It’s one thing to pretend that trains will some day run again on the E&N tracks. It’s quite another to spend large amounts of money on that pretence.
Last week, Capital Regional District directors recommended approval to spend $500,000 for improvements to another level crossing on the E&N Rail line.
That approval came reluctantly, and only because Transport Canada insists on safety improvements if trail or road improvements come within 100 metres of a crossing.
The expenditure recommended last week would bring to $3.4 million the amount spent so far on improvements related to the CRD’s Rail Trail project, which lies largely within the E&N corridor.
Passenger traffic on the E&N was suspended in 2011 because of safety concerns and because there was no profit on the old Dayliner service, which saw a Budd car trundle its way from Victoria to Courtenay and back once a day.
Suggestions have been made that rail service can be restored, or that the corridor can be used for light-rail transit. But as Premier John Horgan pointed out last month: “The business case doesn’t seem to be there.”
It’s foolish to be spending money on improvements to crossings involving phantom trains, when that money could be put to better use on other projects.
Someone needs to convince Transport Canada that the last train to Parksville left the station a long time ago, and it’s highly unlikely there will ever be another one.
