Provincial, municipal and First Nations leaders and members of the Island Corridor Foundation met at the Victoria Conference Centre recently to discuss reinstating service on the E&N Rail Line. The meeting was called on Dec. 10 by Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Claire Trevena.
Both rail and bus line options were discussed, and by the end of it Premier John Horgan, who attended the event, assigned several staff members to further investigate what it would take to get the project going and which mode of transportation would be best.
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B次元官网网址淎 commuter rail between Victoria and Langford is important,B次元官网网址� said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps. B次元官网网址淲e are here to strongly support the province in moving forward with this project.B次元官网网址�
On the CityB次元官网网址檚 draft strategic plan, establishing transportation on the E&N rail line is listed as something that needs to happen B次元官网网址渨ithout delay.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 more of an aspirational statement,B次元官网网址� Helps said. B次元官网网址淏ut I think the province does see this as a priority.B次元官网网址�
Helps said if this project would move forward, it would first and foremost need approval from the Esquimalt an Songhees First Nations, whose lands it intersects. Esquimalt representatives were at the meeting, but Songhees were not.
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She also envisioned it going forward in several stages, with Victoria to Langford as a priority.
Helps said she gathered from the meeting that it was no longer an option of if the project will go forward, but how.
B次元官网网址淣ow the province needs to take leadership,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 down to is it buses or is it trains. The bottom line is we want that corridor to move people.B次元官网网址�
Langford Mayor Stew Young, who was also at the meeting, was not so certain.
B次元官网网址淭he province has not been taking this as seriously as they should,B次元官网网址� Young said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 encouraged, but IB次元官网网址檓 not holding my breath.B次元官网网址�
Young was frustrated that for the past seven years the non-profit Island Corridor Foundation has been running the lines when it was federal and provincial support that was needed.
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B次元官网网址淚t costs almost as much money to manage Island Corridor with no train running as it does to run it with a train,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭his is a federal and provincial corridor, and IB次元官网网址檝e seen nothing from the provincial government in recent years B次元官网网址� If the province doesnB次元官网网址檛 take it over, itB次元官网网址檒l never work.B次元官网网址�
Young said the need for the transportation corridor to become operational is very necessary for Langford residents, who are more and more discouraged to travel to downtown Victoria due to high traffic and limited parking.
B次元官网网址淚t was important to have the province at the table,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏ut if we donB次元官网网址檛 see something moving within three months, itB次元官网网址檚 a waste of time.B次元官网网址�
Helps said she hopes to see something in place by 2022.
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