Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CPR)

Privately owned company that operates one of Canada's two transcontinental railroad systems. The company was created in 1881 to complete a railroad from Montreal to Port Moody in British Columbia. Its passenger services were taken over by VIA Rail Canada in 1978. After its former parent company, Canadian Pacific Ltd., reorganized in 2001, CPR became a publicly owned operator of freight rail lines across Canada and in parts of the U.S.