British Columbia Railway

The British Columbia Railway (AAR reporting marks BCR, BCOL, PGE), marketing itself as BC Rail since 1988, is the largest railway company in British Columbia, operating over a total of 5541.4 miles of railway; of this, 5042.6 miles are on the mainland, 498.8 miles on Vancouver Island, and 167.1 miles in Yukon, Canada. BC Rail is a Crown corporation, owned by the government of British Columbia; responsible for it is the Ministry of Labour, Industry, and Railways. BC Rail provides extensive passenger and freight service throughout its network.

= History =

Background (to 1918)
The earliest history of the British Columbia Railway can be traced back to two competing efforts to create a second (and third) transcontinental route entirely within the British Empire to be an alternative to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).

The first of these was the Dominion Northern Railway, founded in Canada in 1898, beginning construction in eastern Canada, but it wasn't until 1900 that, to satisfy the requirements of BC law, the DNR established a BC-based subsidiary called the Dominion Northern Pacific Railway (DNP). Construction of the BC portion of the transcontinental line, from Vancouver to Edmonton, Alberta, commenced in the same year. Actual new construction was required only from Liverpool, Surrey, as the DNR secured running rights over the route of the Vancouver, Westminster & Yukon Railway (VW&Y) from Vancouver to Brunette, New Westminster, and access over the government-owned New Westminster Bridge opened in 1904 from Brunette to Liverpool. The DNP began construction of its Pacific Central Station in Vancouver in 1909, finishing in time for the grand opening of the new line from Vancouver to Edmonton in 1914. Shortly before scheduled operations began on the new line, the Dominion Northern acquired the VW&Y and absorbed it.

Meanwhile, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was established in British Columbia in 1911, with half of the shares being held by the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) of Canada, as part of its plan to build a new transcontinental line. The distinctive feature of this plan was its intention to establish a major port at Prince Rupert, which would provide a shourter route for ships to and from Asia. Work on the new line from Edmonton, Alberta to Prince Rupert went quickly, and by the end of 1914 the new line was operational. The GTR, however, had decided to pull out of the transcontinental project in 1912, and the Canadian government, still desirous of another railway from Atlantic to Pacific, established a new, government-owned company called the National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) in 1913. Construction of the NTR was fraught with difficulties, both physical and financial, and the line expanded only slowly; two years later, the NTR, along with several other companies previously nationalised in Canada to create the Canadian Government Railways (CGR). The GTR did, however, retain its share of ownership of the Grand Trunk Pacific.

The GTP line through the Rocky Mountains from Edmonton into British Columbia via Jasper, Alberta closely parallelled the Dominion Northern line - in some places being only a handful of yards apart. The two railways quickly came to an agreement to allow the one to use the other's line should the need arise, and in 1916 the Dominion Northern opened an 8.8 mile connecting line from Valemount Junction to Tete Jaune Cache on the Grand Trunk Pacific's line.

Unfortunately for both railways, the outbreak of the First World War caused a downturn in traffic, which, as neither was comfortably secure in their finances, affected both companies significantly. Being in direct competition with the Canadian Pacific for Vancouver traffic, hindered by a longer route from Winnipeg to the Pacific Coast, and - not having its own shipping subsidiary - having to rely on third-party steamship operators, the Dominion Northern was hit particularly hard, leading to its bankruptcy less than three years after its opening. Recognising the importance of the railway, in 1918 the Canadian government nationalised the Dominion Northern, with the BC government opted to follow suit a month later. In Canada, the nationalised company retained the Dominion Northern name, but the Dominion Northern Pacific Railway was renamed, becoming the British Columbia Railway (BCR).

Beginnings (1918 – mid 1920s)
Crown ownership of the railway gave the BCR a stability and security that it had lacked before. The Dominion Northern, operating on a shoestring budget from the beginning, had saved money wherever it could, with the result that the quality of construction on the mainline left much to be desired. One of the first tasks after nationalisation was the upgrade of the mainline to the highest standards of the time over the entire line from Hope to Jasper.

Meanwhile, after being taken over by the Canadian Government Railways, the National Transcontinental project was finally completed from Quebec City, Quebec to Edmonton in 1922, opening a third ocean-to-ocean railway entirely inside British North America. The hope in BC was that this would bring both the GTP and the BCR - to which the CGR connected at Jasper - more traffic, and thus more income. The following year all of the railways owned by the Canadian government - the Canadian Government Railways, the Dominion Northern, the Grand Trunk Railway (which had been nationalised after a bankruptcy a few years prior), and several smaller railways - into a single entity known as the Canadian National Railway.

The Grand Trunk Pacific remained in private hands for several years after the end of the First World War. Although it provided a very important service to northern BC, the levels of traffic were far lower than had been anticipated. This was due in large part to the failure of the National Transcontinental project to generate the amount of traffic that had been envisioned, for several reasons.

One of the biggest reasons was that the Canadian Prairies were still too undeveloped and too sparsely populated and, to make things worse, the routes taken by the National Transcontinental and the Dominion Northern were essentially parallel between Edmonton and Winnipeg. Furthermore, the NTR route through northern Ontario travelled through rather barren territory that was generally unproductive (it wasn't until many years later that its mineral wealth began to be exploited). Thus, with little traffic generated on this section, its value was primarily as a bridge route for traffic between the Atlantic ports and central Canada - which naturally made no difference to British Columbia.

Another factor was that much of the traffic heading from Canada to the Pacific coast was routed to Vancouver. Traffic from the Canadian Pacific for export from Prince Rupert was virtually nil, as the CPR naturally preferred to move freight along its own mainline in BC to the port of Vancouver to connect with its own shipping subsidiary, Imperial Pacific Steamships; similarly, most export traffic from the Dominion Northern was also routed to Vancouver for transshipment. This left only freight originating on the CGR's National Transcontinental route - which, as mentioned, proved to be much less than expected - along with DNR shipments bound for Japan and Vladivostok, Russia, being directed over the GTP, as the shorter sea route from Prince Rupert to these destinations cut several days off the transit time. This already lower-than-hoped-for amount of traffic dropped further after the Russian Revolution of 1917 led to a suspension of BC and Canadian trade with the Lenin's Bolshevik regime.

This drop in revenue hit hard, forcing the GTP to take a loan from the BC government in 1919. Two years later, the company directors were in Victoria once again. The government of Prime Minister Sir John Oliver wasn't keen on giving the struggling firm another loan so soon, however. Oliver did, however, understand the importance of the rail line, and what the failure of the GTP would mean to the development of BC's North. With the government already having four years' experience in running a railway, the decision was easy: the second loan request was refused. With the railway itself already the collateral for the first loan, there was little to protest for the GTP's directors when the nationalisation was announced; indeed, shareholders were given payouts that, argued Conservative Leader of the Opposition William Bowser, were far higher than what the railway was worth. Bowser subsequently attempted - unsuccessfully - to use the GTP nationalisation in his campaign to unseat Oliver in the parliamentary elections of 1924.

The nationalisation of the Grand Trunk Pacific took place on 1 January 1922, with its operations, equipment, and personnel being merged into the British Columbia Railway; the line from Jasper to Edmonton was sold to the Canadian government, and was subsequently incorporated into the Canadian National Railway when that was established in 1923. Overnight, the length of the BCR's routes more than doubled; at that time, the Vancouver–Jasper line was given the name Inter-Dominion Line, the Prince Rupert–Jasper line was named Grand Trunk Line, and the connection between the two from Tete Jaune Cache to Valemount Junction was named Valemount Connecting Line. However, after that, for several decades the BCR made only modest expansions, instead concentrating on operating its existing network. The first trunk line to be built entirely by the BCR from survey to last spike, was the 71 mile Slahaltkan Line from Kamloops on the former Dominion Northern mainline to Armstrong, which opened for traffic in 1925. At Armstrong, it connected the to the Kettle Valley Railway's line to Kelowna, and to the Canadian Pacific branch line to Sicamous on the CPR mainline. Also in 1925, a connection to the North Shore of False Creek was made with a rail and road bridge over the Second Narrows, and the 7.4 mile North Shore Line from BCR's Terminal Avenue Yard in Vancouver to North Vancouver to serve port facilities and shipbuilders on the North Shore; in 1930, a 3.9 mile branch was added to the North Shore Line, running from Brooksbank, located adjacent to the northern end of the Second Narrows Bridge, east to Dollarton was opened to serve the Hoffar Aero Engines plant opened there in that year. This trackage on the North Shore spawned further industrial development over the following years, including grain, sulphur, coal, and chemical terminals. The only other railway to be built by the BCR before the Second World War was the 34.9-mile Dog Creek Line from Vanderhoof on the northern mainline to Fort St James.

Electrification (1920s – 1950s)
Other than the construction of the BCR's Vanderhoof–Fort St James line and the Pacific Great Eastern's Clinton–Ashcroft line (the PGE was also nationalised in 1918, but remained a separate entity), the 1920s and 1930s saw only minimal investment from the Dominion government in the expansion of its railway network; the bulk of the money allotted to railway construction went towards the electrification of the Vancouver–Jasper mainline. The Ministry of Railways first became interested in the idea of electrification in the 1910s, but invention of a system using standard industrial-frequency alternating current supplied by a single overhead wire from the public electricity network to power locomotives equipped with a revolutionary rotary phase converter caught the attention of BCR's engineers in a serious way, and after extended negotiations, the inventor of this system, the brilliant Hungarian Kálmán Kandó (later Sir Kálmán Kandó OBC, having been inducted into the Order of British Columbia in 1935 in recognition of his work), arrived in BC in 1922 to oversee the project to electrify the southern mainline in its entirety. Kandó also designed the locomotives to be used on the electrified line; these would be built by the Vancouver Locomotive Works in Liverpool, Surrey, adjacent to the BCR's main yard and shop facilities at Liverpool Station. High priority was placed on this project, with a 10 mile test section between Liverpool and Walnut Grove being energised in late 1923 with 15kV 60Hz, and testing of the first prototype locomotive beginning in the spring of 1924.

Further testing and development work continued over the next few years. For actual implementation of the electrification, the voltage was increased to 25kV, and the locomotive designs - one for freight, the other for passenger trains - were finalised in 1928, and testing of the prototypes carried out through 1929. The tests successful, electrification of the mainline and production of a batch of five of each of the two locomotive types - one for freight, the other for passenger trains - was begun at the end of that year. The first section to be electrified was the difficult section through the Fraser Canyon, 117 miles from Hope to Ashcroft, energised at 25kV 60Hz in September 1930. The ten locomotives were put into a six-month period of in-service testing on scheduled trains. During this period, electrification work continued on the sections from Vancouver to Hope (91.7 miles) and from Ashcroft to Kamloops (48.8 miles); towards the end of this period, full production of the locomotives began. Scheduled electric operation between Vancouver and Kamloops began in July 1931, and by the beginning of 1937, steam power on mainline trains on that segment had been eliminated completely. The next section completed was the other difficult mountain segment: from Valemount to Jasper was energised in October 1931. This included both the 75.3 mile line originally built by the Dominion Northern, as well as the parallel 64.8 mile Grand Trunk Pacific line from Tete Jaune Cache to Jasper, and the 8.8 miles between Tete Jaune Cache and Valemount Junction built by the Dominion Northern in 1916 to connect the two cross-border lines.

Electrification of the remainder of the southern route, between Kamloops and Valemount, was completed in three stages between 1932 and 1936, with the final section of 110.4 miles from Vavenby to Valemount being energised in August 1936. Parallel to that, work began on the electrification of the northern mainline as well. The work began at Tete Jaune Cache, with the first 42.6 miles from Tete Jaune Cache to McBride being completed in March 1934. The 146 miles from there to Prince George were covered more slowly, being completed only in June 1937. The 115.4 miles from Prince George to Endako was energised in August 1939, but the outbreak of the Second World War a month later forced the suspension of work on the remaining 350 miles to Prince Rupert.

The Second World War, post-war expansion, and the railway as a tool of national policy (1939 – 1988)
The Second World War forced a halt to work on major projects, like electrification and the construction of new lines, and during the war years only essential maintenance work was carried out on the infrastructure. Indeed, between 1939 and 1945 only one new rail line was built in BC: the Washington & British Columbia Railway's line from Sooyoos in the southern Okanagan to Oroville, Washington, in 1943; construction of this line was authorised in order to speed the movement of materials between the United States and new industrial complexes built in the Okanagan, where they would be a safe distance from possible Japanese attack. The production of new locomotives and rolling stock, however, was stepped up to meet the increased demands of wartime industrial production, including the introduction of new type of electric locomotive for heavy freight trains between Vancouver and Kamloops. Also as an emergency measure to aid wartime production, in 1942 the BCR's Kamloops–Armstrong line (71.3 miles), and 37.9 miles of the Kettle Valley Railway's Armstrong–Kelowna line from Armstrong to the large new Supermarine complex just north of Kelowna via Middleton were electrified, together with the branch from Middleton to Lumby, where Hoffar Aero Engines opened a vast complex in the same year. As the KVR at that time did not operate any electric locomotives, BCR power was used on the newly electrified sections.

In southern British Columbia, since the first decade of the 20th century the American-owned Great Northern Railroad had, through BC-based proxies and subsidiaries, been making deep inroads into the Okanagan, the Boundary Country, and the Kootenays, leading to fears of increasing American influence in the region, and to calls for the BC government or the CPR to increase their presence in the area; the latter had already held controlling interest in several small railways in the region. Recognising the danger of BC's resources being funnelled to the US to serve American profit and interests, the BC government proposed a joint venture between itself and the CPR in order to face the threat posed by the Great Northern. To this end, in 1914 the BCR and the CPR established a joint venture called the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR). The new company bought up numerous small railways in the region and merged these together, and over subsequent years the CPR sold its railways in the area to the KVR. It also undertook to build several new lines, eventually reaching a total route length of just under 850 miles. The BC government bought out the CPR's share completely in 1955, and the KVR was absorbed into the BCR; its network was subdivided and routes were given official names, in keeping with BCR practice.

The 1955 absorption of the KVR into the BCR marked the beginning of a lengthy period of expansion of the railway, aided by the post-war economic boom, and the decision by Prime Minister W.A.C. Bennett's government to use its railways as a means of implementing its long-term plans to develop the Interior and the North of the Dominion. The first step towards this was to merge the to government-owned railways, the BCR and the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, which had been nationalised in 1918 but which kept its own separate identity, into a single Crown corporation, retaining the British Columbia Railway name; this merger went into effect on 1 January 1956. Like the KVR network, the PGE network was also divided into formally-named lines. Later in the same year, a 39.5 mile line was opened from the PGE's southern terminus at Squamish to the BCR yard in North Vancouver. This eliminated the need for the Squamish–Vancouver rail ferry, which significantly decreased the travel time between the two points, and significantly increased the amount of traffic that could be handled. Then, between 1957 and 1959, 23 miles of railway - the Lulu Island Line were built in Greater Vancouver, to serve new industries and port facilities along the Fraser River.

The Vancouver Island Railway (VIR) had been established in 1901 to compete with the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway, which had been the first railway opened on the Island and was a subsidiary of the CPR; initially founded by the Dominion Northern, in 1917 a 60% share was bought by local interests, with the remaining 40% held by the DNR and subsequently by the Canadian National Railway. Starting with its first line from the ferry terminal at Sidney to Victoria, by 1921 the VIR had built a network of 175 miles over the southern part of the Island, its main line running from Victoria along the southern coast to Sooke, turning north from there to Lake Cowichan, and thence on an inland line to Port Alberni. In 1960, the BCR established a presence on Vancouver Island for the first time, by nationalising and absorbing the VIR.

But the biggest development of the 1950s was the 1958 opening of the electrified 257.5-mile Peace River Line from Prince George to Dawson Creek. A key part of the government's plans for development of the North was the New Towns Project. Inspired by the British undertaking of the same name, this project envisioned the transformation of a number of towns and settlements in northern BC into planned "model cities". This, together with policies of directed immigration and incentives to encourage people from the Lower Mainland to relocate to the New Towns, led to them becoming the important economic and cultural centres of the North that they are today. The first of the "New Towns" was Dawson Creek, and its inauguration as such coincided with the official opening of the Peace River Line. Prior to 1958, the only rail connection Dawson Creek had to the rest of BC was a circuitous route via the Northern Alberta Railway's line to Edmonton, and thence to Jasper over the Canadian National; the opening of the Peace River Line gave Dawson Creek a direct connection to the rest of BC and to the coast.

This was quickly followed by two more new lines: the Williston Lake Line, an electrified 23.7 mile route from Kennedy on the Peace River Line to Mackenzie (which was designated a New Town in 1963) was opened in 1960, and the 275.3 mile Chilcotin–Owikeno Line from Williams Lake on the former PGE mainline to Bella Coola on the central coast. The latter line has never made a profit since it was opened - though it was never envisioned as a profit-maker; rather, it was opened to provide a socially necessary service, and a way to help modernise that part of the country. However, in subsequent years, funding for New Town developments went almost exclusively to areas north of Prince George, but since the turn of the millenium the Dominion government has begun investing in the development of Bella Coola. Then, over the fifteen-year period between 1967 and 1982, the BCR opened over 1350 miles of new railway including primary and secondary trunk lines such as the Fort Nelson Line (Chetwynd–Fort Nelson, 328 miles), the Stikine Line (Fort St James–Dease Lake, 414 miles), the Cassiar Central Line (Dease Lake–Teslin, Yukon, 292 miles), and the Klondike Line (Teslin–Whitehorse, Yukon, 140 miles). The opening of the Klondike Line finally realised the 80-year-old dream of the founders of the Vancouver, Westminster & Yukon Railway - the British Columbia Railway's oldest ancestor.

With all the investment and work being put into expansion on the mainland, the BCR paid little attention to Vancouver Island since its absorption of the Vancouver Island Railway in 1960 other than keeping the trains moving reliably. However, in 1972 a commuter service from Victoria Union Station to Glen Lake-Luxton was inaugurated; for this, this section of line was double-tracked, and the entire South Coast Line from Victoria to Sooke was electrified. Entering service that year were six daily trains between Victoria and Sooke, along with the half-hourly commuter trains between Union Station and Glen Lake-Luxton. The double tracking was extended to Happy Valley in 1983 (the station itself was opened that year as well), and the commuter service was extended from Glen Lake-Luxton to the new station. Though entirely a BCR operation, it is operated as Line 2 of the Victoria Metro system.

By the mid-1970s, the Canadian Pacific was looking into divesting itself of its Island subsidiary, the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway; this eventually led to the BCR buying and absorbing the E&N in 1978, which left the BCR as the only major railway company serving central and southern Vancouver Island other than the BC Hydro Railway's line on the Saanich Peninsula. Finally, in 1981, the BCR nationalised the Wellington Colliery Railway.

BC Rail into the future (1988 to date)
Prior to the 1986 Dominion elections, the Social Credit Party of British Columbia had introduced a new blue-white-red colour scheme, and after winning that election, new Prime Minister Grace McCarthy's ministry introduced logos and colour schemes based on the party's colours for various Crown corporations such as BC Ferries, the BC Hydro Railway, and the BCR. Effective 1 January 1988, the BCR was rebranded BC Rail, introducing the new blue-white-red livery to replace the previous two-tone green it had used since 1970.

BC Rail continued the development of the commuter service in the greater Nanaimo area. This project was begun in 1978, once the electrified commuter service between Victoria and Glen Lake had proven itself a success. After lengthy studies, the decision was finally taken in 1983 to transform the recently acquired E&N mainline from Parksville to Cassidy (later renamed Collishaw Station), location of Nanaimo Airport, which was being expanded at the time; the new station, opened in 1984, was built to serve the airport was designed already with the new commuter service in mind. Work on double tracking and electrifying the Parksville–Cassidy section, and the construction of no fewer than thirteen new commuter stations, began in 1988. Inauguration of the line was originally planned for 1992, but the grand opening was delayed to the spring of 1993. Marketed as the Nanaimo Metro, these trains are operated with Japanese-built electric multiple-unit trains based on the JR West 207 Series trainsets. A similar service was started between Victoria Union Station and Langford in 1998.

Since the completion of the line north to the Yukon in 1982, the only new line built by BC Rail was the 69.1 mile Imperial Line, running from St Joseph Mission on the Cariboo Line to Likely. This line was opened in 1995 primarily to move copper and gold from Imperial Metals' Mount Polley mine at Likely, but since its opening has played an important role in the development of the communities along the line. Although no new lines have been built since then, other programmes, such as electrification of some lines and the modernisation of bridges, signalisation and control systems, and other infrastructure, have been undertaken. As well, a continuing programme to modernise BC Rail's motive power and rolling stock was initiated in 1998.

In 2008, the first of several studies regarding BC Rail operations in the Saanich Peninsula of Vancouver Island was begun, with thought being given to closing the Peninsula Line from the port of Sidney to Victoria, and shifting all freight traffic between the mainland and the Island to Nanaimo. In 2012 a preliminary plan was finally unveiled, envisioning the conversion of the section of the line from Union Station to Cordova into a dedicated commuter line (as had been done with the BC Hydro Railway's line between Victoria and Swartz Bay to create Victoria Metro Line 1 in 1977) and transferring it to BC Hydro, whilst BC Rail would retain the section from Cordova to Sidney for freight use. Sayward Station was transformed into a multimodal freight terminal for Victoria with an adjacent "green" industrial park, and the line from there to Sidney was refurbished and electrified; this work was completed in 2017. The Victoria–Cordova section was transferred to BC Hydro; work to convert it began in 2013, and was opened in 2020 as Victoria Metro Line 3.

Preliminary agreements have been made between the Dominion government and the Yukon territorial government to have BC Rail expand its network in Yukon with a new trunk line north from Whitehorse, with two branches; this would be realised in three stages. The first stage would see the Whitehorse – Carmacks section of the main line built with a branch from Carmacks to Faro, to serve the large mine there; this, as envisioned, would be opened around 2022. The second section, to be opened around 2025, would extended the main line to Stewart Crossing, with a branch line from there to Mayo and Keno City, to serve new silver mines. The third and final section would complete the mainline to Dawson, Yukon's second-largest city, in 2028. Per the preliminary agreement, BCR and the Yukon government would pay for the construction jointly, and then BCR would operate it for 25 years before transferring the network north of Whitehorse to the Yukon government.

Since the initial agreements were made in 2012, the plans were modified, and as of Spring 2016, the plan stood at opening a Whitehorse – Carmacks – Keno City line by 2023, with future branches to Faro and Dawson 'to be considered'. Survey work on this line began in the spring of 2018; however, due to various delays, construction is not expected to begin until 2024.

= Motive power and rolling stock =

First system, 1922 to 1966
The BCR introduced a classification system for its locomotives in 1922 which remained in use until 1966, when the current system was introduced. This system saw the use of a class designation composed of four alphanumeric characters in the format Xy0z, followed by a four-digit road number. The characters of the class designation were defined as follows:


 * 1 - upper-case letter, indicating the locomotive's wheel arrangement;
 * 2 - lower-case letter, indicating the locomotive's tractive effort;
 * 3 - number, indicating the sequential series of locomotives of that wheel arrangement and tractive effort;
 * 4 - lower-case letter, indicating subseries - generally, indicating that the type differs only in minor details from the base ("a") series.

From 1923, the letter E was added, to be used as a prefix before the first letter of the class designation to denote electric locomotives, and in 1925, the prefix letters P (petrol) and D (diesel) were added. In 1931, with the introduction of electric multiple-unit trainsets imminent, it was decided that these would be given a simple class designation of EM (for Electric Multiple) followed by a sequential series designator and a subseries designator.

1 - Wheel arrangement

2 - Tractive effort

Present system since 1966
The original classification system of 1922 was replaced in 1966 with the one presently in use. Like the first one, this system also uses an alphanumeric class designation, though with four or five characters defined differently:


 * 1 - upper-case letter, indicating power type;
 * 2 - upper-case letter, indicating wheel arrangement;
 * 3 - number, indicating horsepower rating;
 * 4 - number, indicating sequential series;
 * 5 - lower-case letter, indicating subseries.

The fifth character is optional, as the base type has no indicator; the first variant of the base type is indicated "a", the second with "b", etc.

For multiple-unit trainsets, the system is slightly different. The first two upper case letters are invariably DM (for diesel trainsets), EM (for electric trainsets), or DR for single-unit diesel railcars; the first numeral indicates sequential series, and the second indicates the subseries, starting at 0 for the base variant. The fifth character is not used.

The class designation is followed by a three-digit road number, with the first unit numbered 001.

All equipment was reclassified with this system in 1966 with the exception of steam locomotives, which continued to use the original system until the end of steam operations in 1976.

1 - Power type

2 - Wheel arrangement

3 - Horsepower rating

Steam locomotives
From its establishment in 1918 until the end of steam operation, the BCR operated a total of 639 steam locomotives of numerous types. 396 were inherited from the Dominion Northern and Grand Trunk Pacific after their nationalisation in 1918, and this fleet was expanded by a further 161 engines built new for the BCR - the first ten to arrive new from the factory to the BCR had originally been ordered by the DNP, but delivered after nationalisation; the last batch of steam engines built for the BCR was delivered in 1936. The acquisition of the Kettle Valley Railway in 1955 grew the roster by 75 engines in addition diesel engines transferred. The absorption of the Pacific Great Eastern the following year added another seven steam locomotives to the BCR roster; by 1956, the PGE had, for the most part, converted to diesel power. With its commitment to the expansion of its electric operations, dieselisation was not the priority for the BCR that it was for many other railways in North America; consequently, the BCR became the last Class I railway on the continent to use steam power on the mainline, running the last steam-hauled revenue train on 27 March 1976. Having the distinction of being "The Last" was Ge2a class 2-8-0 number 3202 pulling a wayfreight on the Stikine Line from Takla Landing to Fort St James.

Note that steam locomotives of the Washington & British Columbia Railway were also classified and numbered within the BCR system.

Electric locomotives
As previously mentioned, from the mid 1920s, the BCR put top priority on the electrification of its trunk lines. Since the energisation of the first ten-mile test section in 1923, the BCR has operated a total of 737 electric locomotives of various types. Prior to 1969, all of BCR's electric locomotives were of domestic design; the first foreign-made - specifically, Japanese - electric locomotives arrived that year. Since then, only a further 76 electric locomotives were built in BC between 1972 and 1974, as the manufacturing capacity of the Vancouver Locomotive Works was turned towards the production of diesel and electric multiple-unit trainsets. Since the retirement of the last BC-made electric locomotive in May 2020, all of BC Rail's electric locomotives in operation have been made abroad.

Electric multiple units
The BCR introduced its first electric multiple-unit trainsets in 1932 on a new commuter service between Vancouver and Fort Langley, which the following year was extended to Chillwack. The success of this led to the introduction of EMU operation of local trains between Kamloops and Vavenby in 1935, the extension of the Vancouver commuter train to Hope in 1937, and the introduction of EMUs on the Jasper–Prince George–Endako route in 1939, and on the Kamloops–Armstrong–Vernon and Kelowna–Vernon–Lumby routes in 1942. As new EM2 class trainsets were introduced in the 1960s in greater numbers, EMU services steadily increased until by 1969, all Local trains on electrified lines were operated with EMUs. So satisfied was the BCR with its experience with EMUs that between 1975 and 1979 new trainsets were purchased from Japan for use on long-distance Rapid and Express trains - the EM30 class trains feature seating in both classes that can be converted into sleeperette beds, allowing their use on overnight services as well. Since 1979, all domestic Rapid and Express trains on electrified lines are operated with EMUs.

Diesel locomotives
= Network = BC Rail's network consists of 5541.4 route-miles of railway (trunk and secondary lines used for commercial operation), of which 2293.3 miles are electrified at 25kV 60Hz, 462.8 miles are double tracked, 52.4 are miles triple-tracked, 173.3 miles are freight only, and 42.9 miles are dual gauge (standard and 3' 6" gauge).

BC Rail is divided into 9 operating areas called Regions; responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the lines and infrastructure within a given operating area is the responsibility of the Region in question.

In the listing below, Secondary Lines (i.e. branchlines) are listed below the Trunk Lines (i.e. mainlines) to which they are officially attached. Only terminal stations and stations connecting to other lines are indicated.

1. Island Region (HQ Victoria)
498.8 miles, 77.9 miles electrified, 38.6 miles freight only, 2.5 miles double tracked, 52.4 miles triple tracked


 * Line 10 Esquimalt & Nanaimo Line:, 72.7 miles, 15.7 miles electrified, 15.7 miles triple tracked
 * Victoria Union–Tyup–Westholme–Colvilletown–Chase River Triangle–Nanaimo (Victoria–Langford (7.9 miles) and Nanaimo–Collishaw (7.8 miles) electrified, triple-tracked)
 * • Line 101 Lenora Mount Sicker Line: 11.6 miles, freight only
 * Crofton–Westholme–Lenora
 * • Line 102 Duke Point Branch: 6.5 miles, freight only
 * Colvilletown–Cedar–Duke Point
 * • Line 1021 Harmac Spur: 2.5 miles, freight only
 * Cedar–Harmac
 * • Line 103 Nanaimo Harbour Branch: 3.3 miles, freight only
 * Chase River Triangle–Nanaimo Harbour


 * Line 11 Central Coast Line: 96.8 miles, 24.0 miles electrified, 24.0 miles triple tracked
 * Nanaimo–Parksville–Royston–Courtenay–Campbell River (RBCNR), (Nanaimo–Parksville (24.0 miles) electrified, triple-tracked)
 * • Line 111 Alberni Line: 38.8 miles
 * Parksville–Alberni–Port Alberni
 * • Line 1111 Great Central Line: 3.2 miles, closed 1983
 * Kleecoot–Great Central
 * • Line 1112 Clayoquot Line: 77.9 miles
 * Alberni–Kleecoot–Surf Junction–Tofino
 * • Line 11121 Ucluelet Branch: 5.4 miles, closed 1963
 * Surf Junction–Ucluelet
 * • Line 11122 Port Albion Branch: 4.4 miles, freight only
 * Surf Junction–Port Albion
 * • Line 112 Wellington Colliery Line: 12.3 miles (Union Bay–Royston (5.4 miles) closed 1981)
 * Union Bay–Royston–Cumberland,
 * • Line 113 RBCAF Comox Spur: 4.5 miles, freight only
 * Courtenay–DFJB Comox


 * Line 12 Peninsula Line: 10.7 miles, 10.7 miles frieght only, 10.7 miles electrified + 8.1 miles closed
 * Victoria Union–Sayward–Sidney
 * • Patricia Bay Branch: 2.8 miles, closed 1941
 * Bazan–Patricia Bay


 * Line 13 South Coast Line: 27.5 miles, 27.5 miles electrified, 2.5 miles double tracked, 12.7 miles triple tracked
 * Victoria Union–Bazan–Saseenos–Sooke (Victoria Union–Happy Valley triple tracked; Happy Valley–Sooke double tracked)
 * • Line 1301 Army Spur: 2.3 miles, freight only
 * Rocky Point–BCDF Rocky Point
 * • Line 131 Central Island South Line: 34.1 miles
 * Saseenos–Deerholme
 * • Line 132 Central Island Trunk Line: 92.9 miles, 2.8 miles freight only
 * Cowichan Bay–Tyup–Deerholme–Port Alberni (Tyup–Cowichan Bay freight only)

2. Lower Mainland Region (HQ Vancouver)
376.3 miles, 223.5 miles electrified, 42.9 miles freight only, 109.8 miles double tracked
 * Line 20 Inter-Dominion Line (part): 208.6 miles, electrified, 106.5 miles double tracked
 * Vancouver Pacific Central–Grandview Jct (W&BC)–Brentwood Jct–Brunette (W&BC)–Sapperton (CP)–Liverpool (BCH, W&BC)–Eagles Reach (BCH)–Gifford (NWP)–Matsqui (NWP)–Chilliwack (BCH, W&BC)–Hope–Siska (CP)–Spences Bridge (CP) –South Nepa (CP)–Ashcroft (Still Creek–Brunette, Liverpool–Siska double-tracked)
 * • Line 201 South False Creek Line: 3.4 miles, electrified, freight only
 * Grandview Jct–Vancouver Terminal Ave.–South False Creek
 * • Line 202 North Shore Line: 7.4 miles, electrified, freight only, 3.3 miles double tracked
 * Brentwood Jct–Brooksbank–North Vancouver (Brooksbank-North Vancouver double tracked)
 * • Line 2021 Dollarton Branch: 3.9 miles, electrified, freight only
 * Brooksbank–Dollarton
 * • Line 203 Lulu Island Line: 17.4 miles, freight only
 * Sapperton (Fraser River Bridge)–New Westminster (BCH, CP)–Queensborough Jct–Shell Road–South Triangle–Fraser Wharves
 * • Line 2031 Finn Slough Spur: 0.9 miles, freight only
 * South Triangle–Finn Slough
 * • Line 2032 South East Branch: 5.4 miles, freight only, 1.5 miles closed 1981
 * Queensborough Jct–British American–Fraser Wharves (British American–Fraser Wharves closed 1981)
 * • Line 2033 North West Branch: 3.6 miles, freight only
 * Shell Road–Dinsmore–Thompson
 * • Line 20331 Sea Island Spur: 1.5 miles, closed 1991
 * Dinsmore–Sea Island


 * Line 21 Coquihalla Line: 77.8 miles
 * Odlum (CP)–Hope ( W&BC)–Brodie–Middlesboro–Merritt
 * • Line 211 Nicola Sawmills Spur: 0.9 miles, freight only
 * Middlesboro–Nicola Sawmills


 * Line 22 Nicola Valley Line: 47.0 miles
 * Spences Bridge (CP) –Merritt–Nicola

3. Fraser Region (HQ Kamloops)
210.7 miles, 209.0 miles electrified, 1.7 miles freight only, 96.4 miles double tracked
 * Line 30 Inter-Dominion Line (part): 135.2 miles, electrified, 25.1 miles double-tracked
 * Ashcroft–Barnes Creek (CP)–Brocklehurst–Kamloops (CP)–Vavenby
 * • Line 3001 Airport Branch: 2.5 miles, electrified
 * Brocklehurst–Kamloops Airport
 * • Line 3002 Supertest Spur: 1.7 miles, freight only
 * Brocklehurst–Brocklehurst-Supertest


 * Line 31 Slahaltkan Line: 71.3 miles, electrified, double-tracked
 * Kamloops–Labyrinth (CP)–Armstrong (CP)

4. Kettle Valley Region (HQ Penticton)
364.4 miles, 62.6 miles electrified, 109.2 miles double tracked
 * Line 40 Okanagan Line: 132.7 miles, 47.6 miles electrified and double tracked
 * Armstrong (CP)–Middleton–Lebanon Lake–Penticton–Sooyoos (W&BC) (Armstrong–Kelowna electrified and double tracked)
 * • Line 401 Lumby Line: 15.0 miles, electrified, double tracked
 * Middleton–Lumby


 * Line 41 Syilx Line: 70.5 miles
 * Penticton–Princeton (W&BC)
 * • Line 411 Tullameen Line: 42.0 miles
 * Princeton–Brodie


 * Line 42 Kettle Valley Line: 104.2 miles, 46.6 miles double tracked
 * Lebanon Lake–Rock Creek (W&BC)–West Midway (W&BC)–Midway (Carmi–Midway double-tracked)

5. Kootenay Region (HQ Castlegar)
416.8 miles, 21.8 miles freight only, 9.4 miles double tracked
 * Line 50 Boundary Line: 129.7 miles
 * Midway–Granby–Westend–Grand Forks (W&BC)–Cuprum–Castlegar (NWP)–Rossland (W&BC) (Granby–Gilpin (9.4 miles) double tracked)
 * • Line 501 Granby Smelter Spur: 2.2 miles, freight only
 * Granby–Granby Smelter (W&BC)
 * • Line 502 City Station Spur: 1.7 miles
 * Westend–Grand Forks City
 * • Line 503 Carson Spur: 2.0 miles
 * Cuprum–Coopers Wye (W&BC)
 * • Line 504 North Fork Line: 19.6 miles, freight only
 * Cuprum–Grand Forks City–Westend–Archibald


 * Line 51 Slluqan Valley Line: 25.8 miles
 * Castlegar (NWP)–South Slocan–Taghum–Nelson (CP, W&BC)
 * • Line 511 Balfour Line: 25.5 miles, closed 1993
 * Taghum–Balfour (rail ferry to Kaslo)


 * Line 52 Slocan Lake Line: 31.3 miles
 * South Slocan–Slocan City (rail ferry to Silverton)


 * Line 53 Arrow Lakes Line: 34.5 miles + 11.8 miles closed 1981
 * Nakusp–Rosebery–Silverton (rail ferry to Slocan City)
 * Rosebery–Zincton, 11.8 miles, freight only, closed 1981

6. Pacific Great Eastern Region (HQ Squamish)
870.8 miles, 34.3 miles double tracked, 25.7 miles freight only
 * Line 60 Sea-to-Sky Line: 93.7 miles
 * North Vancouver–Squamish–Pemberton
 * • Line 601 Ferry Yard Branch: 3.0 miles, freight only
 * Squamish–Squamish Ferry Yard
 * • Line 602 Squamish Terminals Branch: 2.1 miles, freight only
 * Squamish–Squamish Terminals


 * Line 61 Cariboo Line: 218.0 miles
 * Pemberton–Clinton–St Joseph Mission–Williams Lake
 * • Line 611 Sitlika Line: 34.3 miles, double tracked
 * Clinton–Ashcroft
 * • Line 612 Imperial Line: 69.1 miles
 * St Joseph Mission–Likely


 * Line 62 Chilcotin–Owikeno Line: 275.3 miles
 * Williams Lake–Bella Coola (RBCNR ferry from Bella Coola to Port Hardy)


 * Line 63 North Fraser Line: 154.7 miles
 * Williams Lake–Macalister–Prince George
 * • Line 631 Gibraltar Branch: 20.6 miles, freight only
 * Macalister–Gibraltar

7. Grand Trunk Region (HQ Prince George)
1175.8 miles, 1175.8 miles electrified, 279.5 miles double-tracked
 * Line 70 Grand Trunk Line: 711.2 miles, electrified, 226.0 miles double-tracked
 * Prince Rupert–Navy Jct (RBCNR)–Ganiks Laxha (SPR)–Skeena Crossing–Topley–Vanderhoof–Prince George–Foreman–Shelley–Tete Jaune Cache–Jasper, AB (RBCNR ferry from HMBCS Rainbow to Port Hardy via Navy Jct; Prince Rupert–Pacific (119.9 mi), Skeena Crossing–Beament (30.2 mi), Endako–Vanderhoof (45.9 mi), and Chilako–Willow River (30.0 mi) double-tracked)
 * • Line 7001 Topley Landing Branch: 24.0 miles, electrified
 * Topley–Topley Landing
 * • Line 701 Red Rose Line: 9.7 miles, electrified
 * Skeena Crossing–Red Rose
 * • Line 702 Dog Creek Line: 34.9 miles, electrified
 * Vanderhoof–Fort St James
 * • Line 703 Shady Valley Connecting Line: 5.6 miles, electrified
 * Foreman–West Shelley–Northwood
 * • Line 7031 Shelley Branch: 1.4 miles, electrified
 * West Shelley–Shelley
 * • Line 704 Valemount Connecting Line: 8.8 miles, electrified
 * Tete Jaune Cache–Valemount Jct


 * Line 71 Inter-Dominion Line (part): 185.7 miles, electrified, 53.5 miles double-tracked
 * Vavenby–Valemount Jct–Yellowhead–Jasper, AB

8. Northern Region (HQ Dawson Creek)
1651.8 miles, 568.5 miles electrified, 97.2 miles double tracked, 42.6 miles freight only, 42.9 miles dual gauge


 * Line 80 Peace River Line: 257.5 miles, electrified, 97.2 miles double tracked
 * Prince George–Northwood–Summit Lake Jct–Wakely–Kennedy–Chetwynd–Sundance Lakes–Dawson Creek (CN) (River Bend–Summit Lake and Chetwynd–Dawson Creek double tracked)
 * • Line 8001 Mechpulp Branch: 2.6 miles, freight only, electrified
 * Sundance Lakes–Mechpulp
 * • Line 801 Omineca Line: 77.7 miles, electrified
 * Summit Lake Jct–Tl’azt’en–Fort St James
 * • Line 802 Tumbler Ridge Line: 75.7 miles, electrified
 * Wakely–Tumbler Jct–Tumbler Ridge
 * • Line 8021 Quintette Branch: 9.6 miles, freight only, electrified
 * Tumbler Jct–Quintette 2
 * • Line 803 Williston Lake Line: 23.7 miles, electrified
 * Kennedy–Mackenzie
 * • Line 804 Fort Nelson Line: 328.2 miles, 69.5 miles electrified, 3.3 miles freight only
 * Chetwynd–Big Lake–Leyton–Taylor–Fort Nelson–RBCAF Fort Nelson (Chetwynd–Fort St John electrified; Fort Nelson–RBCAF Fort Nelson freight only)
 * • Line 8041 Domforco Spur: 2.6 miles, freight only, electrified
 * Taylor–Domforco Taylor
 * • Line 8042 Supertest Spur: 1.8 miles, freight only, electrified
 * Taylor–Supertest Taylor
 * • Line 8043 Saturn Branch: 21.2 miles, freight only, electrified
 * Big Lake–Saturn
 * • Line 8044 Site C Branch: 4.1 miles, freight only, electrified
 * Leyton–Site C


 * Line 81 Stikine Line: 413.7 miles, 22.5 miles electrified
 * Fort St James–Meadowview–Takla Landing (BCAR)–Iskut Jct (SPR)–Dease Lake (Iskut Jct–Dease Lake electrified)
 * • Line 811 Omineca–Stikine Connecting Line 1.5 miles
 * Meadowview–Tl’azt’en


 * Line 82 Cassiar Central Line: 292.2 miles
 * Dease Lake–Teslin, YT


 * Line 83 Klondike Line: 139.9 miles, 42.9 miles dual gauge
 * Teslin, YT–Carcross, YT (WP&Y)–Whitehorse, YT (ARR, WP&Y) (Carcross–Whitehorse dual gauge)

= Passenger services = BC Rail operates a wide range of passenger trains, international and domestic, of various categories ranging from "Limited Express" trains making very few intermediate stops to mixed trains composed of passenger cars attached to freight trains. Tickets for BC Rail trains can be purchased at W&BC stations, and vice versa.

Timetables can be found on the page of each individual line.

The various categories of passenger service are defined by the Ministry of Labour, Industry, & Railways in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport & Communications; these categories are applicable to and used by all railways providing passenger service in British Columbia.

Like all other railways in BC, ticket prices for BC Rail passenger trains are based on the Ministry's Schedule of Railway Fares.

Limited Express
Limited Express trains are BC Rail 's fastest and most prestigious trains, making very few or no intermediate stops. All have distinctive names, some of which - such as the Inter-Dominion Limited, the Continental, and the International Hiawatha - have passed into BC's cultural consciousness.

International
With the exception of the Klondike Limited, all international Limited Express trains are operated as joint services with other railway companies. All international Limited Express trains feature full-service dining cars open to first and second class passengers, sleeping cars (first class) and sleeperette cars (second class), as well as baggage handling, free of charge for first class passengers, or for a surcharge for second class passengers. International services may be used for domestic travel, but for travel between three or fewer domestic stops a surcharge is applied.


 * 101/102 Inter-Dominion Limited (BCR/VIA Rail): Vancouver, BC (Pacific Central) – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
 * Daily service using a BC Rail consist, with BC Rail locomotives and crews working the over the entire route. This train runs over the trackage of BC Rail between Vancouver and Jasper, and of the Canadian National between Jasper and Edmonton. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Chilliwack, Hope, Ashcroft, Kamloops, Clearwater, Valemount, Yellowhead
 * Alberta: Jasper


 * 103/104 Continental (BCR/VIA Rail): Vancouver, BC (Pacific Central) – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
 * Twice-weekly service with eastbound trains departing Vancouver on Mondays and Fridays in the consist of Train 101, westbound trains leaving Toronto on Wednesdays and Sundays, from Edmonton continuing in the consist of Train 102. VIA Rail consists are used. BC Rail locomotives and crews work the train between Vancouver and Edmonton. This train operates as a limited express between Vancouver and Edmonton, and as a semi-express between Edmonton and Toronto. Intermediate stops (flag stops east of Edmonton not shown):
 * BC: Chilliwack, Hope, Ashcroft, Kamloops, Clearwater, Valemount, Yellowhead
 * Alberta: Jasper, Edmonton
 * Saskatchewan: Biggar, Saskatoon, Melville
 * Manitoba: Winnipeg
 * Ontario: Sioux Lookout, Hornepayne, Capreol, Sudbury Junction


 * 105 Canadian/106 British Columbian (BCR/VIA Rail): Vancouver, BC (Pacific Central) – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 * Daily service with a morning departure from each end using one VIA consist and one BC Rail consist; the westbound train is called British Columbian, and the eastbound is the Canadian. This train runs over BC Rail trackage between Vancouver and Kamloops, and over Canadian Pacific trackage between Kamloops and Calgary; locomotive change takes place in Kamloops. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Chilliwack, Hope, Ashcroft, Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Blaenau, Golden, Field
 * Alberta: Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore


 * 107 Smoke Eater/108 Stampeder (BCR/VIA Rail): Trail, BC – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 * Daily service with a morning departure from each end using one VIA consist and one BC Rail consist, with VIA locomotives and crews working the VIA consists and BC Rail locomotives and crews working the BC Rail consists over the entire route; the westbound train is called Smoke Eater, and the eastbound is the Stampeder. This train runs over the trackage of the BC Rail between Trail and Nelson, and of the Canadian Pacific between Nelson and Calgary. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Castlegar, Nelson, Creston, Cranbrook
 * Alberta: Lethbridge


 * 109/110 Skeena Limited (BCR/VIA Rail): Prince Rupert, BC – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
 * Daily service with a morning departure from each end using one VIA consist and one BC Rail consist, with VIA locomotives and crews working the VIA consists and BC Rail locomotives and crews working the BC Rail consists over the entire route. This train runs over the trackage of the BC Rail between Prince Rupert and Jasper, and of the Canadian National between Jasper and Edmonton. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Ganiks Laxha, Hagwilget, Lake Kathlyn, Smithers, Endako, Vanderhoof, Prince George, McBride, Yellowhead (BC and Canadian customs inspections)
 * Alberta: Jasper


 * 121/122 Klondike Limited (BCR): Prince George, BC – Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
 * Three trains run weekly in each direction, with northbound trains departing Prince George on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and southbound trains departing Whitehorse on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This train runs entirely over BC Rail trackage and is operated with BC Rail equipment and crews. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Fort St James, Takla, Dease Lake, Porter Landing, Cassiar, Klinkit
 * Yukon: Teslin, Carcross


 * 123/124 Aurora Borealis (BCR/VIA Rail): Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
 * Two trains run weekly in each direction using mixed consists of VIA rail coaches and BC Rail baggage, dining, sleeping, and sleeperette cars. Northbound trains depart Edmonton on Tuesday and Thursday, and southbound trains depart Whitehorse on Monday and Wednesday. This train runs over BC Rail trackage between Whitehorse and Dawson Creek, and over Canadian National trackage between Dawson Creek and Edmonton. One of the return trips are operated with BC Rail locomotives and crews, the other with VIA locomotives and crews. Intermediate stops:
 * Alberta: Slave Lake, McLennan, Grand Prairie, Beaver Lodge
 * BC: Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Fort St James, Takla, Dease Lake, Porter Landing, Cassiar, Klinkit
 * Yukon: Teslin, Carcross


 * 131/132 International Hiawatha (North Western Pacific/BCR): Vancouver, BC (Pacific Central) – Chicago, Illinois, USA
 * Twice-weekly service with eastbound trains departing Vancouver on Wednesdays and Saturdays, westbound trains leaving Chicago on Tuesdays and Fridays; all trains consist of NWP consists. This train runs over the trackage of the BC Rail between Vancouver and Castlegar, and over NWP trackage between Castlegar and Chicago; locomotive changes take place in Castlegar. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Hope, Princeton, Penticton, Grand Forks, Castlegar, Salmo, Nelway (BC and US customs checks)
 * Washington: Metaline Falls, Newport
 * Idaho: Spirit Lake
 * Washington: Spokane
 * Idaho: St Maries
 * Montana: Alberton, Missoula, Butte, Harlowton, Miles City
 * South Dakota: Morristown, Mobridge, Aberdeen
 * Minnesota: Ortonville, Minneapolis, St Paul, Winona
 * Wisconsin: La Crosse, Milwaukee
 * Illinois: Racine


 * 133/134 Okanagan Limited (BCR/Amtrak): Kamloops, BC – Spokane, Washington, USA
 * Daily service with a morning departure from each end using one Amtrak consist and one BC Rail consist. This train runs over the trackage of three railways: BC Rail between Kamloops and Sooyoos, the Washington & British Columbia between Sooyoos and Oroville, Washington, and the Burlington Northern & Gulf between Oroville and Spokane. A BC Rail locomotive works the train on the electrified line between Kamloops and Kelowna, a W&BC locomotive and crew is used between Kelowna and Oroville, and an Amtrak locomotive and crew works the train between Oroville and Spokane. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Falkland, Armstrong, Vernon, Kelowna, Naramata, Penticton, Skaha, Oliver, Sooyoos (BC customs checks)
 * Washington: Oroville (US customs checks), Chelan, Wenatchee


 * 191/192 Alaska Limited (BCR/Alaska Railroad): Anchorage, Alaska, USA – Seattle, Washington, USA
 * This is a once-weekly service departing Seattle on Tuesdays and Anchorage on Fridays, consisting of two ARR and two BC Rail sleeping cars in the summer months and one ARR and one BC Rail sleeper in the winter. These consists operate as through cars attached to the Alaska Railroad's international semi-express service between Anchorage and Whitehorse, to the BC Rail Klondike Limited between Whitehorse and Prince George, to the BC Rail Fraser–Skeena domestic express between Prince George and Ashcroft, to the BC Rail Inter-Dominion Limited between Ashcroft and Vancouver, and to the W&BC/Amtrak Cascades international express between Vancouver and Seattle. Intermediate stops:
 * Alaska: Wasilla, Talkeetna, Denali, Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Dry Creek, Dot Lake, Tanacross, Tok, Tetlin, Northway, Alcan Border (US customs checks)
 * Yukon: Beaver Creek (Canadian customs checks), Snag Junction, Quill Creek, Burwash Landing, Destruction Bay, Kloo Lake, Haines Junction, Canyon, Champagne Landing, Ibex Valley, Whitehorse, Teslin, Carcross
 * BC: Klinkit, Cassiar, Porter Landing, Dease Lake, Takla, Fort St James, Prince George, Red Rock, Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, Clinton, Cache Creek, Ashcroft, Hope, Chilliwack, Vancouver (Pacific Central), White Rock (BC customs checks)
 * Washington: Blaine (US customs checks), Ferndale, Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Stanwood, Everett, Edmonds

Domestic
Limited Express trains on entirely domestic routes feature free baggage handling for both first and second classes, along with a cafeteria car open to both classes. With the exception of the Pacific Coast Limited, these trains are all operated by BC Rail with its own equipment over its own lines.


 * 75/76 Pacific Coast Limited (BCR/RBCN Railway): Victoria (Union) – Prince Rupert
 * One daily morning departure in each direction, one with BC Rail first and second class chair cars and baggage cars, the other with RBCN first and second class chair cars and baggage cars; both trains have BC Rail sleepers, sleeperettes, and dining cars. The short-trip surcharge is applicable to travel between Victoria and Nanaimo. Between Victoria and Campbell River BC Rail locomotives are used, between Campbell River and Port Hardy, RBCN locomotives are used. BC Rail locomotives haul the trains between Prince Rupert and the rail ferry terminal at HMBCS Rainbow. Intermediate stops: Langford, Duncan, Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Parksville, Courtenay, Campbell River, Steel Creek, Port McNeill, Port Hardy


 * 151.1-3/152.1-3 Sea-to-Sky Limited: North Vancouver – Whistler
 * Non-stop service during ski season only, with one daily return Monday through Thursday, three daily returns Friday through Sunday. Intermediate stops: none


 * 153/154 Whistler Limited: Kamloops – Whistler
 * One daily return Thursday through Sunday during ski season only. Intermediate stops: Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton


 * 155/156, 157/158 Powder King Special: Prince George – Azouzetta
 * Two daily returns, ski season only. BC Rail has an arrangement with several airlines allowing passengers from the United States to buy tickets for this train bundled with their airfare between Prince George and Anchorage (Wien Air Alaska), Chicago (United Airlines), Detroit (Inter-Dominion Air Lines), Los Angeles (Western Airlines), and Seattle (Hawkair). With this ticket, passengers and their luggage are forwarded directly from the airport to the train by a shuttle bus operated by BC Rail. Intermediate stops: none

Regular Express
Regular Express trains stop more often than Limited Express trains, but do not make unscheduled stops. BC Rail operates only one international regular Express train, the rest are all on domestic routes.

International

 * 71 Gordon Highlander/72 Loyal Edmontonian: Prince George, BC – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
 * One daily trip in each direction, operated entirely using BC Rail equipment and crews; on the Jasper–Edmonton section the train runs over Canadian National trackage. The westbound train is called Gordon Highlander, the eastbound train is called Loyal Edmontonian. The train includes a full-service dining car open to all classes; baggage handling is free of charge to first class passengers, and available to second class passengers for a surcharge. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Willow River, Sinclair Mills, Loos, McBride, Tete Jaune Cache, Yellowhead
 * Alberta: Jasper, Hinton, Edson, Evansburg

Domestic
All domestic Express trains on the mainland feature baggage handling free of charge to first class passengers, and available to second class passengers for a surcharge, and all include either a full-service dining car or a cafeteria car open to all classes. For travel between three or fewer domestic stops a surcharge is applied; on Vancouver Island trains, this surcharge also applies to all travel between Victoria and Ladysmith or between Nanaimo and Langford. There is no baggage service on Vancouver Island trains, other than the on the "Pacific Coast Limited".


 * 11/12 Kuthkahchulth (BCR): Victoria (Union) – Port Alberni
 * One daily return trip with a cafeteria car; no baggage service. Intermediate stops: Esquimalt, Langford, Cowichan, Duncan, Chemainus, Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Parksville


 * 13/14 Air Marshal Sir Raymond Collishaw (BCR): Victoria (Union) – Courtenay
 * One daily return trip with a cafeteria car; no baggage service. Intermediate stops: Esquimalt, Langford, Cowichan, Duncan, Chemainus, Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Parksville, Deep Bay


 * 15.1-4/16.1-4 Dayliner (BCR): Victoria (Union) – Nanaimo
 * Four daily return trips with first and second class chair cars only, with seat-side drink and snack service; no baggage service. Intermediate stops: Esquimalt, Langford, Cowichan, Duncan, Chemainus, Ladysmith


 * 21/22 Rocky Mountaineer: Vancouver (Pacific Central) – Valemount
 * One daily overnight trip in each direction operated by express EMU (class EM30) with first- and second-class convertible cars (chair/sleeperette) and cafeteria and baggage compartments. The usual short-trip surcharge does not apply to this train. Intermediate stops: Chilliwack, Hope, Boston Bar, Lytton, Ashcroft, Kamloops, Barriere, Blackpool, Clearwater, Vavenby, Blue River


 * 23/24 Phthauntac: Vancouver (Pacific Central) – Penticton
 * One daily overnight trip in each direction with sleeping cars (first class) and sleeperettes (second class), a cafeteria car, and one second-class chair car. The usual short-trip surcharge does not apply to this train. Intermediate stops: Chilliwack, Hope, Brodie, Brookmere, Tullameen, Princeton, Demuth


 * 31.1-2/32.1-2 Fraser Canyon: Vancouver (Pacific Central) – Kamloops
 * Two daily return trips operated by express EMU (class EM31) with first- and second-class chair cars and cafeteria and baggage compartments. Intermediate stops: Chilliwack, Hope, Boston Bar, Lytton, Ashcroft


 * 33/34 Fraser–Skeena: Kamloops – Prince George
 * One daily except Sunday return trip with a dining car. Intermediate stops: Cache Creek, Clinton, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Quesnel, Red Rock


 * 35.1-3/36.1-3 Okanagan Highlander: Kamloops – Sooyoos
 * Three daily return trips with a cafeteria car in the summer timetable, two in the winter timetable. Intermediate stops: Falkland, Armstrong, Vernon, Oyama, Kelowna, Naramata, Poplar Grove, Penticton, Skaha, Kaleden, Okanagan Falls, Oliver


 * 51.1-2/52.1-2 Selkirk Mountaineer: Grand Forks – Nelson
 * Two daily return trips with a cafeteria car. Intermediate stops: Christina Lake, Castlegar, South Slocan


 * 53.1-2/54.1-2 Monashee Mountaineer: Trail – Nelson
 * Two daily return trips with a cafeteria car. Intermediate stops: Waterloo, Castlegar, South Slocan


 * 61/62 Cariboo Prospector: North Vancouver – Prince George
 * One daily return trip with a dining car. Intermediate stops: Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Lillooet, Clinton, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Quesnel


 * 73.1–3/74.1–3 K’shian: Prince Rupert – Prince George
 * Three daily return trips operated by express EMU (class EM31) with first- and second-class chair cars and cafeteria and baggage compartments. Intermediate stops: Ganiks Laxha, Kitwanga, Hagwilget, Witset, Lake Kathlyn, Smithers, Telkwa, Houston, Burns Lake, Endako, Fraser Lake, Beaumont (winter only), Fort Fraser, Vanderhoof


 * 81.1-3/82.1-3 Kiskatinaw: Prince George – Dawson Creek
 * Two daily return trips and one daily overnight trip in each direction, all operated by express EMU (class EM30) with first- and second-class convertible cars (chair/sleeperette) and cafeteria and baggage compartments.. Intermediate stops: Summit Lake, Wakely, Kennedy, Azouzetta, Chetwynd, Arras


 * 83/84 Tahltan Highlander: Dease Lake – Dawson Creek
 * One daily overnight trip in each direction with sleeping cars (first class) and sleeperettes (second class), a dining car, and two second-class chair car. Intermediate stops: Arras, Chetwynd, Azouzetta, Kennedy, Wakely, Summit Lake, Echo Lake, Tl’azt’en, Fort St James, Takla, Bulkley House

Rapid
Rapid (also known as "semi-express") trains are similar to regular Express trains, making a limited number of scheduled stops, but stops can be booked up to three hours in advance at any station on the route that has passenger service. The BCR operates only one international semi-express train; the rest are all domestic services.

International

 * 135/136 Salishan Rapid (North Western Pacific/BCR): Vancouver (Pacific Central) – Glacier, Washington, USA
 * One daily return trip runs in the summer timetable with NWP equipment and crews; two daily return trips run in the winter timetable, one with BC Rail equipment, the other with NWP equipment. Locomotive and crew changes take place at Huntingdon, BC on eastbound trips, and at Sumas, Washington on westbound trips; both BC and US customs checks occur at these stations, and passengers may not board or disembark here. These trains feature first and second class chair cars and a cafeteria car; there is no baggage handling service. This train operates as an Express train in BC (flag stops cannot be booked), and as a Semi-Express in Washington. A surcharge applies for trips entirely within BC (i.e. travel only between Vancouver and Abbotsford). Scheduled intermediate stops:
 * BC: Abbotsford, Huntingdon (BC and US customs checks eastbound)
 * Washington: Sumas (BC and US customs checks westbound), Columbia, Maple Falls, Glacier

Domestic
These trains feature first and second class chair cars and a cafeteria car; baggage handling is free of charge for first class passengers, and available with a surcharge for second class passengers. For travel between three or fewer domestic stops a surcharge is applied. There is no baggage service on Vancouver Island trains.


 * 17/18 Clayoquot Limited (BCR): Nanaimo – Tofino
 * One daily return trip with a cafeteria car; no baggage service. Intermediate stops: Parksville, Port Alberni, Sproat Lake Landing, Long Beach (summer only)


 * 63/64 T’exelc Rapid (BCR): Williams Lake – Bella Coola
 * One daily return trip with second class chair cars and a cafeteria car (no first class). Unlike other semi-express trains, unscheduled stops on this train may be booked up to 20 minutes in advance. The short-trip surcharge is not applicable to this train. Scheduled intermediate stops: Hanceville, Tatla Lake, Nimpo Lake, Ulhk’acho, Stuwic


 * 65/66 Dakelh Rapid (BCR): Williams Lake – Prince George
 * One daily return trip with first and second class chair cars and a dining car. The short-trip surcharge applies only to trips between Prince George and Red Rock. Scheduled intermediate stops: Quesnel, Strathnaver, Red Rock, Pineview


 * 77.1–2/78.1–2 Telkwa Rapid (BCR): Prince Rupert – Smithers
 * Two daily return trips operated by express EMU (class EM31) with first- and second-class chair cars and a cafeteria compartment; these trains do not have baggage handling. Train 78.2 is operated with class EM30 featuring convertible sleeperette seats in both classes. The short-trip surcharge applies regularly to this train. Scheduled intermediate stops: Ganiks Laxha, Kitwanga, Hagwilget, Witset, Lake Kathlyn


 * 79.1–4/80.1–4 Haisla Rapid (BCR/Skeena Pacific): Kemano – Prince Rupert
 * Four daily return trips operated by express EMU with first- and second-class chair cars and a cafeteria compartment; these trains do not have baggage handling. Two of the trains are operated with BCR equipment and crews (class EM31), the other two with SPR equipment and crews (E1000 series); each railway has running rights over the other's tracks for these trains. The short-trip surcharge applies only to trips between Kemano and Ganiks Laxha. Scheduled intermediate stops: Kitimat, Ganiks Laxha


 * 191.1–2/192.1–2 Central Island Rapid (BCR): Sooke – Port Alberni
 * Two daily return trips, second class chair cars only with seat-side drink and snack service. Scheduled intermediate stops: Saseenos, Shawnigan Beach, Deerholme, Lake Cowichan, Youbou, Kissinger, Ditidaht, Franklin


 * 193.1–2/194.1–2 Sportsman Rapid (BCR): Victoria (Union) – Youbou
 * Two daily return trips in the summer timetable only, second class chair cars only with seat-side drink and snack service. Scheduled intermediate stops: Colwood, Saseenos, Shawnigan Beach, Deerholme, Lake Cowichan


 * 711.1–2/712.1–2 Ktunaxa Rapid (BCR): Prince George – Tete Jaune Cache – Valemount
 * Two daily return trips operated by express EMU (class EM31) with first- and second-class chair cars and a cafeteria compartment; these trains do not have baggage handling. The short-trip surcharge applies regularly to this train. Scheduled intermediate stops: Willow River, Sinclair Mills, Loos, McBride, Tete Jaune Cache

Local
Local trains are passenger trains that make scheduled stops at all stations and halts along the route they serve. Most are second-class only with seat-side drink and snack service, but some trains covering longer distances have first class chair cars and a cafeteria car; none of the domestic Local trains (with the exception of the Bella Coola mixed - have baggage handling. BC Rail operate four international Local trains (one entirely inside Yukon, and one entirely on CN trackage in conjunction with VIA Rail), the rest are all on domestic routes. Local trains do not have official names, instead they have only numbers. Train numbers with no letter suffix are locomotive-hauled; the suffix 'E' denotes trains operated with electric multiple-unit ("EMU") trainsets, the suffix 'D' denotes trains operated by diesel trainsets (called "diesel cars", or "DC" for short, by BC Rail). Two domestic local trains are operated in conjunction with other railways. All local trains run at least twice daily in each direction to allow for trains to be useful for passengers making day trips.

International

 * 7009E.1-2/7010E.1-2: Prince George – Tete Jaune Cache – Jasper, Alberta, Canada
 * Two daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 8301.1-2/8302.1-2: Cassiar – Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
 * Two daily return trips, first and second-class with seat-side drink and snack service. Baggage and parcel service is available for a surcharge.


 * 8303.1-2/8304.1-2: Whitehorse, Yukon – Carcross, Yukon
 * Two daily return trips, second class only, no drink/snack service.


 * 8901.1-2/8902.1-2 (BCR/VIA Rail): Dawson Creek, BC – Edmonton, Alberta
 * Two daily return trips, first and second-class with seat-side drink and snack service. Baggage and parcel service is available for a surcharge. This is a BC Rail train, but operates entirely over CN trackage.

Domestic

 * 1101.1-3/1102.1-3: Victoria – Nanaimo
 * Three daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 1103.1-2/1104.1-2: Duncan – Courtenay
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 1105.1-2/1106.1-2: Nanaimo – Campbell River
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service; this car carries BCR through cars Nanaimo–Campbell River–Port Hardy and Nanaimo–Campbell River–Tahsis.


 * 1111.1-2/1112.1-2: Cowichan – Port Alberni
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 1301E.1-6/1302E.1-6: Victoria – Sooke
 * Six daily return trips operated by EMU, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 1311.1-2/1312.1-2: Sooke – Lake Cowichan
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 1313.1-2/1313.1-2: Sooke – Duncan
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 1321.1-2/1322.1-2: Lake Cowichan – Port Alberni
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 2001E.1-4/2002E.1-4: Vancouver (Pacific Central) – Hope
 * Four daily return trips operated by EMU, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 2101.1-2/2102.1-2: Hope – Brodie – Princeton
 * Two daily return trips, first and second-class with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 3001E.1-2/3002E.1.4: Kamloops – Ashcroft – Hope
 * Two daily return trips operated by EMU, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 3003D.1-2/3004D.1-2: Kamloops – Spences Bridge – Merritt – Nicola
 * Two daily return trips operated by diesel car, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 3101E.1-4/3102E.1-4: Kamloops – Armstrong – Vernon
 * Four daily return trips operated by EMU, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 4001.1-3-6/4002.1-6: Penticton – Kelowna
 * Five daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 4003E.1-6/4004E.1-6: Vernon – Kelowna
 * Six daily return trips operated by EMU, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 4005.1-3/4006.1-3: Penticton – Sooyoos
 * Five daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 4101.1-3/4102.1-3: Penticton – Princeton
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.


 * 4103.1-2/4104.1-2: Penticton – Brodie – Merritt
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.


 * 4111D.1-3/4112D.1-3: Tullameen – Princeton – Allenby
 * Three daily return trips operated by DC, second class only, no drink/snack service. The 6 mile section between Princeton and Allenby is W&BC trackage, over which the BCR has running rights for this train; the W&BC is not involved with this service in any way.


 * 4201D.1-2/4202D.1-2: Kelowna – Lebanon Lake – Midway – Grand Forks – Christina Lake
 * Two daily return trips operated by DC, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 5001D.1-3/5002D.1-3: Castlegar – Grand Forks City
 * Three daily return trips operated by DC, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 5003D.1-8/5004D.1-8: Castlegar – Rossland
 * Eight daily return trips operated by DC, second class only, no drink/snack service.


 * 5101D.1-5/5102D.1-5: Castlegar – Nelson
 * Five daily return trips operated by DC, second class only, no drink/snack service.


 * 5103D.1-2/5104D.1-2: Castlegar – South Slocan – Slocan City
 * Two daily return trips operated by DC, second class only, no drink/snack service.


 * 5105.1-2/5106.1-2 (BCR/CP): Castlegar – Nelson – Creston
 * Two daily return trips using BCR equipment and on-board crews, first and second class with a cafeteria car. Between Castlegar and Nelson the train runs on BCR trackage and is worked by a BCR locomotive, between Nelson and Creston it runs over CP trackage and is pulled by a CP locomotive. Operational costs and profits are divided between the two railways (BCR 25%, CP 75%).


 * 5301D.1-4/5302D.1-4: Nakusp – Silverton
 * Three daily return trips operated by DC, second class only, no drink/snack service.


 * 6001.1-3/6002.1-3: North Vancouver – Pemberton
 * Three daily return trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.


 * 6003.1-2/6004.1-2: North Vancouver – Pemberton – Lillooet
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.


 * 6005.1-2/6006.1-2: Pemberton – Lillooet
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 6101.1-3/6102.1-3: Lillooet – Williams Lake
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.


 * 6111.1-2/6112.1-2: Lillooet – Clinton – Ashcroft – Kamloops
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 6121D.1-2/6122D.1-2: Williams Lake – St Joseph Mission – Likely
 * Two daily return trips operated by DC, second class only, no drink/snack service.


 * 6301.1-2/6302.1-2: Williams Lake – Quesnel
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 6303.1-2/6304.1-2: Quesnel – Prince George
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 7001E.1-4/7002E.1-4: Hagwilget – Prince Rupert
 * Four daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 7003E.1-3/7004E.1-3: Hagwilget – Prince George
 * Three daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 7005E.1-9/7006E.1-9: Ganiks Laxha – Prince Rupert
 * EMU service, second-class only with no drink/snack service, operating from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm, departing Prince Rupert every second even hour and Ganiks Laxha every second odd hour.


 * 7007E.1-5/7008E.1-5: Ganiks Laxha – Prince George
 * Five daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 7041.1-2/7042.1-2: Kamloops – Valemount – Tete Jaune Cache
 * Two daily round trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.


 * 7043E.1-6/7044E.1-6: McBride – Tete Jaune Cache – Valemount
 * Six daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 8011E.1-2/8012E.1-2: Prince George - Summit Lake - Fort St James
 * Two daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 8021E.1-2/8022E.1-2: Prince George - Wakely - Tumbler Ridge
 * Two daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 8031E.1-2/8032E.1-2: Prince George - Kennedy - Mackenzie
 * Two daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 8033E.1-2/8034E.1-2: Dawson Creek - Kennedy - Mackenzie
 * Two daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 8035E.1-2/8036E.1-2: Vanderhoof – Fort St James – Summit Lake - Kennedy - Mackenzie
 * Two daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 8041E.1-2/8042E.1-2: Dawson Creek - Chetwynd - Fort St John
 * Two daily round trips operated by EMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 8043.1-2/8044.1-2: Fort St John – Fort Nelson: 2x daily
 * Two daily round trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.


 * 8101.1-2/8102.1-2: Fort St James – Kluakaz
 * Two daily round trips, second class only with a cafeteria car.


 * 8201.1-2/8202.1-2: Kluakaz – Dease Lake – Cassiar
 * Two daily round trips, second class only with a cafeteria car.

Mixed trains
British Columbia is the last country in North America where regularly scheduled mixed trains still operate; these consist of passenger cars attached to freight trains. Only one of these remaining mixed trains is operated by the BCR - the last such train on the continental mainland.


 * 6201/6202: Williams Lake – Bella Coola
 * One daily round trip except Sunday, second class only with a cafeteria car and baggage service included in the ticket price; large parcels are handled for a surcharge.

Commuter services
BC Rail operates several special services dedicated to commuter traffic; these are single class trains whose fares are integrated into the local transit authority's fare structure.

West Coast Express
West Coast Express is the name of the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority's system of heavy-rail commuter trains first inaugurated in 1991. These are operated under contract to the GVTA over three routes, one operated by BC Rail, one by the Canadian Pacific, and one by the Washington & British Columbia, using dedicated bilevel passenger stock and locomotives painted in the West Coast Express livery; this equipment is owned by the GVTA, but operated by the railway along whose tracks they run. The GVTA specifies the ticket prices, fare collection, advertisements, and everything else not directly related to the maintenance and day-to-day operation of the trains. Locomotive and rolling stock maintenance work takes place at BC Rail's shops in Squamish and Surrey.

The West Coast Express service operated by BC Rail runs between Pacific Central Station and Squamish, with four return trips Monday through Friday (excluding statutory holidays); these travel from Squamish to Vancouver in the morning and return in the evening.

KalExpress
The KalExpress service, introduced in 1993, is operated by BC Rail under contract to Vernon Regional Transit (VRT), a department of the Urban Transit Authority (UTA), itself a department of the Dominion government's Ministry of Transport and Communications. This service is operated with single-class electric multiple-unit trainsets painted in a special KalExpress livery, but owned by BC Rail.

KalExpress trains run between Armstrong and Lumby via Vernon with hourly service from 05:20 to 01:20 Monday through Thursday, 05:20 to 02:20 Friday and Saturday, and 07:20 to 00:20 on Sundays and statutory holidays.

Nanaimo Metro
Nanaimo Metro is the name given to the commuter service operated by BC Rail along the Parksville – Nanaimo – Collishaw Airport route. Although primarily a BC Rail operation, it is integrated fully into the Regional District of Nanaimo Transit System. Trains run half-hourly from 05:20 to 01:50 Monday through Thursday and 05:20 to 02:50 Friday and Saturday. On Sunday and statutory holidays trains run hourly from 06:10 to 08:10, half-hourly from 08:10 to 21:40, and hourly from 21:40 to 00:40.

Victoria Metro
Victoria Metro is the name given to four light rail commuter services operated in Greater Victoria under contract to the Victoria Regional Transit System (VRTS), a department of the UTA, and fully integrated into the Victoria transit system. Lines 1 and 4 are owned and operated by the BC Hydro Railway (Line 4 was rebuilt from part of a former BCR line), whilst Lines 2 and 3 are operated by BC Rail. Line 2 runs over the Victoria Union Station–Happy Valley section of its South Coast Line, and Line 3 runs between Victoria Union and Langford on the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Line. Trains run every twenty minutes from 05:00 to 01:20 Monday through Thursday, 05:00 to 02:40 Friday and Saturday, and hourly from 07:55 to 23:55 on Sundays and statutory holidays.

RailBus
The RailBus moniker is given to a Dominion-wide network of heavy rail transit operated under contract to the Ministry of Transport & Communication, various departments of the Urban Transit Authority, to school districts, or to First Nation governments, as the case may be. Most RailBus services are contracted to BC Rail, but several are operated by the Canadian Pacific, the Washington & British Columbia, the RBCN Railway, and the Kootenay & Arrowhead. All use single-unit diesel railcars except for the Armstrong–Kamloops Airport train, which uses EMU trainsets.

The RailBus services operated by the BCR are as follows:


 * Duncan – Deerholme – Lake Cowichan – Domforco: four return trips on workdays only for Domforco employees only. Operated under contract to Domforco.
 * Cumberland – Royston – Courtenay: daily service, travel time 25 minutes each way; first trip departs Cumberland at 06:10, last trip departs Courtenay at 00:40. On workdays there is extra service: in the morning, the first trip departs Cumberland at 05:40 and last trip departing Courtenay at 10:10; in the afternoon, first trip departs Cumberland at 14:40 and last trip departs Courtenay at 18:10. Operated under contract to the Comox Valley Transit System, a department of the UTA.
 * Klinaklini – Ulh'kacho: school train, operated under contract to School District 27 Cariboo-Chilcotin. Operates on school days, going to Ulh'kacho in the morning and returning to Klinaklini in the afternoon.
 * Alexis Creek – Tsi Del Del: school train, operated under contract to Tŝideldel First Nation. Operates on school days, going to Tsi Del Del in the morning and returning to Alexis Creek in the afternoon.
 * Tatla Lake – Tsi Del Del: school train, operated under contract to Tŝideldel First Nation. Operates on school days, going to Tsi Del Del in the morning and returning to Tatla Lake in the afternoon.
 * Anaham – Williams Lake: school train, operated under contract to School District 27 Cariboo-Chilcotin. Operates on school days, going to Williams Lake in the morning and returning to Anaham in the afternoon.
 * Bella Coola – Stuwic: daily 06:00 to 23:00, departing on the even hour from Bella Coola, and on the odd hour from Stuwic. Operated under contract to Bella Coola Transit, a department of the UTA.
 * Armstrong – Kamloops – Kamloops Airport: daily 05:30 to 00:30, departing on the even hour from Kamloops Airport, and on the odd hour from Armstrong. Operated under contract to Kamloops Transit, a department of the UTA.
 * Fort St James – Tachie: school train, operated under contract to School District 91 Nechako Lakes. Operates on school days, going to Fort St James in the morning and returning to Tachie the afternoon.
 * Nequatque – Lillooet: daily except Christmas Day, departures from Nequatque at 06:30 and from Lillooet at 23:30; travel time is 65 minutes one-way. Stops at Nequatque, McGillivray, Seton Portage, Tsal’álh, and Lillooet. Operated under contract to the Seton Lake Indian Band.
 * Princeton – Copper Mountain: four return trips on workdays only for mine workers. Although this line is owned by the W&BC, the service is operated by the BCR with a BCR diesel car under contract to the Copper Mountain Mine Co.