Election 2026 - Island Rail Corridor Champions

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"I have supported rail over the years and are still supporting rail even after the rail trestles have been destroyed around Cameron Lake. This adds another layer of uncertainty to the future as it will take years for the trees in that area to stabilize and for the area to be secure enough to look at redoing the trestles.

We do still operate a small section of track in the Valley for tourists, although there have been acts of vandalism to some of the infrastructure in the past few weeks.

I can see that there is a use for the rail tracks within the Victoria area for light transit, helping with the traffic from downtown Victoria to Colwood area. There can also be secondary use if the right-of-way could support a multi-use pathway. Allowing people to bike to work in safety.

Since Nanaimo is now starting to disembark sea cans at its port, I see a good reason to try and develop the rail to this area and try to create revenue for the rail line with moving containers throughout the island.

Regardless of which direction the rail takes, it will need a lot of capital to bring anything to fruition.

There is also the question of rail removal. Once a rail corridor is removed, it will not come back, and parts of the line will be sold off. I have to look no future than what happened to parts of our Log Train Trail that have been sold and converted to housing."

Would you like to be listed?

Download the Questionnaire and send the response to info@restoreislandrail.com