Rapido
Encyclopedia
Rapido was the name of the Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

's express passenger train service on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. The service was introduced on October 31, 1965, on the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

-Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 route. In 1966, service was extended to the Montreal-Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 route and later, to other city pairs, including Toronto-Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...

/Sarnia
Sarnia, Ontario
Sarnia is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada . It is the largest city on Lake Huron and is located where the upper Great Lakes empty into the St. Clair River....

 and Toronto-Ottawa.

In the 1980s, in addition to being branded as Rapido, each express train was also given a name related to the route's particular geographical or historical context. Some names included Frontenac (after the Château Frontenac
Château Frontenac
The Château Frontenac, currently known as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, is a grand hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980...

 in Quebec City), Rideau (after the Rideau Canal
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...

 in Ottawa) and Ville-Marie (the original name of Montreal).

The brand was used on advertising material and timetables until the 1990s, surviving for many years the reorganization of the train schedules under the new Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....

 brand. Today, Via Rail no longer uses the Rapido brand and route maps simply refer to this section as the Corridor
Corridor (VIA)
The Corridor is a Via Rail passenger train service area in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario.Corridor is used by Via to refer to all Via inter-city passenger trains which start and end within the geographic region known as the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor...

. Additionally, the dedicated train names were dropped and trains are currently identified by number only, contrary to the rest of the route system.
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