Kevin Sinclair
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In 2011, I was planning a holiday to Canada. My intention was to travel cross-country by train before exploring 91原创 Island. However, due to poor track conditions, the train service on the Island was suspended, and I decided to put off the holiday until the railway reopened.
Since then, I have followed with considerable interest the efforts of local people to reopen their railway. The Young Professionals have done excellent work in leading efforts to rebuild the Nanaimo station, while the Island Corridor Foundation has developed feasible service plans for enhanced passenger and freight services on the line, and gathered support for investment in the rehabilitation of the line, not to mention maintaining an important freight service throughout this time.
It seems that the E&N line has tremendous potential. I live alongside a railway that could be considered similar to the E&N. The Far North Line in the Highlands of Scotland is slightly longer at 260 kilometres (plus a 10-kilometre branch), compared to the 233-kilometre E&N. It is one of the most rural lines in the United Kingdom and has been threatened by closure many times, the most recent in 1989 when the large viaduct in Inverness was swept away in floods.
Since then, through the efforts of local supporters, passenger services have been greatly expanded, with four trains per day each way, in addition to a new commuter rail service, and are now well-used.
If our line, with a tiny population, can succeed, surely the E&N can thrive. We have only two towns of 10,000 population each at the end of the line, and a few small towns along the way, compared to the much larger cities of Nanaimo and Courtenay. Like your railway, ours serves a population that is rural, and car ownership and use is high.
Yet the railway fulfils a useful transportation option, with many people choosing to use it, not to mention bringing in many tourists who contribute to the economy. Compared to our railway, yours also has the potential to move a lot of freight. The investment in the E&N will not only allow an enhanced passenger service but also the development of freight opportunities. Without it, the line will likely close and both passenger and freight services will be lost.
I sincerely hope that you are able to save your railway and look forward to visiting one day when that happens. It has been proven so many times that when a service such as this is given the opportunity, it can thrive.
The E&N has potential for more freight, local passenger service and tourism. The alternative is to lose the line, with no opportunity for its return. I hope that local people are able to write to the prime minister and Via Rail and save the railway.
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Kevin Sinclair lives in Cromarty, Ross-Shire, Scotland.
