ICF backing resurrection of B.C. rail line

You have to hand it to the Island Corridor Foundation, which owns the 289-kilometre rail corridor on Vancouver Island, for its ambitious plans to resurrect the ailing rail service, according to a column in The Daily News. Graham Bruce, the executive director of the ICF, a coalition of 13 First Nations and local governments formed in 2005 to revitalize the railway system, said that the foundation has made a formal application to Via Rail, operator of the Dayliner service, to begin a new morning southbound train to Victoria that would leave Nanaimo at 6 a.m.

The proposal also calls
for Via Rail to relocate its main terminus from Victoria to the ICF’s rail yard
in downtown Nanaimo, and for both the provincial and federal governments to
kick in C$7.5 million each to begin the much-needed but expensive
infrastructure upgrades to the aging rail system, estimated to total almost
C$300 million.

It’s a bold and audacious
plan that is just the first step of many as the ICF moves forward to increase
ridership on the passenger train service from the 44,000 people per year that
use it now to 200,000 within 20 years, increase the freight service on the
railway and expand opportunities for railway tourism in one of the most scenic
areas of the country.

But, despite being
supported by politicians of all stripes, it seems the announcement comes at a
bad time for both senior levels of government to consider investing large
amounts of money into the plan. Despite some rosy financial forecasts, the province
and the country are still facing the impacts of a deep recession and, with B.C.
dealing with an almost C$2-billion deficit, Gordon Campbell would only say
that, while he "appreciates" the importance of the project to the
Island’s transportation infrastructure, he wants to see more details before
committing his government to fund C$7.5 million at this time.

As for the feds, James
Lunney, MP for Nanaimo-Alberni, said ICF’s plan is "credible" and he
supports it, but now that the government’s two-year, C$62-billion economic
stimulus action plan is coming to an end, there are few infrastructure dollars
left to hand out.

But, as Bruce so clearly
stated, the $300-million required to completely overhaul the Island’s rail
system would actually be a "bargain" for the governments when
considering the transportation infrastructure costs of the future. He said it
would likely cost up to C$2 billion to upgrade the Island’s highway system to
keep up with decreasing demands, and that "solution" would only see more
vehicles on the roads that would counter growing moves to reduce our carbon
footprint on the planet.

Then there’s the economic
impact if both governments agree to kick in the C$15 million for the upgrades,
the majority of which would be used to replace 104,000 rail ties over a
12-month period. Bruce anticipates the work will generate 164 direct and
indirect jobs with C$7.7 million in wages and salaries for mostly local
workers, and up to C$8 million in materials from local companies.

As well, the switch to a
new terminus at the Nanaimo rail yard is a natural tie-in with the construction
of the Port of Nanaimo’s new C$22-million cruise ship terminal that is under
construction next door, which would see more than 31,000 cruise ship tourists a
year right on the railroad’s doorstep, so the tourism potential is phenomenal.