Stanley Park Ghost Train cancelled for fourth straight year
Posted Oct 4, 2023, 10:38AM PDT.
Last Updated Oct 4, 2023, 10:39AM PDT.
A fall fixture in Vancouver will be out of commission for a fourth consecutive year.
The city’s Board of Parks and Recreation has announced the Stanley Park Ghost Train will not operate again this Halloween season as “restoration work continues to ensure its safe and optimal performance.”
In a news release Wednesday, the board says there has been “steadfast commitment” to get the train running again after four years of it being sidelined.
It says some of the vintage train equipment is more than 60 years old and requires specialized parts that are hard to procure.
The board notes that “all necessary parts” have been acquired and repairs are expected to be completed by November. The agency, however, did not say if the train would be ready by the holiday season, saying more details will be shared “in the coming weeks.”
The Halloween train was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then again in 2021 due to the threat of coyotes in the park. The same mechanical issues caused its cancellation in 2022.
People hoping to attend the Ghost Train are being encouraged by the city to attend VanDusen Garden’s Harvest Days in October.
Let’s set aside the very real issue of liability.
In a bureaucacy gone crazy with fear of liability, rail transport of any description has become impossible.
Maybe we need to put this question to the test.
On one hand, we’re completely accepting of the notion that we can build our way our way out of a housing catastrophe in which the “solution” is concrete towers. That is, where 1 tonne of installed concrete = 1.25 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Seriously, WTF?
So a train is going to be a problem?
The automotive industry would have you believe so. Strangely, so would the cycling lobby.
If we are serious about becoming more “greem,” then we have to start taking steps that really are more environmental. The Stanley Park train can be seen as a lesson.
Unlike all the other “austerity” measures, if you REALLY want to be ‘green,’ you CAN have nice things, and you can use those venues to teach the next generation–instead of leaving the environmental bill to them.
Zwei replies: It is not like this is a rare thing. There are at least two Chance Rides operations in the lower mainland and I believe two more on the island. In the USA there are well over 500 miniature railways in operation. What I see is a deliberate attempt to abandon the railway due to lack of any preventative maintenance.
In the UK there are over 50 miniature railways that offer public rides, all kept in good order and inspected annually. There are many more miniature railways that do not offer public rides and thus not included.
In Europe, there are many more.
We find the excuses made by your Parks Board do not hold water and left to the conclusion that the Parks Board wanted the railway to be gone!