A commentary by a resident of Cobble Hill.
The proponents of spending up to $500 million on rail service on the E&N corridor provide more fiction than “facts”.
The latest pretense is that a rail freight component will remove 25,000 trucks from the Island highway. This doesn’t make sense if you actually note what commodities these trucks are carrying and where they are headed to.
How will rail carry the numerous loads of dirt and gravel trucks carry or how will rail carry truckloads of consumer goods to the doors of supermarkets and small businesses.
The type of goods trucks are carrying cannot be replaced by rail in a timely and cost effective way.
We have almost no bulk goods or container freight on the Island, which rail would be able to move in a cost effective way.
Some mention hauling chips from a few sawmills to the two remaining pulp mills on the island; however there are no rail lines going to these sawmills or to the pulp mills.
So you still need trucks and the additional handling which makes it not feasible. Let’s stop pulling the wool over the public’s eyes and get serious about the costs and priorities.
Next we hear that the rail system needs to be electrified. In this case the proponents fail to say what this will cost.
It was estimated to cost $276 million to electrify 48 kilometres of the Goolong Line in Australia, or almost $6 million a kilometre.
The Island Rail Corridor is 225 kilometres long, do the math! Even from Nanaimo to Victoria, 106 kilometres, the cost would be $636 million.
It’s time to get serious about moving people and the most immediate and cost effective way is to have dedicated bus lanes and park and rides during the peak hours.
You would carry far more people for a fraction of the cost. Electric buses are in service in Europe, China and in some areas of Canada.
A bi-articulated bus carries the same as one passenger rail car, but you can run buses at 10 minute intervals during the two-hour peak period.
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