Passenger rail line a ‘fantasy’
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Updated: November 06, 2009 9:43 AM
Re: Rail advocates look for valley support, Chilliwack Progress, Nov. 3.
If any of the municipalities in the Fraser Valley give any sort of endorsement to the South of the Fraser Rail Task Force in its endeavour to establish a passenger rail service between Chilliwack and Vancouver, it should be only for the proposed “demonstration project”, to see if the use of the Southern Railway line could in fact provide a viable inter-community link. Such a project should be carried out by a self-propelled Budd Car carrying officials and making brief stops at suitable locations to simulate the travel of a regular passenger train. I believe their findings would prove once-and-for-all the impracticality of this idea.
It is my estimate that the journey from downtown Chilliwack to the Scott Road Sky Train station in Surrey would take about three hours, because of the necessary stops and speed limits necessitated by the many level crossings and residential areas the Budd Car (or a future train) would pass through. Right now, that same trip could be made in half that time with a dedicated Chilliwack bus using the freeway and Exit 50. The rail route would be of little use to commuters because of the time factor, and how many other people would be willing to spend six hours traveling to and from Surrey for shopping or a matinee entertainment event?
Aside from the time factor, there is the cost factor. If the “basic Surrey to Langley service would cost approximately $200 million,” extending the service to Chilliwack would bring the total to well over $300 million. Langley and Aldergrove already have regular bus service (Translink) to and from Sky Train in Surrey. Abbotsford and Mission already have the West Coast Express. It would make far more sense to me, and I think to a lot of other people, if a regular, dedicated bus service could be established between Chilliwack and Sky Train, at NO cost other than several buses (cheaper than rail cars) and perhaps a small subsidy to the service provider.
A passenger rail link for the Valley is a pie-in-the-sky fantasy luxury, and completely unnecessary, especially under the current economic conditions. I, for one, would never vote in a municipal election for any candidate that would endorse a passenger rail link between Chilliwack and Surrey when a much simpler, more practical, and cost-effective approach is possible.
Robert Blacklock
Chilliwack
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