic drinks, with a dedicated concierge who will bring requested drinks to the room. Economy gives access to
2376-439: A space for four people during the day. The second bed in a cabin for two is a pull-down bunk. Prestige offers a significantly larger cabin, with a modular leather sofa during the day which converts to a double bed at night. The Prestige cabin also has a much larger window. Economy and Sleeper Plus have one washroom per car. Sleeper Plus roomettes and cabins for two include private washroom facilities, and additionally have access to
2508-536: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
2640-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
2772-467: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
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#17328477016652904-484: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
3036-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
3168-456: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
3300-437: Is assigned to every sleeper car, or sometimes to two sleeper cars. The Prestige rooms are at the very back of the train. Economy offers reclining seats. Sleeper Plus has a choice of upper/lower berths, a roomette for one, or a cabin for two: each of which features chairs or facing sofa seats during the day and beds at night. Some berths can accommodate two persons. It is also possible to join two adjoining cabins for two to create
3432-628: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
3564-495: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
3696-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
3828-462: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
3960-775: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
4092-562: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
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4224-538: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
4356-479: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
4488-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
4620-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
4752-637: The Continental Limited . Not coincidentally, this was the same date that competitor Canadian Pacific Railway introduced its new streamlined transcontinental train The Canadian . Before its introduction in regular service, the equipment that was to be used for the Super Continental was displayed at some of the stations on the train's route. The Super Continental reduced the travel time between Montreal and Vancouver by up to 14 hours, removing
4884-607: The Super Continental , on the same day, CP was able to boast honestly that The Canadian was "The first and only all-stainless steel 'dome' stream-liner in Canada" — it was not until 1964 that the CN acquired dome cars from the Milwaukee Road . The train operated with Montreal and Toronto sections, which ran combined west of Sudbury, Ontario . The Montreal section (also serving Ottawa )
5016-738: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
5148-459: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
5280-552: The Budd Company of Red Lion, Pennsylvania (a Philadelphia suburb) that included 18 rear-end dome cars ( Park series ), 18 Skyline mid-train dome cars, 30 coaches , 18 dining cars and 71 sleeping cars ( Manor and Château series). A subsequent order for 18 baggage-crew dormitory cars brought the final to total to 173 cars: sufficient for establishing an entirely-new transcontinental service and partially re-equipping The Dominion . The interior design of these new cars
5412-624: The Canadian and the Super Continental . Via Rail reconfigured these routes, making the Canadian a Toronto–Vancouver train and the Super Continental a Montreal–Vancouver train. Sleeping cars were exchanged in Winnipeg between the two trains. The Canadian became the company's premier transcontinental train and the Super Continental was relegated to secondary status. Nevertheless, a confluence of astute marketing, high gasoline prices, and rampant inflation actually led to an increase in ridership during
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5544-615: The Canadian as its sole transcontinental service, between Toronto and Vancouver. The new service replaced the former Super Continental , Canadian National 's flagship passenger service, and continues to run as of 2024 primarily over CN tracks. In the years following World War II , passenger trains on the CP consisted of a mixture of prewar heavyweight and pre- and post-war lightweight cars, even on its flagship transcontinental The Dominion and its eastern extension, The Atlantic Limited . While these cars were serviceable, American trains of
5676-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
5808-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
5940-547: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
6072-514: The Fraser and Thompson River canyons: eastbound trains use the CPKC lines, and westbound trains use the CN tracks. Thus, for the section through the two canyons, the Canadian runs on its original CPKC route. From Mission to Cisco , the CPKC runs west (north) of the river; afterwards, it runs east (south). Near Basque , the eastbound Canadian transfers onto the CN main. Westbound, the Canadian stays on
6204-570: The Group of Seven , were commissioned to paint suitable murals for these cars. When the decision was made to add budget sleeping cars, the Budd order was supplemented by 22 existing heavyweight sleepers that CP refurbished in its own Angus Shops, each fitted-out with Budd-style stainless steel cladding. To complement the new rolling stock, CP ordered General Motors Diesel FP9 locomotives to supplement an existing fleet of FP7s . Although these F-units remained
6336-718: The Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
6468-820: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
6600-479: The Milwaukee Road . Although the CN was not completely dieselized until 1960, the Super Continental was from the outset hauled by a variety of diesel locomotives, including Montreal Locomotive Works FP-2s and FP-4s , Canadian Locomotive Company C-liners in eastern Canada, and General Motors Diesel FP9 units in western Canada. By the 1960s, Canadian passenger trains were in serious decline, largely thanks to government subsidies for automobiles travelling
6732-609: The New Westminster Bridge , the Canadian leaves BNSF for CN tracks east. Between Mission and Pacific Central, the Canadian runs through the city of Langley on the south side of the Fraser River . From New Westminster to Gifford , the route passes railroad yards and industry. At Gifford, the train diverts from the CN mainline and crosses the Fraser River to Mission. The CN and CPKC utilize directional running through
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#17328477016656864-609: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
6996-557: The Super Continental and The Canadian . On CN, the Continental was used while on CP the Dominion was used. Despite the new and refurbished equipment and a new black-and-green, yellow-trim paint scheme, the Super Continental's mixture of equipment paled in comparison to CP's all stainless-steel consist, produced for them by the Budd Company . An additional important distinction was that The Canadian featured scenic dome cars , which
7128-477: The Super Continental did not use. CN chose not to purchase dome cars for reasons of economy, although it has also been claimed that dome cars might interfere with the electrified catenary used in Montreal's Central Station by commuter trains of the former Canadian Northern raillines. In 1964, CN purchased used dome cars that came from United States to use on the portion of the route between Edmonton and Vancouver from
7260-554: The Super Continental had a significant impact on the Jasper, Alberta tourism industry. The train had brought around 100,000 tourists per year to the town. In 1982, these numbers were not made up by tourists travelling by other methods. The cancellation was criticized by local business groups, with the Jasper Chamber of Commerce filing an unsuccessful injunction on procedural grounds with the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta , arguing that
7392-491: The Trans-Canada Highway , the CP cancelled The Dominion in 1966, and petitioned the government to discontinue The Canadian in 1970. Although this petition was denied, CP during the 1970s attempted to remove itself from the passenger service market. The Canadian was operated at reduced levels, with the government funding 80 percent of its losses. Via Rail, a federal crown corporation , formally assumed responsibility for CP's passenger services on October 29, 1978, although
7524-520: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
7656-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
7788-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
7920-432: The CN tracks all the way into Vancouver. The CN route passes through Painted Canyon, and features CN's 240-metre (800 ft) steel-arched bridge over the Fraser River and the CPKC mainline at Cisco. The tracks in Painted Canyon are only approximately 61 metres (200 ft) above the Thompson River. After Cisco, the CN mainline stays on the east/south side of the Fraser River all the way to the New Westminster Bridge , where
8052-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
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#17328477016658184-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
8316-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
8448-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
8580-548: The Panorama car. Prestige passengers have semi-exclusive access to the Park car, a licensed lounge at the back of the train. Talks and activities are scheduled during the summer months. If a singer or musical group is travelling with the train, separate performances will be available to each class of service. Prestige uniquely has an in-cabin flatscreen television, with a selection of TV channels and movies. As of October 30, 2021, all Via Rail passengers were required by Canadian law to bring proof of vaccination. The Prestige class
8712-528: The Via identity was not assumed by the trains themselves until the following summer. Following the takeover by Via, the Canadian became the company's premier transcontinental train, and initially operated over its old CP route. It was supplemented by the former CN Super Continental , which operated over the parallel, but more northerly, CN route. The Canadian continued to be operated in two sections east of Sudbury and provided daily service west to Vancouver and east to Toronto and Montreal. The Super Continental
8844-555: The Winnipeg-Churchill run were initially cancelled. Around 1000 employees across the system were temporarily laid off. Service was gradually restored in stages, with the Toronto-Winnipeg portion of the route being restored first. Service along the full Toronto-Vancouver route was finally restored in December 2020, with a single train running once a week in each direction. In response to these two major disruptions, Via amended its cancellation policies to allow changes without penalty and full refunds. In November 2021, service west of Winnipeg
8976-402: The absence of transportation alternatives along the CP route allowed entrepreneur Peter Armstrong to develop the Rocky Mountaineer excursion service. Moreover, while pre-1990 schedules had daily service on both the CP and CN routes, service following the 1990 cuts was a mere three days per week, reduced further to two times a week in the off-season. In 2007, the schedule was lengthened so that
9108-513: The application, forcing CN to continue service despite falling revenue. With losses increasing to $ 55.9 million in 1975, CN again submitted an application to discontinue the service in 1976 and was again denied by the commission. On April 1, 1978, a new federal Crown corporation called Via Rail Canada formally assumed responsibility for the passenger services of CN. Via Rail also assumed responsibility for CP Rail's passenger services on October 29, 1978, giving it two transcontinental routes:
9240-408: The car concierge, who disinfected the shower after each use. All activities were cancelled. The Panorama car was discontinued for the duration. Dome cars were open, but with limited seating. The Canadian 's eastbound journey begins at Vancouver's Pacific Central Station . It uses the BNSF tracks through suburban communities, including Burnaby , to New Westminster . After the train crosses
9372-411: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Super Continental The Super Continental was a transcontinental Canadian passenger train operated by the Canadian National Railway from 1955 until 1977, when Via Rail took over the train and ran it until it was cancelled in 1981. Service was restored in 1985 but
9504-508: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
9636-628: The downslope side of the train lies the North Thompson River; in the distance are often-snow-covered mountains. The icefields of the Albreda Glacier should be visible for several miles. At Little Hells Gate (Port d'Enfer) , the track lies above rapids similar to Hells Gate farther south on the Fraser. Pyramid Falls cascades 300 feet (91 m) down the side of Mount Cheadle. The train slows down enough for passengers to get close-up looks and get
9768-575: The early 1950s, such as the California Zephyr , had already adopted streamlined all- stainless steel consists featuring domed observation cars . Following an evaluation in 1949 of the dome cars featured on the General Motors / Pullman Standard demonstrator Train of Tomorrow , CP management, including then-Vice President Norris R. Crump , resolved to upgrade its rolling stock. In 1953, CP placed an order for 155 stainless steel cars with
9900-451: The early 1980s. However, the 1981 federal budget of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau 's Liberal government led to fully 20% of Via's route miles being eliminated. The Super Continental was among the trains immediately cut. Its last service arrived in Vancouver on November 16, 1981. Such reductions in passenger service proved to be politically unpopular. For example, the cancellation of
10032-435: The eastbound Super Continental derailed twelve cars at a location about 120 kilometres (75 mi) east of Jasper, Alberta . The train remained upright with only one broken arm reported for personal injuries. In the morning of February 8, 1986, as passengers were getting breakfast, the Super Continental ran head-on into a CN freight train about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) east of Hinton, Alberta . The collision created
10164-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
10296-585: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
10428-560: The federal cabinet had acted illegally by circumventing the Canadian Transportation Commission in cancelling the service. Following the election of the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney in 1984, service was restored on June 1, 1985, but on a truncated route from Vancouver to Winnipeg via Edmonton that no longer lived up to the 'Continental' name. The Toronto/Montreal to Sudbury segment
10560-506: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
10692-858: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
10824-406: The freight train on the same track. The freight train was travelling at 25 mph (40 km/h) while the Super Continental was travelling at 35 mph (56 km/h). The engineer and a trainman on the freight train were both killed; there was at least one report of looting among the passengers, but many of the children aboard the train stayed asleep through the accident. On August 8, 1980,
10956-818: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
11088-542: The host railway: CN. This change has almost entirely resolved the issue. The Canadian currently takes 94 hours 15 minutes westbound vs. 95 hours 29 minutes eastbound. This is 13h50m vs. 12h19m slower than the SSContinental 's 80h25m vs. 83h10m and 13h5m vs. 12h24m slower than the Dominion 's 81h10m vs. 83h5m schedules from 1952. The difference is entirely due to CN freight traffic being prioritized over passenger traffic along
11220-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
11352-474: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
11484-602: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
11616-458: The last four cars of the train derailed on a switch. The train was moving at slow speed for entry into the station, so no injuries were reported, but several wheels needed to be replaced. The derailment delayed the train by 8 hours that day. On February 13, 1960, the Super Continental , running 3 hours late, collided head-on with a 39-car freight train near Osawin, 32 miles (51 km) west of Hornepayne , Ontario. The passenger train's engineer
11748-475: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
11880-503: The late 1980s, federal budgets were under serious pressure, and the Mulroney government's 1989 budget proved disastrous for Via Rail. The Super Continental was cancelled again; the last trains left Winnipeg and Vancouver on January 14, 1990. This left The Canadian as Via's sole transcontinental train. It was moved to the longer CN route used by the first incarnation of the Super Continental. Three occupants of an automobile, one of whom
12012-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
12144-457: The need for a fourth night aboard the train. The journey was advertised as the longest single run of a diesel locomotive powered train in North America without changing locomotives. In 1960, CN and CP both introduced "transcontinental local" trains, which were really reconfigurations of existing services, that were intended to serve passengers on shorter trips that followed the same routes as
12276-439: The number of cars that CN was able to procure commercially, leading to a significant programme of in-house refurbishment of older heavyweight equipment in the CN carshops. Ultimately a total of 211 heavyweight cars were fitted out with new interiors, roller bearing trucks, and sealed windows. Nevertheless, it quickly became apparent that refurbished equipment alone would not be sufficient to remain competitive, and in 1952 CN placed
12408-630: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
12540-528: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
12672-421: The pandemic. This suspension continued until December 11, to accommodate inspection and repair work as part of its Heritage Modernization Program. Beginning December 11, the Canadian was reinstated between Winnipeg and Vancouver only and ran once a week. Service to Toronto resumed on May 17, 2021, still operating once a week. In January 2020, service on the Canadian (along with nearly all of Via's other services)
12804-462: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
12936-534: The preferred power for the train, it would occasionally pulled by a variety of motive power, including Montreal Locomotive Works FPA-2s . CP christened its new flagship train The Canadian and service began on April 24, 1955. Running time between Montreal and Vancouver was reduced from about 85 to 71 hours, so that passengers spent only three, rather than four, nights en route. Although CP competitor Canadian National Railways began its own new transcontinental service,
13068-465: The rebuilt ex-CP Budd passenger equipment. Due to CN's shortage of capacity on the cross-country line, 12-hour delays had become almost standard. On-time performance had fallen from 84% in 2009 to just 8% in 2017. Continuing delays reached nearly 2 days in length by mid-May, 2018. To address this issue, the schedule was lengthened again, effective July 26, 2018, to four days and four nights in each direction due to continuing schedule-reliability problems on
13200-464: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
13332-436: The route. When operating on the normal schedule, the Canadian operates twice per week, departing Toronto on Wednesdays and Sundays and Vancouver on Mondays and Fridays. The total journey takes about four days. The great majority of stations operate as flag stops ; passengers boarding or detraining at these stops must give advance notice. On March 21, 2020, the Canadian and most other Via Rail services were suspended due to
13464-526: The supply chain backlog of previously stalled freight trains. The Canadian offers three main classes of service: Economy, Sleeper Plus, and, since 2014, Prestige. It additionally includes one or more dining cars, at least one Skyline (dome) car per class, a Panorama car (west of Edmonton), and a Park car. Sleeper Plus and Prestige passengers have access to the Via Rail business lounge, if available at that station. Prestige passengers are offered exclusive access to
13596-524: The then-new Trans-Canada Highway and for airlines. The Continental Limited, the Super Continental's predecessor, was cut back to a Montreal to Saskatoon train in 1964 and then discontinued the following year. The CN nevertheless aggressively marketed its services, even while CP was losing interest in operating The Canadian . To help combat the perception that the CP route through the Rocky Mountains
13728-462: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
13860-508: The tracks run north, following the North Thompson River for much of the way and crossing it four times up the valley. Several flag stops are located here — for example, Clearwater and Blue River . The Monashee Mountains lie to the east for much of the way to Valemount. Although railway slide fences protect the route alongside the mountains, the train usually runs at speeds between 26 and 30 miles per hour (42 and 48 km/h). On
13992-418: The train now takes four nights, rather than three, to travel between Toronto and Vancouver. The four-night schedule is almost identical (in terms of travel time) with that of the 1940s, despite substantial technological change since then. In 2013, the train was honoured by being featured on the back of the new polymer Canadian ten-dollar note . As of 2022, Via Rail continues to operate the Canadian using
14124-673: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
14256-613: The two routes merge. On their regular schedules, both east and westbound Canadian s travel through the Fraser and Thompson river canyons at night. Travelling eastbound from Basque, the CN line crosses back across the Thompson River . Aside from a few brief deviations across the river, the line stays on the north/west side into just outside Kamloops. Arriving in Kamloops, the train halts at CN's Kamloops North station . North Thompson River Canyon For six hours after departing Kamloops,
14388-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
14520-479: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
14652-531: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
14784-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
14916-405: Was again eliminated in 1990. The original CN train had a Montreal – Ottawa – Toronto - Winnipeg – Saskatoon – Edmonton – Jasper – Vancouver routing with daily service. Following World War II , CN's passenger fleet was in need of modernization, and between 1946 and 1950 the railway purchased a total of 75 new lightweight coaches and sleeping cars . However, post-war material shortages constrained
15048-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
15180-583: Was contracted to the Philadelphia architectural firm Harbeson, Hough, Livingston & Larson (a company known for its industrial designs on other prominent passenger trains such as the Pioneer Zephyr ), and the resulting furnishings and pastel-shaded colour schemes were widely acclaimed. After deciding to name the Park series dome cars after famous Canadian parks, leading Canadian artists , including members of
15312-420: Was discontinued in 1981 due to sharp budget cuts. Since then, the Canadian has Via Rail's only true transcontinental train. While the Super Continental was brought back in 1985 amid popular demand, it only ran as far east as Winnipeg. In the aftermath of another round of deep budget cuts made to Via Rail on January 15, 1990, Via again discontinued the Super Continental, this time permanently. The Canadian
15444-791: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
15576-511: Was eliminated, and the Capreol–Winnipeg segment was reduced to a triweekly nameless remote services train. During this period, Via Rail was also able to re-equip the Super Continental with modern GMD F40PH locomotives. On February 8, 1986, human error resulted in Via's eastbound Super Continental colliding with a CN freight train at Dalehurst, Alberta , near Hinton , killing 23 people. By
15708-456: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
15840-456: Was impacted by the November 2021 Pacific Northwest floods . The November 13 westbound train out of Toronto, which was already underway when the floods hit, was halted at Winnipeg. Passengers with final destinations west of Winnipeg were bussed or flown to their final destinations. Service was not restored until December 12. Subsequent trains were significantly delayed between Edmonton and Vancouver by
15972-422: Was killed and 33 passengers and 4 railwaymen were injured. The westbound Super Continental collided head-on with a freight train that was leaving a siding and entering the main line near Dunrankin, Ontario , on August 2, 1967. The engineer and fireman on the Super Continental were both killed, while the engineer and a brakeman on the freight train were reported as missing and presumed dead. One passenger
16104-526: Was known as train 1 westbound and train 2 eastbound, while the Toronto section was known as train 11 westbound and train 12 eastbound. Matching its streamlined appearance, The Canadian ' s 71-hour westbound schedule was 16 hours faster than that of The Dominion . Although initially successful, passenger train ridership began to decline in Canada during the 1960s. Facing competition from new jet aircraft and increased automobile usage following construction of
16236-633: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
16368-477: Was more scenic, CN in 1964 acquired a set of six ex- Milwaukee Road " Super Dome " cars (rechristened "Sceneramics" by CN) that had formerly seen service on the Olympian Hiawatha . These were placed into service between Winnipeg and Vancouver. CN also refurbished the coaches that were used on the train, adding new luggage racks and lounge areas to some cars. A new secondary train along the route, The Panorama,
16500-401: Was moved from CP trackage to the CN route plied by the Super Continental for its first quarter-century, dropping the Montreal section. The new longer route bypassed Thunder Bay , Regina and Calgary in favour of Saskatoon and Edmonton . This maintained transcontinental service and allowed Via to operate its government-mandated service to small communities along the line. At the same time,
16632-473: Was placed into service in 1965. It was later discontinued in 1969. But despite CN's best efforts, ridership continued to decline throughout the 1970s, and the train operated at a loss. In 1969 it was estimated that the Super Continental operated at a loss of $ 14,058,030. CN applied to the Canadian Transport Commission to discontinue the Super Continental in 1971, but the commission declined
16764-575: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
16896-585: Was suspended due to the 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests and blockades at several points along CN and Metrolinx lines. Partial service was restored in early March. However, less than a month after the blockades were lifted, the COVID-19 pandemic and the closing of the Canada-US border temporarily impacted nearly all Via Rail services. While reduced service continued on the Corridor , all overnight trains except
17028-435: Was taken to hospital, while the other 150 passengers sustained no or only minor injuries. A fire started from oil spilled from the locomotives, but the fire was quickly put out from the help of nearby section hands who organized a bucket brigade with sand to smother the flames. The westbound Super Continental struck a 400-foot-long (120 m) and up to 8-foot-deep (2.4 m) mudslide and derailed on March 29, 1972, at
17160-538: Was the driver, were killed on March 26, 1956, when the car they were in was struck by the Super Continental at a little-used level crossing in Quibell, Ontario , about 175 miles (282 km) east of Winnipeg. The train was travelling at high speed in this area at the time. Police on the scene could not initially indicate a cause for the collision. As the Super Continental pulled into the station in Ottawa on October 9, 1956,
17292-554: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
17424-453: Was unavailable until February 14, 2022. Masks were mandatory at all times in public areas on the train. They could be removed in cabins or nighttime berths, in the shower, or while eating or drinking. During the initial restart, lunch was served in the cabin or berth seating area. This practice ended with the introduction of the law requiring proof of vaccination for all intercity public transportation. Shower time slots had to be reserved with
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