News About the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway

PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE EXPANSION PROPOSED

Oct 26, 2010
THE ISLAND CORRIDOR FOUNDATION HAS UNVEILED THE FIRST STAGE OF ITS PROPOSAL TO EXPAND PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE ON VANCOUVER ISLAND.Ai??

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GRAHAM BRUCE MADE THE ANNOUNCEMENT TODAY…Ai??

“We’ve made formal application to VIA Rail to move the terminus from Victoria to Nanaimo and initiate an early morning southbound rail service from Nanaimo to Victoria. This would tie in to the daily service that then runs from Victoria to Courtenay, and provides a more friendly service for people on the rail, moving to the southern sector of Victoria”Ai??

BRUCE SAYS IT’LL BE 12 TO 18 MONTHS BEFORE THE SERVICE ENHANCEMENT COULD BE ACHIEVED. IT DEPENDS, IN PART, ON A 15 MILLION DOLLAR UPGRADE OF THE RAIL TRACK, WHICH THE I-C-F IS ASKING THE FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS TO FUND.Ai??

BRUCE WAS SPEAKING WITH DAVE DICKSON ON C-FAX1070 THIS AFTERNOON.

A comment by Zweisystem
$15 million is chump change for a transit project these days and I hope that Federal and provincial politicians look “three minutes into the future” and fund this worthwhile investment.
Zweisystem believes that twoAi??Ai??TramTrain services on the E&NAi??Ai??are both feasible and practical.
TramTrain option 1.
Shawnigan Lake to Victoria, with a 3 to 4 kilometer streetcarAi??Ai??loop in Victoria for the use of both TramTrain and heritage trams.
TramTrain option 2.
Duncan to Nanaimo Harbour, with limited on-street (streetcar) operation to the BC Ferry Depot.
The cost to provide an hourly schedule for both options would be well under $250 million or about 1 km. of a Broadway/UBC subway.

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