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Heritage headaches
Goddesses on the go
Three years after a devastating fire, Craigflower Manor is still facing hurdles to reopening. News, Page A3
Langford is hosting Victoria’s first Goddess Run in June, a women-only road race event. Sports, Page A19
Deborah Coburn 250.812.5333 Roy Coburn 250.812.1989
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Friday, April 13, 2012
Feds commit $7.5M for E&N rail Track repairs to start this year; rail passenger service eyed for 2013 Edward Hill News staff
The federal government will chip in $7.5 million to help fix the E&N rail tracks between Courtenay and Victoria, a deal that officials describe as critical to restoring rail operations on Vancouver Island. Dozens of dignitaries packed Langford’s modest rail kiosk Tuesday morning as Conservative MP John Duncan (Vancouver Island North) pledged to match $7.5 million committed by the province last June. The money is from the Building Canada Fund. “This will be a positive impact for communities and businesses the length of the Island,” said Duncan, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. “This will help restore passenger service and open freight options for Vancouver Island.” The $15 million purse will allow the Island Corridor Foundation to replace 104,000 rail ties along 225 kilometres of track and reestablish a VIA Rail passenger service based out of Nanaimo. Last April the track was deemed unsafe and passenger service shut down, although a few lowspeed freight runs remain. “This is a historical corridor and a historical rail system,” said Langford Mayor Stew Young. “This is the day rail service was saved on Vancouver Island. I don't think we could have let it go for another year.”
Getting the E&N on Ottawa’s radar Duncan played an key role in lobbying his federal colleagues for the $7.5 million, but it wasn’t by chance the announcement was made in Langford. At Duncan’s request, Young made a quiet trip to Ottawa last November to press the
Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan (Vancouver Island North) and Langford Mayor Stew Young are all smiles after Duncan announced the federal government would chip in $7.5 million to help rehabilitate the E&N railway track. Edward Hill/News staff
business case with officials in the Prime Minister’s Office. The mayor described his trip as a “last ditch attempt” to save the E&N. “We presented the case from an economic and green perspective, and the fact that if we didn’t do this, we’d lose the (E&N) forever,” Young said. “I put my two cents in as best I could. We were received so well by the Prime Minister’s staff. They were very receptive to what we were saying. To me, the best move we did was to go back there (to Ottawa).” Duncan wouldn’t say what was discussed in the meeting with PMO officials, but noted Young’s trip to Ottawa took place at a critical point in the effort to secure funding. “Being the business man that he is, having (Young’s) support was important,” Duncan said. “His vision is the freight side of
the rail line. There is a good case for freight on the E&N.” Young envisions building truck-to-train transfer stations for commercial freight on either side of the Malahat to help remove heavy traffic from the highway.
“This is the day rail service was saved on Vancouver Island.” –Stew Young Langford Mayor “(The E&N) is the best corridor to get people up Island and for job creation,” Young said. “But forget economics, it’s worth it just to save lives. It’s a dangerous road. It was a scenic tour in the 1950s. Now it’s a deathtrap. We need to get heavy
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trucks off the Malahat.” Currently, Southern Railway of Vancouver Island runs freight from Nanaimo to Duncan and Parksville four days per week, carrying mainly industrial products such as fertilizer, propane, grains and latex barged from the Mainland. Southern Railway president Frank Butzelaar said that repairing the track and reestablishing passenger service will signal to business and industry that rail shipping will be viable well into the future. “Certainly we expect to see a resurgence in freight now that certainty exists,” Butzelaar said. “Those that use commercial freight shipping on Vancouver Island know we are here for the long term and can plan to use rail.”
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