Personal admission: I lost my faith in the E&N Railway several years ago.
It wavered for years as the relic Dayliner continued its slide into decrepitude.
And it dissolved almost completely in 2011, when the 125-year-old run was surreptitiously abandoned.
The first notice at the time said it wouldn鈥檛 run on a March weekend and would resume in a few days.
鈥淢aintenance,鈥� was the reason offered publicly. 鈥淏e back by Saturday.鈥�
In the meantime, they provided service in a way that is impossible to satirize. They accepted train reservations from the handful of lost souls who managed to discover the service. Then they put them on a chartered bus for a trip to Courtenay and back. The cost was 48 cents cheaper than if the tourists had just booked a regular bus trip.
It was exactly the same train service as previously. Except it was on a bus. By May, they gave up pretending buses were trains.
By that time, it was clear the reason for the shutdown was a bit more complicated than just 鈥渕aintenance.鈥� It was an engineering study that found the long-neglected line was a disaster waiting to happen.
When it became clear how much work needed to be done, the political argument began on how get started, and where to find the money. That was a long, rocky road that lasted years longer than many expected. And a lot of other people lost faith along the way.
The disenchantment with the Island Corridor Foundation, the entity that owns the line on behalf of 91原创 Islanders, intensified steadily over that time.
Until Wednesday, when the ICF announced what looks to be a breakthrough. The private company that operated the passenger service 鈥� Southern Railway 鈥� has reached a tentative deal with Via, the federal body that subsidizes the service.
Subject to finalizing details, they鈥檙e not only going to restore the service; they鈥檙e going to schedule the service the way it should have been done years ago. The Dayliner will run from Nanaimo to Victoria and back, rather than the ineffective one daily return trip it made for years from Victoria.
It still has to be ratified by the ICF and the two companies involved. And it hinges on spending $21 million for a major upgrade on the Victoria-to-Nanaimo line. About a third of the ties have to be replaced before the Dayliner can proceed at anything above a snail鈥檚 pace.
But if all goes well, the passenger service could be restored nine months after work on the upgrades begins. Southern Railway will cover the marketing, operations, maintenance costs. Via Rail will contribute the train, cover the insurance costs and provide a fixed subsidy. Southern will assume the passenger-revenue risk if costs exceed the subsidy and fare revenues.
B.C. and Canada had already agreed to put up $7.5 million apiece for the upgrade costs. Five other deals with local governments bring in most of the rest of the money for the $21-million project.
ICF representatives acknowledged how tough it was to stay optimistic and keep everyone on side over the past three years as private talks thrashed out financial details. Federal negotiators drove a very tough bargain on behalf of Via. Last summer, it looked as if the ICF itself appeared to be succumbing to frustration. ICF director Graham Bruce accused Via of bad-faith negotiating and 鈥渢reating us like colonials.鈥�
But the parties stayed at the table and finally put a tentative deal together.
鈥淚t was a two-minutes-to-midnight deal,鈥� said one party close to the talks.
The passenger service has been on the brink of death a few times over the years and avoided that fate. This time it was clinically dead for three years but looks to be ready to bounce back to life.
It鈥檚 a $21-million bet on the future of transportation. It will probably take 30 years to see if it pays off. Will a refurbished rail car offering a commuter option to Victoria workers who live up-Island be an instant success?
Hard to say. But it鈥檚 equally hard to write an obituary for the service, when it鈥檚 so hard to kill.
