Like Mayor Chris Burger, I am “compelled” to write (The NEWS, March 13).
I have always thought he seemed like a relaxed, thoughtful and common-sense person, but he really blew me away with this recent guest column. A politician with foresight and common sense — wow.
Either Burger grew up where trains and tracks were maintained and used properly, or he has traveled to other countries where they function well.
I don’t expect to travel at 200 km/h like we did from Madrid to Saragosa, but I’ll bet there are still enough proficient railwaymen to get our trains and tracks to 80 km/h. From Avignon to Paris was only 100 km/h.
I’ll bet also, for less than the cost of the CEO of BC Ferries, we can actually get someone who understands service and can get people and goods moving quickly and efficiently. This is a very key person.
I would like to hop on the train to travel to either Victoria or Campbell River. What about people who have no car or truck?
You really wanna drive the Malahat, even in good weather?
Of course it will cost to overcome 40 years of neglect. Let’s do no maintenance on Highways 19 and 19A for 40 years and do a comparison.
People will use it if the service and reliability are there. Remember the Canada Line? Even supporters were predicting five years to bring up the ridership and nay sayers were saying “never.” What was it, about two months?
I hear many people wanting to reduce traffic on our roads, but some of them also want to remove the railway and put in a trail. Sorry, I shake my head on that one.
Ed Fergusson
Parksville
