A commentary by a Victoria resident.
Over the past several months we have seen a lot of discussion about the E&N rail line and its potential uses. We now have a new idea courtesy of View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias.
While it is good everyone is trying to solve the puzzle, perhaps a quick comparison could be helpful.
1. Fort VI trail proposal, $172 million plus the cost of rail removal and remediation (cost unknown).
This proposal puts a trail on the old rail bed that, while nice to have, would accommodate only those physically capable of using it. It will be a recreational trail at best as there are few that could or would use it to commute (it’s a long way from Duncan to the Capital Regional District and even farther from Nanaimo) and will have little to no impact on greenhouse emissions.
It will not allow for the movement of a single pound of freight anywhere on the island. Fort VI has not included the cost of rail removal and remediation of the 289-kilometre rail line stating that the cost will be borne by the Island Corridor Foundation as though that makes it free. So, we don’t really know what the cost of this proposal is, however remediating a 135-year-old rail line is not going to be cheap.
2. Tobias’s light rail transit proposal, $20 million per kilometre.
This would be a true commuting system that could be a fit for the CRD. It will undoubtedly get people out of their cars as transit times should be better on this system than on the roads.
Given that it is battery powered, it will lower greenhouse gas emissions. It will not allow for the handling of freight and its use outside of the CRD is questionable as an inter-city carrier.
It proposes to use an established and well-used active transportation corridor — the Galloping Goose and at $20 million per kilometre the cost to establish the system in the CRD alone would exceed $250 million.
3. The ICF mixed-use proposal, $420 million.
This proposal makes use of the existing E&N corridor and would restore rail service to the entire Island from Victoria to Courtenay and Parksville to Port Alberni.
The proposed service will bring a scaled commuter service to the CRD, inter-city passenger service to the rest of the island, and freight service where required. Like the proposed LRT system, it will get people out of their cars, but it will do it across the entire island, lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
The ICF already has more than 100 kilometres of trails on its right of way and is committed to building more. Perhaps most importantly, it can provide us with the alternatives we need to a single highway system that threatens our supply chains and security.
While Tobias is to be commended for wanting to find a solution to the seemingly never-ending transportation problems in the CRD, there is a reason the CRD, along with countless other organizations, agreed to support rail and asked the province to get to work restoring the rail corridor.
It is clearly the most cost-effective solution that provides benefits for the entire Island.
