Victoria–Courtenay train

Victoria–Courtenay train

The Victoria – Courtenay train used Rail Diesel Cars, seen here at Qualicum Beach.
Overview
Service type Inter-city rail
Status Indefinitely suspended
Locale Vancouver Island
Last service March 19, 2011
Former operator(s) Via Rail
Route
Start Victoria
End Courtenay
Distance travelled 225 miles (362 km)
Average journey time 4 hours 45 minutes
Service frequency Daily
Technical
Rolling stock Budd Rail Diesel Cars
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Track owner(s) Island Corridor Foundation

The Victoria–Courtenay train (formerly the Malahat), commonly known as the Dayliner,[1] was a passenger train service operated by Via Rail between Victoria, Nanaimo, and Courtenay on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The service operated on a rail line owned by the Island Corridor Foundation who also contracts out freight operations to the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island (formerly known as the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway).[2] Service is indefinitely suspended pending repairs of the track – service had been projected to resume in 2015, however as of April 2015 repairs to the track had not commenced.[3]

History

The train was formerly operated with one or two Budd Rail Diesel Cars.[2] Via Rail began operating the passenger train in 1979.[4] Although the service had been threatened with discontinuation several times, it was suspended indefinitely on March 19, 2011, due to track replacement work.[5][6] Prior to further inspection of the track, service along the segment between Nanaimo and Victoria was originally planned to resume on April 8,[7] but lack of funding prevented any of the work from taking place leaving the service out of operation for three years. A temporary bus replacement was brought in for the service after the closure, but dropping passenger numbers of less than ten per day caused the service to be discontinued on August 7.[8] On May 10, nearly two months after suspension, the old Budd cars were moved from the roundhouse in Victoria to a secure yard in Nanaimo, in future hopes of starting commuter service from there.[9] On November 5, they were taken off the island to be returned to central Canada; they will be replaced by a new three-car train stock if service resumes.[10] However, in February 2012, the 6-kilometre (4 mi) stretch of track from Esquimalt Station to downtown Victoria was torn up due to bridge conditions of the Johnson Street Bridge. The bridge is planned to be replaced by a new, wider bridge which will not have enough room to place rails along the side of the road again, and therefore Esquimalt Station is now the end of the line.[11]

In July 2014, following successful securing of funds from the local, federal and provincial governments to replace trackage and repair bridges along the line, Via Rail reached an agreement with Southern Railway of Vancouver Island and the Island Corridor Foundation to resume island passenger rail operations. Service between Victoria and Nanaimo was expected to resume in May 2015 with service between Nanaimo and Courtenay beginning later in summer 2015.[12] But, as of April 2015 repairs to the track had not commenced,[3] and there will be no resumption of passenger (or freight) service on the line before 2016–17 at the earliest.[13]

Route

Until 2011, the train operated one daily round trip, departing Victoria in the morning, and returning from Courtenay in the evening. The 225-mile (362 km) trip took 4 hours and 45 minutes each way.[14] Proposals of operating a commuter service as far as Nanaimo,[6] or Cowichan[5] have now shifted to focus on running a Westshore commuter service along the first 15 kilometers of track between Victoria and Langford.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cleverley, Bill (October 29, 2009), "'Wrong way' rail may be righted", Times-Colonist, Victoria, BC CAN: Canwest, retrieved 2010-01-25
  2. 1 2 Johnston, Bob (May 2008), "British Columbia's backcountry locals", Trains, Waukesha, WI USA: Kalmbach Publishing, 68 (5), pp. 50–55, ISSN 0041-0934
  3. 1 2 Kines, Lindsay (April 7, 2015). "Island’s E&N rail repairs on hold during provincial review". Times Colonist. Glacier Community Media. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Chronological City History". Victoria Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  5. 1 2 "Island's Dayliner train parked indefinitely due to track problems". Times Colonist. Glacier Community Media. April 7, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  6. 1 2 "E&N rail service doomed without huge injection of government cash says operators". Viccity.ca. April 26, 2011. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  7. ↑ "VIA prepares to reinstitute partial train service April 8". Via Rail. March 29, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Travel Advisory - Temporary Bus Replacing VIA's Victoria to Courtenay Train Service To Make Last Trip August 7". July 7, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Dayliner leaves today for safekeeping in Nanaimo". Times Colonist. Glacier Community Media. May 10, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  10. ↑ "E&N Rail cars leaving Island for good". VicNews. November 5, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Crews salvage historic Esquimalt & Nanaimo route into Victoria, B.C.". Trains Magazine. February 17, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Deal signed to resume E&N rail service; boards need to ratify". islandrail.ca. July 11, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  13. ↑ Stanfield, Scott (November 4, 2015). "Train service could return next year". Comox Valley Record. Black Press, Inc. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Victoria-Courtenay train - Schedules". Via Rail. Archived from the original on June 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  15. ↑ ""Developer wants commuter rail service up and running in one year"". VictoriaNews. December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
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