The $15 million investment in rail on Vancouver Island is a tremendous victory for the folks of the Island Corridor Foundation. They have been waiting for weeks to learn if Ottawa would match the $7.5 million ponied up by Victoria to help keep the trains running between the capital and Courtenay.
Now, the challenge is for the ICF to put the money to its best possible use.
Fifteen million dollars can only go so far — as the rail line has so many problems. There are aging trestles that need work, ties that need replacing and weeds that have threatened to disrupt this mode of transportation for years. Disuse over the years means that the infrastructure declined and the trained slowed down — or stopped, as when VIA Rail removed its passenger train from the Island. Word is they’re being refurbished and will be sent back — with better scheduling, no less.
Let’s hope they have rails to run on when they do.
The ICF plans to use the money to make the rails usable again by upgrading the ballast and ties, study the trestles and bridges along the route for issues and aggressively market the line for freight traffic.
Our guess is this work will uncover more expenses that will have to be covered down the line, but for now, the $15 million will hopefully get the trains running.
It’s now up to the ICF and Southern Rail to make the old Esquimalt and Nanaimo railway work again. The Island needs rail service to add to our transportation and shipping options.
At the very least, this effort is a show of confidence in the Island’s economy.
At best, it’s a recognition, and continuation, of the Island’s history with rail transportation. It pretty well built the east coast of Vancouver Island and its influence is felt to this day.
With this funding, the ICF can plan for better schedules, improved service and infrastructure and hopefully draw some folks back to this mode of travel.
— editorial by Steven Heywood
