The province is giving another year for 91原创 Island communities to take advantage of provincial money to plan what they want to do with the Island’s railway corridor.
The Ministry of Transportation and Transit told the Times 91原创 it is continuing the $18-million grant meant for First Nations and regional districts to plan for the future of the E&N railway corridor to the end of this year, which was supposed to expire on Dec. 31, 2024.
The Island Rail Corridor runs from Victoria to Courtenay and inland from Parksville to Port Alberni.
The rail corridor’s history on 91原创 Island dates to 1884, when the Crown granted the right-of-way to the E&N Railway Company as part of negotiations to help bring the colony of British Columbia into the confederation of Canada.
Trains began running from Esquimalt to Nanaimo in 1886 but passenger train service was halted in 2011 due to deteriorating tracks caused by a lack of maintenance.
About 80 per cent of the Island’s population continues to live within 10 kilometres of the tracks, according to a 2011 report commissioned by the province. A small section of the tracks continues to be used near Wellcox Yard in Nanaimo for barged goods.
Since the 2000s, much of the corridor has been owned by the Island Corridor Foundation, which consists of five regional districts and 14 First Nations.
As the rail line continues to lie fallow, new ideas on how to use the corridor have emerged.
About 65 kilometres of trail has been built along the rail corridor. Some of the most recent additions, built in 2024, can be found in the Cowichan Valley between Shawnigan Wharf Park and Old Mill Park.
Last year, about 10 acres of the corridor was returned to the Snaw-Naw-As (Nanoose) First Nation, whose reserve lands had been bisected by the railway for more than a century.
The track on those lands have been removed by the nation. The nation has launched legal action against the Island Corridor Foundation and the federal government to force a clean-up or to compensate the nation for its ongoing work.
Judith Sayers, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council which represents 14 First Nations, remains a strong proponent of reviving Island rail.
But in 2023, most of the First Nation members sitting on the board of the Island Corridor Foundation quit after a motion calling on the organization to oppose reviving rail service failed.
The Ministry of Transportation said in a statement Saturday that no decision has been made about the corridor’s future.
Some communities, such as the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District and the Cowichan Valley Regional District, have been hosting public engagement sessions to help inform their planning processes, the ministry said.
Asked about how much money was spent and which communities have applied for the funding, a ministry spokesperson said on Saturday that more information should be available next week.
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