Single track not good for commuter rail
It seems ludicrous to proceed with the six-station railway from Victoria to West Hills based on a single track and three trains going each way depending on time of day.
Ridership would not come within any reasonable distance of providing operating costs and ongoing maintenance needs.
In planning for the future the only reasonable plan is to develop a dual track system now, although costs are relatively high they will only increase in the future.
If the goal is to reduce commuter traffic on the roads then dual track is the only answer.
Reconstructing the single track in a waste of money and only satisfies rail buffs.
Chris Sheldon
Saanich
E&N traffic goals are just a fantasy
The freight and passengers numbers hoped for in the report on the E&N Railway have never been reached 鈥� ever 鈥� or certainly not in recent memory.
The last time the line was running, it was one single passenger car going north in the morning and back in the afternoon. One car, not full. No freight.
I can only hope that clearer heads prevail and the taxpayer is not asked to spend $1 billion or $2 billion or more on bringing this financial boondoggle back to life.
A more useful use of this track or right-of-way would be to turn it all into a linear park, as has been done around the continent with old disused tracks.
This brings far more users per day to the track, in the form of walkers, cyclists and even cycle commuters, like on the Galloping Goose 鈥� for a far lower cost.
This just happened in the Okanagan between Vernon and Kelowna.
Now, more than ever, we can ill-afford white elephant projects.
Richard Harley
Victoria
Turn rail corridor into聽bike path
Re: 鈥� 鈥楥adillac鈥� commuter rail isn鈥檛 needed, said lead advocate,鈥� April 30.
Anyone looking at sections of the E&N rail corridor can see that it has been allowed to badly deteriorate since rail service stopped.
Rather than throw away public funds in the hope that we will rush to board a restored commuter service, why not rip out the rusted track and convert the line to an extension of the Galloping Goose cycle path 鈥� all the way to Port Alberni. Otherwise this real estate will really revert to real estate.
In parts of Europe, old rail lines converted to cycle paths have proved popular for tourists.
In Sweden, I saw young families making weekend bicycle trips to tourist lodges, when they would never dare to take their kids on regular roadways.
The rail corridor has a pleasant grade for cycling, and a thin layer of asphalt would survive the weight of cyclists for many years before it would require resurfacing.
Bridges might require more maintenance, but complex road crossings would require nothing more than a stop sign.
Albert Macfarlane
Port McNeill
We don鈥檛 really know about Cuba
Re: 鈥淐uba setting standard for virus response,鈥� letter, May 1.
Actually, we don鈥檛 know the death rate in Cuba. We only know what the Cuban government reports. Those are two different things.
One thing everyone should have learned from history is that governments that are dictatorships aren鈥檛 always forthcoming with the facts, especially not upfront. Never take a dictatorship鈥檚 word at face value uncritically.
China鈥檚 reported number of deaths don鈥檛 square with the data that there are suddenly 20 million fewer cellphone users in that country. Did they die of COVID-19? We might never know.
Further to the point of taking a dictatorship鈥檚 word for Gospel, the letter-writer is under the mistaken belief that the United States is literally blockading Cuba. There鈥檚 been no blockade since the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Either the person is saying 鈥渂lockade鈥� when they mean 鈥渆mbargo鈥� which is a different thing entirely, or they believe that the U.S. literally has military vessels parked off of Cuba to prevent trade coming in.
There is no blockade. To state the contrary is propaganda and fake news. Almost every other country including Canada trades with Cuba, and then-U.S. President Barack Obama eased sanctions against Cuba in 2016.
April J. Gibson
Duncan
Canada followed the science in response
Re: 鈥淰irus fallout will have lasting implications,鈥� comment, April 26.
Lawrie McFarlane castigates 91原创s for being 鈥渕eek people,鈥� who, in the face of a pandemic, were 鈥渃oached鈥� by the government to stay home.
As if watching death rates soar in Italy and New York wasn鈥檛 enough to spur self-isolation.
Seems like McFarlane wanted 91原创s to follow the lead of America鈥檚 self-proclaimed 鈥渧ery stable genius,鈥� Donald Trump, who responded to the virus with calls for聽bleach and getting back to business.
We鈥檙e fortunate that 91原创 leaders responded to COVID-19 by following the science. It鈥檚 the kind of government leadership we will need when attention is returned to the slow-motion pandemic that is climate change.
For there the science is clear as well.
The public-health threats of extreme-weather events and the spectre of runaway climate change means that governments must make rapid and unprecedented transitions to curb carbon emissions.
Alas, so far, most of Canada鈥檚 political leaders have been more about business as usual.
For example, here in British Columbia, following the science would mean ending the logging of our old growth forests, which store massive amounts of carbon.
Facing up to climate change isn鈥檛 for the meek. But I believe 91原创s can meet the challenge.
Ira Shorr
Victoria
For-profit care fundamentally flawed
The pandemic has exposed some of the poor care practices in some long-term care homes.
Many of the homes with issues of poor care practices are for-profit operations. Making a profit on care services means money that could go to the quality of care is siphoned off. When care is monetized it looks to the bottom line, cutting corners and paying poorly.
While this current situation has hit the elderly, another time it could be our youngest citizens.
There too, we have allowed a system of care that that pays workers poorly and cuts corners in order to make profit. I am sure there are other instances where caring for others is profit-driven.
Is this the way to care for our vulnerable populations? What do we mean when we say 鈥渨e care鈥�? I would suggest this is an issue for urgent community discussion.
Enid Elliot
Victoria
Open hospitals to elective surgeries now
Re: 鈥淒octors fret over surgery backlog after immediate COVID-19 crisis,鈥� April 29.
The story highlights a major problem for B.C. post-pandemic. While it was reasonable in early March for hospitals to postpone non-urgent procedures to keep beds and personal protective equipment available for COVID-19 cases, it is time, at least on 91原创 Island, to open up the hospitals to elective surgeries.
We need to move forward to do this quickly but responsibly.
The number of coronavirus cases and the number of patients in intensive-care units on the Island are much lower than anticipated.
But, the backlog of elective surgeries is swelling and many have actually moved into the urgent stage. The hip replacement of a friend of mine was bumped at the end of January and then again at the beginning of April due to the pandemic and she had already spent more than a year waiting.
Most patients in Canada wait far聽longer than recommended for their surgeries according to the 91原创 Institute for Health Information. This is not going to change and will get worse unless we start getting elective surgeries going.
We also need the government to get much better at reducing our operating wait times.
Rosalind Coleman
Brentwood Bay
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