Skip to content

Greater Victoria municipalities asked to sound off about rail

South Island municipalities are being urged to write to the provincial and federal governments to plead for the future of rail on the Island.

With passenger rail service now on hold due to the ailing condition of the E&N Rail bed, rail is now in a vulnerable state, Graham Bruce, executive director of the Island Corridor Foundation, told Esquimalt council Monday night.

The rail bed, which the foundation owns, needs $15 million in repair work from the federal and provincial governments.

The foundation has also been on a quest to expand rail service to attract more riders and boost revenue.

"Without revenue we risk losing the freight service and the rail operator," Graham said of Southern Rail. "All the packages to the rail service go together. We lose one, we could very well lose the rest."

emccracken@vicnews.com