One of the more charming aspects of life on Vancouver Island is the endless discussion on the state of its railways. The issue is almost poetic in its application but would, I think, benefit from a firm push on the reset button.
In particular, it would be useful to consider that each component of the Island now covered by the remnants of the E&N track actually has different needs. The effort involved in trying to upgrade the entire corridor at once will, most likely, provide only a violent attack of financial indigestion and that would only be from the capital costs. If it were possible to take a close look at the project and concentrate, in the near term, on those aspects that would produce revenue, the rest might fall into line a little easier.
The Victoria area, from Goldstream to downtown, offers potential for a rapid transit corridor that could be initiated comparatively rapidly. The right of way exists for it to be double-tracked where necessary and good examples of this sort of application exist in both Portland, Ore. and San Diego, Calif. The route would provide service for the western communities, CFB Esquimalt and downtown. An immediate advantage would come from easing the pressure on the Trans Canada Highway so those of us trying to reach Victoria could actually achieve it. Potential for expansion exists for service to the university and, eventually, the Saanich Peninsula and the Swartz Bay ferry terminal.
An interurban route from Nanaimo to Victoria has some potential but, initially, could most likely only support two trains a day in both directions. As is the case with the West Coast Express in the lower mainland, passenger cars cannot be recirculated within the time frame of the morning rush hour and will need to be parked until required for the evening traffic. Until the demand grows, the up-Island corridor could handle light freight such as mail, courier packages, items for retail distribution and some agricultural products. This would be additional revenue traffic generated to support the system at times when the line is not in use for passengers.
Once a decision was made to regenerate the old line, additional projects could be factored in over, for example, the next five years. These might include a short excursion service from Duncan to Chemainus, extendable to both Shawnigan Lake and Ladysmith; a commuter corridor between Ladysmith and Parksville; tourist excursion trains from Victoria to Nanaimo and, finally, heavy and container freight services extending up to Campbell River.
One cautionary note is that all of the rolling stock available in the world for this purpose is electrically powered and this would involve additional construction costs. A project, however, that was assessed on its revenues and went through a development process designed to achieve them would certainly give us all the opportunity to talk about something else in the near future.
John Appleby
Duncan
