As negotiations to restore passenger service on the E&N rail line continue, bigger ideas are being floated.
A tourist train serving the Nanaimo cruise ship terminal and an excursion train connecting Nanaimo, Ladysmith and Duncan are being discussed in preliminary talks between local governments and railway officials.
At the Island Corridor Foundation, which owns the track, executive director Graham Bruce said he wants to focus on “tidying up arrangements” with Via Rail to repair the 298-kilometre line and resume passenger service between Victoria and Courtenay.
Service was halted in 2011 because of poor track conditions.
“There are a lot of different opportunities but nothing I can speak authoritatively to at the moment,” Bruce said.
When asked if he has been in talks with Ladysmith Mayor Rob Hutchins about the excursion train — something mentioned in Ladysmith’s recently approved Sustainability Action Plan — Bruce said he didn’t want to give away too much, too soon.
Hutchins said a Nanaimo-Ladysmith-Duncan train is being discussed but wouldn’t comment further.
Bruce confirmed that a tourist train from the cruise-ship terminal in Nanaimo has also been talked about.
Track repairs have been delayed because Via and the Island Corridor Foundation have yet to agree on what sort of service should run on the tracks, and how it will be financed. Freight service on the rail line continues at reduced speeds.
