If you have ever been here, the island is an amazing wonderland of wildlife and nature and outdoor activities like cycling, mountain biking, walking, hiking, surfing, boating, skiing, swimming, you name it!
The Change Petition has a huge number of supporters already! https://chng.it/HTPJ25CqPr
The Official House of Commons Petition is growing quickly! Petition e-4576 - Petitions
The mild climate makes it a great place to retire too! People want to come here, and they do! Lots of them! 180,000 since 2011 when passenger services shut down. The new islanders could stand along the railway from Port Alberni and Courtenay all the way to Victoria holding hands! 80% of the population (now over 940,000) live within walking, cycling, or e-biking distance, or just a short drive to a terminal park and ride.
Should it be electrified?
Should it have additional trains?
Should it have animal crossings?
Should some sections be raised?
Should we add to the existing 105km of trails beside the rails?
Combining the mitigations discussed in the First Nations engagement report released by B.C. with the Island Corridor Foundation's $431 Million business case for a hybrid of the initial phase, would result in a perfect solution for the island.
We should want the Island Corridor Foundation to have options, and to succeed in saving our corridor for the most appropriate, most environmentally sound, and best multi-modal use of it. Moving People and freight, everyone able or not, from Coast to Coast to Coast to Coast, North to South, and East to West on beautiful Vancouver Island. That is what the railway was originally made for! ICF is a partnership between First Nations and Local Government, we should be supporting it!
If you agree, please sign the Petition https://www.change.org/p/restore-and-enhance-vancouver-island-s-railway-corridor-with-a-fund-up-to-1-billion and let’s get this island treasure restored right!
If you strongly agree sign the official House of Commons Petition Petition e-4576 - Petitions
The Petition will get certified and presented to the House of Commons.
Petition e-4576 - Petitions (ourcommons.ca)
I will update on progress through the Change Org Petition https://chng.it/HTPJ25CqPr
Every city on Vancouver Island from Campbell River, to Courtenay South, Including Port Alberni has population concentrations that meet Passenger rail success rates. Have a look on Census Mapper, concentrations above 12 per hectare are accepted concentrations and since our population follows the railway, 80% of us are within catchment! it just makes sense.
It is as simple as it gets! This mockup of stops was created with the help of hundreds of people talking to me about their experiences on the Dayliner, a 56 year old Budd Car Train that used to run a tourist attraction running opposite to commuting needs until 2011 when it was shut down due to track conditions.
There are over 180,000 more people living on Vancouver Island since the passenger services shut down, they could hold hands along the entire 289km of rail.
The B.C. Government released a Freight assessment conducted with Vancouver Island and Vancouver businesses. Benefits for both Vancouver Island and Vancouver were found!
Read the Freight report here:
Travel is a time-stealer, but not if you can recover that time.
If you are travelling from:
- Port Alberni to Parksville,
- Victoria to Courtenay,
- Courtenay to Victoria,
- Parksville to Port Alberni,
and anywhere in between, you could be sitting at a desk or using a seat tray remote working uninterrupted for your entire trip.
Connected by Wi-Fi, the time gets returned to you.
A train is much smoother than a bus or any other road based vehicle because it runs on engineered tracks instead of beaten down roads. If the rails are continuous weld, it's even smoother and quieter aboard and adjacent to the tracks.
You could be:
- Staring out the window at the beautiful scenery, or taking photos and videos.
- Getting in a game of WOW! or playing your favorite game genre in on the way.
- Talking to friends and family over Facetime or other Video chat systems.
- Checking the tire pressure and condition on your bike, and making other adjustments.
- Managing your side Hussle.
- Going over your travel savings.
During the slow hours, you could be
- Yoga or Stretching
- Dancing
- So many other things!
In person, or over Satellite Wi-Fi, the Vancouver Island Railway would recover time, enable opportunities, and provide time to do whatever you would do.
Imagine an intercity
right of passage train that
gets you to work, school, or appointments on time, and
home for dinner!
Could it get your kids and you
to sports and leisure facilities
up and down the island
Safely!
inexpensively!
independently?
only $200 per month
fully integrated with
other transit systems!
Family passes
check
Seniors passes
check
Disabled passes
Check
It's like another road,
but called rail!
We can't keep procrastinating on Climate action.
Establishing Rapid Transit is
Climate Action!
by getting
older polluting cars off the road
and creates the opportunity for
High Impact Electrification
for even
More Climate Action!
To make the BEST use of this
Vancouver Island Treasure
and take some real climate action!
Protect the 289km, pre-graded,
Vancouver Island Rail Corridor!
Create inexpensive access to cheaper living areas for struggling Vancouver Islander's, create the potential for high-impact electrification and the prevention of environmental damage in the future by preventing the need to create new or expanded highways due to population growth.
And everyone has felt it!
Your paycheck doesn't go as far
so you take fewer Sunday Drives,
buy less food,
forgo the car repairs,
socialize less!
buy less
Business costs are rising
sales are slow
so retail prices get raised
Life costs more...
Your paycheck doesn't go as far
And round and round we go!
I have no team, it's just me.
but lots of other
dedicated Vancouver Islanders
that saw the site started sharing information with me, that I would have never known otherwise!
I've been on the receiving end of all my Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, text's, and polls.
If I round the ratio of
Happy to Angry
to the nearest whole Person,
Happy sentiment
wins by a landslide
Everyone easily sees what the Vancouver Island Rail Corridor Represents
I think our leaders do too
Incorporated on September 27, 1883, the construction of the Vancouver Island Rail Corridor is not without controversy, but the one thing we can all agree on is that Vancouver Island ancestors, from many many cultural backgrounds shed blood, sweat and tears to build it! Laying 289km of level track up and down a rocky island during that time is no feat that should go unrecognized for the amazing achievement that it is!
It should not be left to languish when it is needed more and more every passing year.
Honour their sacrifices! Update the history books, and provide access for prosperity along the route.
Once it's gone, it's gone!
Warren Skaalrud "Born and Raised" Islander
Shawnigan Lake, Canada, Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia V0R 2W1, Canada