By Mike Damour - Cowichan News Leader and Pictorial
Published: November 18, 2008 4:00 PM
E&N Rail advocates are cheering a provincial recommendation to put money into the decaying line.
The select standing committee on finance, made up of Liberal and NDP
MLAs, said Monday in a budget priorities report the project to restore
the line for commuter and freight services should be a capital spending
priority.
The committee recommended a partnership with the feds
and the Island Corridor Foundation "in an infrastructure program to
enable the development of rail infrastructure and commuter rail service
on Vancouver Island."
John Horgan, NDP MLA for Malahat/Juan de Fuca and a member of the standing committee was ecstatic about the proposal.
"I predicted to you we'd have this up and running in two years (Jan.
30, 2008 News Leader) and I'm comfortable we're still on track for
that," he said.
However, one of the largest supporters of the rail line said he will take a wait-and-see approach to the provincial news.
"In my experience as a local politician, until the ruling Liberal party
from the top down agrees to this I am not going to hold my breath,"
said former Lake Cowichan Mayor Jack Peake, who also sits as a member
of the ICF.
The cost to repair the line and bring it to a point
heavy freight could be transported along its rails from Victoria to
Courtenay and Nanaimo to Port Alberni is estimated to be just a shade
under $104 million.
There is a plan to fund the repairs using equal amounts of money from the federal government, the province and the ICF.
"The fed situation is pretty much a fait accompli tied directly to the provincial government saying yes," said Peake.
"(The ICF) has still got a little to do in securing our $35 million, we're not quite there yet."
However, that situation could change in just a couple of days.
"We (the ICF) have a major, major meeting with Southern Rail in Nanaimo
Friday and I'm hoping the outcome of that meeting will give us the
answers to a number of things," said Peake.
Horgan said he does understand Peake's reluctance to get excited about the provincial recommendation.
"Jack's not far off the mark because until the premier says this is a go, it doesn't happen," he said.
"But why I'm excited about this is when I met Jack in 2004, there were
all of about six people in the universe who thought this was a good
idea - now, everyone's talking about it."
Horgan remains optimistic about the future of the E&N.
"I have to take the little victories where I find them and I consider
this to be significant because it's the finance committee of the
legislative assembly of British Columbia, which includes not only
Liberals and New Democrats, but people from all over the province who
all have infrastructure issues they want to see advanced," he said.
"If we improve the rail bed, we'll benefit from it long into the future."
SIDE
The Island Corridor Foundation was formed in 2004 by 14 municipalities
and several First Nations along the 225 kilometres of Esquimalt &
Nanaimo Railway right-of-way from Victoria to Courtenay and the 64
kilometres from Parksville to Port Alberni.
The ICF bought the right of way, the tracks, ties,
bridges roadbed, stations, and 13 rail cars, from Rail America in 2004
and now values the rapidly decaying line and property at $366 million.
However, to bring the line up to a healthy, working
level, nearly $104 million is needed for repairs that are expected to
take two years to complete.
