O
NANAIM
Real Estate Review
REAL EST R E V IE
W
e to Real
ekly Guid
Your Bi-We
Estate in
ADVERTISING BULLETIN.COM
Nanaimo,
INFORMATION:
Nanoose,
CALL LESLEY
ATE
unding Areas
Ladysmith
and the Surro
AY, APR. 12, -4614 THURSD
2012
RAY AT 250-734
LIVINGSTONE-G
ANAIMO
ONLINE: WWW.N
INSIDE
No surprises Nanaimo council, staff were prepared for RCMP pay raise. PAGE 14 Aging questions TheatreOne play takes humorous look at retirement. PAGE B1 Heating up Premier league club prepares for two doubleheaders at home. PAGE 6
E FEATURTY PROPER
Street)
ad (off Bay to the bson Ro ing distance 2908 Ro00 ft. ceilings, in easy walk home withplan with 9 ft. & 10and stainless ,0 old Departure BayGrea t room $4n78 5 pc. d in kitchen . work islan closet, elegant view 6 year nature park
large a Ocea walk-in fireplace, bordering floors, gas er bedroom with er. Beach andhardwood fl ge Nanaimo mast show gleaming ances. Spacious tub and separate Royal LePa Pellerin at steel appli 2 person soaker call Ray ellerin.com ensuite with a private viewing at www.rayp or For details 756-1132 or view Realty 250-
h FREE 1st Mont k OUR Truc
Market Demand for Homes in $250-$400,000 value. Call Dan to list your home & get the same service as a million dollar property.
Judged the the Judged Judg community aper bbest newsp best newspaper in B.C.in B.C. THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2012
www.nanaimobulletin.com
VOL. 23, NO. 149
250-751-1223
Passenger rail back on track Federal government comes through with $7.5 million needed for rail line repairs BY TOBY GORMAN THE NEWS BULLETIN
Passenger rail service on Vancouver Island will be revived after the federal government committed to its portion of the $15 million needed to repair the E&N Rail line. The Island Corridor Foundation, owner of the tracks, was waiting months for word that $7.5 million in provincial funding, announced last June, would be matched by Ottawa. Now that the money has arrived, people could be using the passenger rail service as early as spring 2013, after more than 104,000 rail ties and ballast are repaired along the 234 kilometres of track between Courtenay and Victoria. The ties alone will cost about $12.5 million to replace, and BRUCE an additional $500,000 was already spent on a bridge and trestle study, the results of which are expected to be made public next week. Graham Bruce, the foundation’s CEO, hinted the study indicates repairs to the line’s bridges and trestles will be “manageable”. “This was a crucial step in the business plan,” said Bruce shortly after the announcement was made Tuesday in Langford. “Now [the funding is] there, it allows us to be much more focused on the development of both the passenger
QQuickfacts
NEWS BULLETIN FILE
The federal government has committed $7.5 million to repairs of the E&N Rail line that will help get passenger rail service running again by next year.
Dignitaries at Tuesday’s announcement touched on the history of the rail line built by Robert Dunsmuir in the 1880s in exchange for a huge swath of the Island land, known as the E&N land grant. Judith Sayers, Chief of the Hupacasath First Nation and co-chairwoman of the ICF board, reminded the audience the creation of E&N line had deep ramifications for First Nations communities in terms of land rights and treaties. ”What we are trying with the ICF is to take away that negativity, to take something that was bad news for First Nations communities and make it to something that is good,” Sayers said. – Edward Hill, Black Press
service improvements and rail freight. We weren’t going to take the taxpayers’ money without being able to complete the work. We’re taking a very critical, incremental approach to make sure we can meet our objectives.” Passenger service was halted and the Via Rail Budd cars were removed from the line a year ago after it was deemed unsafe by the Transportation Safety Board. Freight trains were allowed to continue using the line under a speed restriction. Renovated, smoother cars with amenities like bike and ski storage will be supplied by Via Rail and an increase in freight investment is expected to go
along with track improvements through Southern Rail, the track’s operator. A new schedule will result in an early morning southbound train from Nanaimo to Victoria to encourage commuting and tourism. Ron Cantelon, Parksville-Qualicum Liberal MLA, said investment in rail will benefit tourism opportunities. “We want to see where this first upgrade takes us,” said Cantelon. “We’re anticipating we can capitalize on new tourism opportunities with this first step, and as demand increases we’ll be able to make further upgrades in increments.” ◆ See ‘BUSINESS’ ‘ /4