To the Editor,
Re: Time to move on from rail, Opinion, April 19.
With the Regional District of Nanaimo’s withdrawal of funding from the Island Corridor Foundation’s plan to revamp the moribund E&N rail line, now is the time to take a hard look at the economic and design realities of rail revival here on the Island.
Certainly, the E&N has deep roots on the Island as a industrial rail line and important commuter link when rail travel was in vogue. But, it seems Island residents are anathema to any industrial development that could pay for rail line rejuvenation and we have an efficient modern highway link. So, one wonders why we would spend untold tens of millions to fix a rail line no one will use?
The E&N is a derelict industrial complex from another era. It needs to be bulldozed. Its whimsical 19th-century layout was fine in its time, but the unwieldy rail crossings are now a burden and hazard for communities along the line. The cost of bringing these road crossings to 21st-century standards should not even be in discussion.
And taxpayers here should be very leery when handing over precious tax dollars to a loosely accountable organization like the ICF.
As for the E&N: its conversion to a gravel-based recreation path would be a great legacy for all communities along the line. If Islanders banded together and supported a ‘rail-to-trail’ initiative, we will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to preserve a continuous, knock-your-socks-off stunner of a trail from Victoria to Comox. Exploiting our natural beauty and recreation opportunities could open the region to tourism buzz and add viable economic activity.
Brian BrennanQualicum Beach
To the Editor,
Re: Time to move on from rail, Opinion, April 19.
By a very rough calculation it would cost more than $3.75 billion US to put the gondola system between Courtenay and Victoria. With that money I think you could double track the E&N and provide a really good schedule. And how do you carry cargo in the gondola?
Hasn’t the columnist heard that we are rapidly running out of oil and that rail is much more efficient than road traffic for both cargo and passenger traffic? And then there’s greenhouse gases, global warming…
Liz PardeyNanaimo
To the Editor,
Re: Time to move on from rail, Opinion, April 19.
I am not persuaded and my disagreement has nothing to do with nostalgia.
Short shrift is given to farmer needs for affordable freight for feed for cattle (dairy and beef), hogs and chickens. At this time when we are becoming both disgusted with and afraid of industrially produced meats, we should not be placing more difficulties in the way of local farmers.
I support rail as an affordable alternative to truck freight. The cost of congestion and road repairs while truckers ply their trade should be factored in.
We are not living in the cheap boom times of railroad building but we do live in a period in which we could apply some creative thinking based on various modern technologies to how, where and when to move stuff up and down this long Island.
Marjorie StewartNanaimo