In perpetuity-the CNR and the CPR were obligated to provide services for Canadians forever.

That includes both passenger and freight transportation.
House of Commons Debates Ottawa December 2, 1969.
Mr. Howard Edward Winch - -New Democratic Party.
Mr. Winch (Vancouver East),
     "... I have at hand the details of what is now the section of the CPR on Vancouver Island, known as the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway. In order to get that railway from Esquimalt to Nanaimo, the government of British Columbia and the government of Canada turned over for nothing, not only hundreds of thousands of dollars---$750,000 to be exact---but also 1,600,000 acres of the finest land of Vancouver Island; and not only land. Let me read from the contract what the railway was given when it was granted these 1,600,000 acres. It was granted with the land "all resources on, thereon and thereunder."...Why, sir, were those things given? For what purpose were they given?
They were given so that in return we might have a transcontinental railway to carry freight and passengers in perpetuity. (emphasis mine.) I said in perpetuity. I say that any move by the CNR or the CPR to renege on the promise of maintaining a national transportation system means they are breaking their contract with the subsequent governments of Canada and the people of Canada."
House of Commons Debates Ottawa  November 18, 1977.
Suggestion to Crown on reversion of railway rights-of-way.
Mrs. Simma Holt (Vancouver-Kingsway). Liberal.
Mrs. Holt:
     "The CPR was to provide passenger service to this country in perpetuity."

House of Commons Debates  Ottawa   November 21, 1981.
Mr. Gordon Edward Taylor (Deputy Whip of the Progressive Conservative Party).PC.
Mr. Taylor (Bow River).
     "On October 23, 1981 the western wing of the Transport Commission ordered that the CNR and CPR, and I quote, "shall abandon the branch line from Rosedale to East Coulee" (8.8 miles.)Under what authority was this made?"...
     "Madame Speaker, there are millions of tons of coal in the East Coulee area and Allied Chemicals Canada has a plant on the route. I would like to point out to the Minister that in 1929 an act was passed by the Parliament of Canada under which Parliament confirmed an agreement between the CPR and the CNR, dated June, 1929, to operate this line "in perpetuity." This statute has never been repealed, it is still on the law books...Will the Minister review this situation and have the said order rescinded, because it is completely contrary to the statute on the law books of Canada."
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House of Commons Debates  Ottawa   March 25, 1982.
Mr. Gordon Edward Taylor Progressive Conservative.
Mr. Taylor:
     "The CPR entered into the Crow's Nest Pass Agreement with the federal government in 1897. As part of the agreement, the CPR agreed to maintain the Crow rate in perpetuity. Does that not mean forever? It did not just mean until 1982. The CPR received $3.6 million plus a number of other benefits in return for its promise to build a line into the rich coalfields of British Columbia.:

The Dominion Coalblocks near Fernie, BC. The 20,234.2800 ha. property is still Crown-owned (by the people of Canada) as of 2017. However, there were attempts to sell it off in 2013 and a few years ago. Natural Resources Canada "divested" the  Booth Street buildings and land in Ottawa; and they are debating the future of the Dominion Observatory campus across the street.