Plans to restore a Vancouver Island railway that has sat dormant for more than five years are gathering new steam.
Local mayors and developers are floating the idea of restoring the E&N rail line to provide commuter train service between Langford and Victoria.
They say a restored rail line would help alleviate traffic along the stretch of Highway 1 known as the “Colwood crawl.”
“If you can get 2,000 people a day off that road, especially at peak times, that’s a significant reduction in demand on the Colwood crawl,” said Ken Mariash, a developer behind the roundhouse project in Vic West.
That traffic is only expected to get worse while a new interchange is constructed at Highway 1 and McKenzie Avenue.
Repairs to the line are estimated at $6-million, and mayors from Victoria, Esquimalt, Langford and View Royal are weighing whether or not they’d be beneficial to commuters.
“The rail has to be fixed up, same way if a highway or a road gets full of potholes, it needs to be fixed up,” said Coun. Ben Isitt, who also serves as a board director for the Island Corridor Foundation. “Eventually the government invests in those improvements, and that’s where we’re at with rail right now.”
The proposal would see the train terminate in Vic West, meaning those commuting from Langford to downtown Victoria would still need to hop on a bus or walk over a bridge.
There’s no business plan for the restoration, and the cost to taxpayers is currently unknown – something Langford’s mayor says concerns him.
“You need to let the public know what that cost is to them, the taxpayer, because they have to ultimately pay for this,” said Young.
According to some estimates, the commuter train could be up and running as soon as six months from now.
Isitt said he hoped BC Transit would take on operation of the rail line if it’s restored.
