Posted by John Buker on April 6, 2013 · Leave a Comment
The Friends of Rail For the Valley Society has come out with some nice brochures ahead of the provincial election! Much credit goes to Robbin Yager for designing these brochures.
RFV1F - This is a one-fold brochure, 11×17 inches, B&W
RFV1Fcmyk - This is the same one-fold brochure, 11×17 inches, COLOUR (quantities limited)
RFV2F - VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO SUPPORT LIGHT RAIL, a special pre-election brochure. 2-fold, 8.5×11 inches, B&W
RFVflysheet1 - Facts vs Myths, and some specific arguments for Light Rail
We have printed out a bunch of these. If you would like some to distribute, please let us know: society@railforthevalley.com.
We can get them to you if you can get them out there!
If you want to further support our efforts, please donate by clicking here.
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Posted by John Buker on March 18, 2013 · 1 Comment
MEETING THIS WEDNESDAY
This is a pre-election call-out. We’re going to do a big push to get light rail back on the agenda for this election. Join us! Regardless of whether or not you can make it to the meeting this Wednesday in Chilliwack, please email us if you want to help: railforthevalley@gmail.com
RAIL FOR THE VALLEY NEEDS YOUR HELP
Light Rail is our future Now!
Rail for the Valley is having a planning meeting to make Valley Passenger Rail an issue in the next provincial election and
we need your help.
We have lots of work to do! We want to hear your ideas too. Abbotsford volunteers especially wanted!!
Help with tasks such as:
**Volunteer Coordinator**
- hand out brochures
- help with our displays
- posters
- letter writing
- telephoning
- help with all candidate meetings in various communities up and down the valley
- we badly need to develop a Facebook page
- we need a web master
- and more…
MEETING NEXT WEDNESDAY AT 7PM MARCH 20TH
Chilliwack – 8533 Broadway Street
In the Club House – centre of parking area
For information contact Juanita
rednats2@gmail.com 604-792-0839
*******************
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Posted by John Buker on March 8, 2013 · Leave a Comment
To all supporters of Rail for the Valley,
The election is just around the corner! Our Society has been hard at work on some ideas for the provincial election. If you want to get involved and put regional rail service for the Fraser Valley on the map this coming election, please attend this upcoming workshop:
To all friends of Rail for the Valley:
It was agreed at our Friends of Rail for the Valley board meeting on February 20, 2013 that Graham Dalton would arrange for a workshop to help us all become more effective before the BC Election campaign in promoting a light railway from Surrey to Chilliwack. Graham has spoken to Sheila Muxlow and she agreed to do a workshop for us. This will be a seminar for the Rail for the Valley Election campaign. All will be welcome. Sheila is currently Campaign Director for the Water Wealth Project.
Date: Saturday, March 16
Time: 9:00am to 12:00
Address: 45668 Storey Avenue, Chilliwack
This is Sheila’s office. (behind 7-11 on Vedder Rd)
Phone: 604-858-8021 (Sheila’s office)
Topics:
Goals
Tactics
Timetables
Fundraising
Volunteer Recruitment
Power Mapping
Media Strategy
Before the upcoming Provincial Election,
Rail for the Valley wants to reach all the candidates and the voters.
We need everyone’s input. Come, learn and help.
Graham Dalton, Treasurer 604-316-6774 ghdalton@smartt.com
Myrtle Macdonald, Membership Secretary 604-795-6390 schmac@shaw.ca
John Vissers, President 604-308-0520 johnvissers@gmail.com
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Posted by John Buker on July 18, 2012 · Leave a Comment
What’s not to love about riding the rails?
BY JON FERRY, THE PROVINCE JULY 6, 2012
Photograph by: Graphics , The Province
I have few grand passions in my life, but train travel is one of them. A train journey can be frustrating (I once spent an entire day stranded on a train in Africa). But it’s invariably interesting and often an absolute delight.
Indeed, I don’t understand why improving rail travel in this eco-aware, tourist-dependent part of the world has to be such a slow, laborious grind.
I mean, running regular trains between Vancouver and Seattle, and between Vancouver and Squamish — and even down alongside Highway 1 from Chilliwack — should be a no-brainer.
Just ask any West Coast Express regular how stress-free train travel can be.
I especially don’t understand why, despite all the high-level talk about “high speed” rail, it still can take nearly 12 hours to go from Vancouver to Eugene, Ore., by train.
I mean we’re not talking about how to find the Higgs boson subatomic particle here.
“The problem we’ve had is that most train discussion is focused around goods movement, which is very important. It hasn’t focused enough on the passenger rail aspects,” said Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs, himself a staunch rail booster.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts agreed passenger rail in our region is under-utilized.
“There are opportunities,” she told me Thursday. “I mean, if you look at the old inter-urban line, there’s pieces of it that make sense that could be used.”
There has been some progress, though. After years of talks between Canadian and U.S. governments, you can at least go by train from Vancouver to Seattle and back in a day. And the plan is for there to be four round trips by 2023.
What’s needed now is for Lower Mainland rail enthusiasts to get behind the current campaign — now supported by Surrey and White Rock councillors and the Surrey Board of Trade — to reopen the 100-year-old train station in Blaine, Wash.
This would mean Fraser Valley residents who wanted to take the Amtrak Cascades train to Seattle wouldn’t have to drive all the way to downtown Vancouver to board it. They’d simply cross the border near where they live and park their vehicles at the Blaine station.
“It would serve a catchment area of more than 750,000 people,” noted Bruce Agnew, director of Seattle’s Cascadia Centre, a passenger-rail advocacy group.
Indeed, Agnew told me Thursday that taking flights from Bellingham is now so popular with Lower Mainland residents that Washington state transportation authorities might be persuaded to put in a station there, too.
The only problem is the more stops the train made, the slower the overall Vancouver-to-Seattle journey might become.
And Agnew and others would like to see the time for the trip come down from more than 3½ hours to make it competitive with other travel modes.
With train travel, of course, speed is not everything. As author David Baldacci wrote: “It’s my experience that most folk who ride trains could care less where they’re going. For them, it’s the journey itself and the people they meet along the way.”
Myself, I do like to get where I’m going, and fast. But I also like time for reading, chatting, scenery-viewing and people-watching.
Rail travel is the full meal deal.
jferry@theprovince.com
© Copyright (c) The Province
via What’s not to love about riding the rails?.
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Posted by John Buker on July 3, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Click on the link to see the CBC video.
Surrey pitches light rail transit line
CBC News Posted: Jul 2, 2012 12:37 PM PT Last Updated: Jul 2, 2012 1:49 PM PT
The City of Surrey’s rapid transit plan
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
The City of Surrey is eyeing light rail transit when it comes to expanding south of the Fraser.
Over the weekend, officials showcased their proposal to bring an LRT line to the area.
“We commit $164 million a year to TransLink, so it’s important those dollars flow south of the Fraser now,” said Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts.
Surrey wants to build three lines that connect to Surrey Central Station — one would travel down to Newton City Centre, the second would link to Langley along the Fraser Highway and the third train would go towards Guildford along 104th Avenue.
“Well, TransLink has identified a skytrain from [Surrey] City Centre to Langley at a cost of about $2.2 billion,” Watts said.
“What we are saying is, if that’s what you are going to spend, give us the money and we’ll put all three lines in.”
Before a Surrey LRT line can become a reality, the city would need the province and TransLink to commit to the plan.
via Surrey pitches light rail transit line – British Columbia – CBC News.
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Posted by John Buker on April 11, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Hi everyone,
The Friends of Rail For the Valley Society will be holding our Annual General Meeting this April 15.
Where: University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford Campus, Room B121
When: Sunday April 15, 2:00pm
All are welcome to attend the AGM. Membership in our Society costs just $10 per year.
At the meeting, elections will be held for a new Society President, along with various other positions. This year, I have decided that I must take on only a very limited set of Rail For the Valley related tasks, so it is of the utmost importance that we organize ourselves accordingly, and also gain new blood for this important movement !
At the AGM, we will hear updates on progress from across the Fraser Valley, including the status of the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society’s project, to get Interurbans back on the tracks in Surrey and Cloverdale!
Time permitting, Shaw TV’s Interurban documentary will be shown, at the end.
I plan to attend. I hope you do too.
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Posted by John Buker on March 16, 2012 · 1 Comment
Mark your calendars,
Announcing…
Annual General Meeting of
Friends of Rail For the Valley, inc
Sunday April 15, 2PM
University of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford
Room B 121
Details are To Be Announced. We hope to have a guest speaker and/or a video presentation.
You can help speed up the coming of light rail
Share your ideas. Get involved!
(membership fee of $10)
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Posted by John Buker on November 18, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Municipal elections are upon us, this Saturday Nov. 19. You can vote from 8:00AM to 8:00PM.
We must have strong local representation to get passenger rail moved forward. Local elections are often all about voter turnout, which, some elections, is only 20-25%. The good news on that is, your own vote makes more of an impact. So VOTE. And tell everyone you know to do to do the same.
You can check your local government website for voting locations.
How I see it:
CHILLIWACK - The 4 incumbent councillors have not expressed enough interest in passenger rail to move us forward in Chilliwack the last 3 years. Chilliwack is the only South of Fraser municipality without representation on the Community Rail Task Force. This has to change. The best newcomer we can elect to move us forward: Dick Harrington. Mitchell Nosko is also a solid choice for Rail.
ABBOTSFORD - Henry Braun is an excellent candidate, a former freight rail executive who knows all the ins and outs of the railway business, and who is strongly supportive of an Interurban service and Rail for the Valley. Other council candidates who have spoken positively about passenger rail: Patricia Ross (Incumbent), Bill MacGregor (Incumbent), Aird Flavelle, Doris Woodman-McMillan. As for mayor, George Peary has so far been quite disappointing in not understanding the urgency of the issue, and has used discredited arguments against the Interurban corridor. The young Travis Daleman from UFV has spoken strongly about rapid rail, although at 18 years old some might say he is a little young for the mayor’s chair. Other choices are Bruce Banman and Gerda Peachey.
-For a non-incumbent who is not part of a group, Sonya Paterson has shown tremendous dedication to the issue of passenger rail in the past years. I can say with certainty she would be a strong independent voice on council.
LANGLEY CITY - Dave Hall and Rudy Storteboom are both very outspoken supporters of Light Rail, for Langley and the Fraser Valley.
SURREY - Both
Surrey First and
Surrey Civic Coalition have made Light Rail a priority issue, with Mayor Watts progressing toward starting up a heritage service on the Interurban. Surrey Civic Coalition advocates favour using the Interurban corridor for passenger rail, potentially all the way to Chilliwack, in addition to other routes.
Stephanie Ryan (SCC) is a consistently strong supporter of Rail for the Valley and a strong choice for a new voice on council.
Please forward this along, to your friends and family,
and please vote. Let’s get some candidates elected!
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Posted by John Buker on November 10, 2011 · 2 Comments
Media Release: Rail For the Valley gives Top Honours to Rick Green
Rail For the Valley has singled out Langley Township Mayor Rick Green for Top Honours when it comes to advocating timely, sustainable transportation options. Among South of Fraser politicians his efforts have been outstanding in ensuring that people understand that there are affordable and practical solutions available to our transit problems.
Rail For the Valley founder Dr. John Buker had this to say: “Of all South of Fraser politicians, Rick Green’s achievements with respect to Rail for the Valley, and his advocacy of sustainable and timely transportation options, stand out. Mayor Green deserves unique recognition from us, for his work so far.”
Rick Green’s three major Rail for the Valley accomplishments during his first term as Mayor of Langley Township:
1) Renewing passenger rights on the Interurban corridor. These rights would have quietly expired 2years ago, giving CP Rail a huge financial windfall, without the public even knowing, had Mayor Green not intervened. If the public had lost these rights, any hope of implementing a future Interurban service at an affordable cost to the taxpayer would have disappeared forever.
2) Creating the South of Fraser Community Rail Task Force. Thanks to this Task Force, communities, educational institutions, and other supportive organizations throughout the Fraser Valley are now actively communicating and working together on the regional rail issue.
3) Consistently advocating for timely and cost effective transportation alternatives to Translink. Not only has Mayor Green been vocal about the possibilities for Light Rail in public, he has shown a willingness to ‘stand up and be counted’ on this issue, even when encountering strong resistance from Translink and the provincial ‘Powers that Be’.
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Posted by John Buker on November 8, 2011 · Leave a Comment
As most of you are aware, there is only one candidate running for Mayor – our current mayor Sharon Gaetz.
As for council, it's another story. There are many candidates, with varying views on Rail For the Valley
Here is a link to an illuminating Chilliwack Progress questionnaire:
The three best answers with regard to passenger rail came from:
Dick Harrington
Mitchell Nosco
Roger Myers
Mark these names down for future reference, and pass this on to your family and friends!
Dick Harrington – "…I am in favour of looking seriously at a "light-rail" transit system between Chilliwack and the greater Vancouver area- perhaps to the Surrey Interurban terminal. There is a committee made up of local politicos from most communities south of the Fraser River. However, it saddens me that the city council of Chilliwack does not have representation on this committee. This is a must. How can you really know what is going on when you don't have representation? It may be true that the cost of repairing and upgrading the old light-rail lines may be prohibitive; but, let's get involved and find out for ourselves."
Mitchell Nosko – "…We will need to come together to create an innovative plan for a transit system that makes sense. In the interim, I think we can take a look at some of the inefficient routes and make changes to reduce costs. I believe there is an immediate requirement for an intra-regional express bus service connecting Chilliwack with Abbotsford and Mission where connections to the West Coast Express can be made. Ultimately, I believe that a rapid rail system should be the long term goal for the Fraser Valley."
Roger Myers – "…Using existing rail lines and utilizing a light rapid transit system on a pre-existing rail line seems to be the way to go. At a time when many highways are being ‘upgraded’ to accommodate traffic estimations for the next 20 years, placing tolls on what was once free passage into Vancouver, the idea becomes more clear. A light rapid transit into Vancouver would make economic sense. Too bad millions of taxpayers dollars have already been spent on Highway ‘improvements’. These monies could have been used to implement the LRT system at the same cost with upgrades to the existing infrastructure. At a time when pollution is at an all time high, and gas prices soaring, the time is now for a system that makes sense and gives us a green alternative to our all ready congested highways."
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