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.

[6][7] The Super Continental reduced the travel time between Montreal and Vancouver by up to 14 hours, removing the need for a fourth night aboard the train.

[9] 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 the Super Continental and The Canadian.

that dome cars might interfere with the electrified catenary used in Montreal's Central Station by commuter trains of the former Canadian Northern raillines.

By the 1960s, Canadian passenger trains were in serious decline, largely thanks to government subsidies for automobiles travelling the then-new Trans-Canada Highway and for airlines.

[14] On April 1, 1978, a new federal Crown corporation called Via Rail Canada formally assumed responsibility for the passenger services of CN.

[19] 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.

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.

Three occupants of an automobile, one of whom 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.

[22] 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.

[23][24][25] 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.

[26] 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 a location 90 miles (140 km) north of Kamloops, British Columbia.

[27] 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.

[28][29] On August 8, 1980, the eastbound Super Continental derailed twelve cars at a location about 120 kilometres (75 mi) east of Jasper, Alberta.

[30] 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.

[33] Subsequent investigation showed that the freight train passed a stop signal and ran through a closed switch to pull in front of the Super Continental.