Court Document Summarized
Restore Vancouver Island Rail
Court documents show with certainty that the Dayliner service on Vancouver Island was undermined for decades, and that if it was run like other railways across Canada, it would have been super popular!
There was price discrimination, the service wasn't advertised, it was not synchronized with Ferry Sailings in Victoria or Nanaimo, it had infrequent service, not enough trains and the trains and tracks were neglected for repairs, no Sunday service, and the seating was inadequate.
When the pricing was made competitive, they had people riding in the baggage department and hundreds of people were left behind at terminals. They ordered the service to shut down when it became popular, this was in 1978.
It was challenged in Court by the Vancouver Island E&N Steering Committee and forced to continue, yet they still didn't follow any of the recommendations to improve it until it had to shut down in 2011 due to track conditions.