With Cowichan Valley Regional District grant assistance the association is also putting a new foundation under the old station and beautifying its grounds. Another weeding day along the tracks is planned for later in the year.

Community groups are invited to Adopt a Mile to clear growth along the rail corridor as an alternative to herbicide use.

Cowichan Station volunteers clear weeds from their adopted mile of corridor.

E&N RAIL CORRIDOR STUDY RELEASED

VICTORIA – The Province and the Island Corridor Foundation (ICF) have released a study that evaluates the economic potential and identifies future opportunities for the E&N rail line, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Shirley Bond announced today.

“The E&N railway has been an important component of the transportation network on Vancouver Island for 130 years,” said Bond. “We’ve worked with the Island Corridor Foundation to determine what conditions and economic circumstances need to be in place for the rail line to be successful in the future.”

The E&N Rail Line Study will assist the ICF with its business planning. The study concludes the future success of the E&N rail line is dependent on a number of factors, including:

• Increased population growth and transit-oriented development near the E&N corridor.
• Increased industrial and commercial development along the E&N rail corridor that would benefit from rail.
• Improved economic conditions, particularly in forestry, mining and tourism.
• Transit service improvements and connections in communities near the E&N rail line.

The comprehensive study looked at the costs and viability of upgrading the entire E&N rail line for freight and passenger travel. The joint study, overseen by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in consultation with the ICF, included a market assessment for freight, passengers, excursion and commuter rail demand, as well as an evaluation of infrastructure condition.

The study evaluated the cost to improve major sections of the line to support specific markets, as well as considering a full-corridor upgrade. It concluded current volumes of freight and passengers do not support significant infrastructure investment at this time.

“The challenge for us is maintaining the rail while we find ways to improve passenger service and attract more freight traffic on the system,” said ICF co-chair Judith Sayers.

“We will now take an incremental approach by looking at smaller, targeted improvements along the corridor, should appropriate economic development opportunities arise,” added ICF co-chair Mary Ashley.

The E&N corridor is approximately 289 kilometres long, running between Victoria and Courtenay with connections between Parksville and Port Alberni and to the Nanaimo waterfront.

The railway is owned by the Island Corridor Foundation and operated under contract by the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island.

The ICF is a partnership of First Nations, five regional districts and 14 municipalities. The governments of British Columbia and Canada assisted in the creation of the ICF by facilitating the receipt of E&N lands to the foundation through a donation by CP Rail.

The study can be found at www.enrailwayeval.ca or at www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/reports_and_studies/Evaluation_ENRailway/index.htm.

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BACKGROUNDER

• In 2008, the B.C. government committed $5 million to provide property tax relief along the E&N railway and to fund a key study of rail options on southern Vancouver Island.
• The Province eliminated $4.5 million of taxes owed by the Island Corridor Foundation (ICF) when it acquired the railway corridor.
• In 2008, the ICF identified the need for $104 million to rehabilitate and upgrade the E&N corridor to North American freight standards.
• In response, the Province committed $500,000 to study the costs and viability of upgrading the entire E&N Rail Line for freight and passenger travel. The study was initiated in May 2009 with the ICF as a member of the steering committee given its ownership of the railway.
• The study consists of two phases:
  • Phase 1: A market assessment for freight, passenger, excursion and commuter rail demand, as well as an evaluation of infrastructure condition. The report concluded that current freight and passenger volumes do not support a $100-million infrastructure investment at this time.
  • Phase 2: Development strategies to assist the Island Corridor Foundation with future business planning and identifying opportunities for the rail corridor.
• Through consultation, the ICF, municipalities along the corridor, regional districts, and BC Transit were involved in the study, as well as the public through a series of open houses along the rail corridor.
• The E&N study links to Victoria Regional Rapid Transit Study led by BC Transit.
  • The initial Victoria Regional Rapid Transit Project assessed the E&N corridor for rapid transit potential. While the corridor was found to have some advantages, rapid transit along the Island Highway, Trans Canada Highway and Douglas Street serves more regional destinations, more people and work places.
  • The ministry evaluated the E&N corridor for a potential commuter rail service and concluded the estimated travel demand and high cost to implement make it a significant challenge at this time.

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]]> http://www.islandrail.ca/?feed=rss2&p=479 1 http://www.islandrail.ca/?p=378 http://www.islandrail.ca/?p=378#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 18:17:26 +0000 glemon http://www.islandrail.ca/?p=378 The Island Corridor Foundation (ICF) is a collaboration of First Nations and Regional Districts to protect the rail corridor that extends from Victoria to Courtenay and inland to Port Alberni. The corridor connects communities and provides opportunity for tourism, commuter and freight rail services and for recreation. It belongs to Vancouver Islanders in perpetuity.

Interested in establishing your business by the corridor? For information about leasing and property opportunities along the Island Corridor email property manager Dick Wright at dickwright@shaw.ca or ICF executive director Graham Bruce at granneke@shaw.ca.

Like all rail corridor managers, the ICF is mandated to ensure that the track is safe and, as much as possible, free of fire risk.

To keep the corridor clear of overgrowth, annual spraying takes place. Detailed information on vegetation management is included on this site.

The ICF would be pleased to work with community groups interested in adopting stretches of the corridor to manage the weeds and foliage.

The first annual ‘Blair McKinnon Celebrity Flag Football Game’ will be held in his memory on May 29 at Caledonia Field. Proceeds will go to the Nanaimo Train Station restoration project. To donate go to www.nanaimotrainstation.org

YPN is aiming to raise more than $1 million to restore the station to the look and standards of its 1920s hey day.

There are lots of good reasons for leading the station revitalization, says YPN president Andre Sullivan, including retaining history, culture and revitalizing Nanaimo’s town core. But topping the list is supporting ICF’s goal of sustainable green transportation.

“ICF has the ambitious goal of sustainable rail on Vancouver Island,” says Sullivan. “It’s up to each community to provide a station.”

To donate to the Nanaimo Station Restoration project visit www.nanaimotrainstation.org

Members attending the annual conference of the Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities, unanimously endorsed a resolution that would see a main rail terminus established in Nanaimo with two trains heading south each morning. The trains would get commuters to work in Victoria and in communities along the way and would provide local passenger and tourism services.

Negotiations are underway with rail partners and government with the hope that by spring 2011 trains will be motoring south.