BACKGROUND: CFAX Interview with Ryan Price and John Treleaven, chair of Grumpy Taxpayer$, 30 May 2022
Cost estimated at $431 Million in 2023 dollars
The Island Corridor Foundation released a 63-page business case highlighting detailed analysis, including data from senior governments they say supports the restoration of rail service to Vancouver Island.
“It’s important to note that this is an in-house business case analysis and reflects 2023 dollars,” says John Treleaven, chair for Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Greater Victoria.
“With inflation running at 6.8 per cent, escalating labour costs and shortages, along with escalating resource costs such as energy, accurate costs are very challenging to determine on this controversial transportation initiative. There are also ongoing unresolved issues with First Nations.”
With a complicated and often dysfunctional governance model – 13 neighbouring jurisdictions and the CRD just on the South Island – it makes this opportunity and decision difficult, Trealeaven says.
The business case provides for the upgrading of the entire 290 km rail system on the Island. The proposal provides for a commuter system operating within the CRD, intercity commuter services into the CRD, regional trains between areas outside the CRD, as well as freight operations throughout the entire Island, with particular emphasis on Port Alberni and Nanaimo.
“We are very pleased to bring forward the business case as it defines the very real and urgent need for safe, efficient, reliable, and environmentally sustainable transportation options on Vancouver Island. It also demonstrates that the proposed rail system can address those needs, it is financially viable, and can be sustained for future generations,” said Larry Stevenson, CEO of the Island Corridor Foundation.
The Business Case estimates the construction costs for the project to be $381 million and $50 million for the acquisition of rail equipment for a total cost of $431 million. Costing for the project is based on the 2020 Island Rail Corridor Condition Assessment updated to reflect 2023 dollars.
A 2020 provincial report by a third-party consultant set out a range of scenarios for restoring rail service on the Island. The priciest option would have cost $729 million for Victoria to Courtenay, with a leg to Port Alberni. Adding Langford-Victoria commuter rail would increase the cost by another $595 million. This proposal did not proceed.
Meanwhile, the Friends of Rails to Trails Vancouver Island criticizes the Island Corridor Business Case and continues to press for public transportation (electric buses) and active (non-motorized) transportation.
As well, a so-called Transportation Working Group composed
of senior staff from the CRD, municipalities, electoral areas and agency partners is advising on regional transportation matters requiring coordination. The group had its first meeting in Dec. 2021 and is advocating for senior government funds for various transportation issues including the rail corridor.
READ MORE
The rail versus trail debate, Times Colonist Letters to the editor, May 24, 2022.
Business case for bringing rail back to Vancouver Island released, CTVNews, May 22, 2022.
Initial Business Case, Vancouver Island Corridor Foundation, May 2022.
Foundation makes case for $431-million Island rail service for passengers and freight, Times Colonist, May 19, 2022.
Island Corridor releases business case for restoration rail service restoration, Press Release, May 16, 2022.
So, the bottom line is that before “any” work can be done, various entities have to squeeze money out of government? That’s a brilliant plan!
I’m usually in full agreement with your take on many issues that face us as a community. However, I tend to adopt a different perspective when it comes to the Island Railway proposal. As an “Island” community we need to focus on the future and the potential costs of highway construction, the environmental issues caused by such projects and the continuing surge in our population.
Given the cost of the aforementioned, in addition to the cost of the buses that have very limited life spans and require tons of maintenance, plus the road improvements required to make them more efficient, I would argue that the ultimate cost of not proceeding with the proposed rail links and associated rolling stock, would soon far exceed the cost of implementation now, and the cost of operation in the future.
No public transportation system can be operated at a break-even cost and certainly not as a “profit-making” venture. All of them need taxpayer subsidies to keep them operational.
If one examines other communities across Canada and, indeed, in smaller European towns and cities, it’s apparent that there’s a ton of knowledge and experience that supports the more efficient aspects of rail transportation, whether it be inter-city of one of the many forms of urban rail transport (trams, metro systems etc.)
I’d hope to see an independent analysis that compares the costs of highway improvements, construction (consider the very expensive cloverleaf at McKenzie and the Island Highway – which, incidentally, simply accommodates more vehicles on the road – and the widening of the Malahat and the related challenges of encroachment on our watershed, the Island Highway north, the maintenance of same, and the safety issues of all of them, the list goes on) vs the construction and operation of an intercity rail system using an EXISTING right of way and an LRT commuter rail system. I’m willing to wager that the railway systems will, ultimately offer a far greater tax saving than the old-fashioned tar, rubber and gasoline paths of the past.