The Vultures are Circling: The Sad Story of the E&N.

The old E&N Railway is on lie-support, with only a glimmer of hope that the right thing will be done and establish a regional railway, serving Victoria, Courtney and Port Alberni and the many communities that the rail line runs through.

Remember global warming and climate change?

Remember the town of  Lytton being cremated?

Remember the Merrit, Princeton and the Fraser Valley being drowned under flood waters?

Remember all three highways leaving Metro Vancouver closed for weeks due to the roads and highways being washed out?

It seems events of 2021 have been politely forgotten by government.

Jackass Mountain washout

Using established railways is a very cost effective way in providing a transit service that will attract the motorist from the car, but very sadly, last year’s massive forest fires and monsoon rains have been forgotten.

Dark clouds are now on the horizon and the “rails to trails” folks and the cycle lobby are circling the E&N, like vultures to pick clean the carcass, for their own immediate interests.

Both “rails to trails” and the cycle lobby are well versed in the art of misleading people and directing the conversation to their point of view.

“Trains are antique”; or “we don’t want a choo-choo”; or the tried and true “no one will use it”, are the common arguments used in the media, by the anti rail crowd.

The goal of these groups is to use the abandoned right-of-way for cycling, with no thought of using the railway as an alternative to the car.

Politicians love the rails to trails and cycles lobbies because they offer photo-op ready cheap investments and “bicycles are good for the environment, right?”

Using established rail lines greatly cuts the cost of using rail transit as “Greenfields” construction is cost prohibitive in most cases.

Zwei has read a lot about how both the “rails to trails and cycle lobbies manipulate the media to suit their own ends and I am afraid that those advocating for a regional rail solution for the E&N have been suckered by the slick marketing and media techniques used by those who would rather the E&N disappear.

It also seems the NDP government is silently waiting for the demise of the E&N so they can allocate portions of the line to the rails to trails folks, the cycle lobby and first nations for cheap election time photo-ops.

It is time to use it or lose it.

There is a lot more to be said, but suffice to say I am afraid the vultures a circling, with full NDP government approval, ready for the kill.