Little interest in revitalizing rail
I am not sure how the Island Corridor folks think their recent survey shows “big support for rail” since the number of those responding represent less than half of one per cent of those 25 or older living on Vancouver Island and since 20 per cent of those few who did respond to the survey did not support the rail vision of Island Corridor it would appear to me that there is little interest in revitalizing the rail system at this time or in the near future.
There was a reason Via Rail stopped service and why CPR unloaded this asset, while receiving millions in tax credits, and no amount of wishful thinking is going to make any vision Island Corridor has in mind come to fruition without huge public subsidies in getting the rail service up and running and keeping it running.
I would think if those responding to the survey were asked what their priorities were for public spending and were given 10 items to rate, the Island Corridor rail service would be rated at the bottom. Since the public is being asked to donate to the new hospital so they can outfit the hospital with the latest medical equipment I would think the public would want to see public money, their taxes, being used to support our hospital.
Phil Le Good
Cobble Hill
