The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District has been lobbying the provincial government for passenger rail service here.
For the short term, the province’s answer is no, but SLRD chair Jack Crompton said that while the regional district is disappointed, he does not think the issue is dead.
“As a regional district, we do well when we continue to focus our attention on things that can make big change for the communities we serve,” he said. “We don’t always get the answer we want right away, but we will continue to lobby…. We definitely aren’t giving up.”
Crompton grew up in Whistler and used to take the train regularly.
As board chair, he wrote a letter to Premier Christy Clark on April 13 outlining the concerns of the regional district board and how the resumption of passenger rail in the Sea to Sky Corridor could help ease pressure on the highway.
Clark sent a response dated April 18 that said she would forward the letter to Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone for review.
On May 10, Stone sent the SLRD a response stating the provincial government was not considering passenger rail on the route. On the one hand, he said that rail travel was environmentally friendly and a way to connect communities where demand is high enough to make service sustainable.
Stone, however, went on to cite the loss of millions of dollars every year at the time when the route from Prince George to North Vancouver ended almost 15 years ago.
Along with low ridership, he also referred to other factors such as highway improvements and the speed of air travel between Prince George and Vancouver.
“Given that market demand for passenger rail service along this route remains marginal, and the costs to taxpayers would be substantial, the provincial government is not considering the reinstatement of this service,” Stone said at the end of the letter.
Crompton is not sure what the SLRD plans to do next in its lobbying efforts.
“We haven’t had a chance to kind of regroup and consider next steps,” he said.
Currently, a petition on Change.org as well as a Facebook page, Bring Back the Passenger Train, calls for the resumption of passenger rail service in the region.
“Senior levels of government are responsible for looking after our future. We believe that rail companies must contribute to the economic health of the communities their trains traverse,” the petition states.
It cites a number of reasons to resume service, including tourism, benefits to local economies, improving access to medical and other services for residents in remote communities, reducing congestion on the Sea to Sky Highway and helping to fight climate change.
Crompton said much of the impetus for the campaign has come from the northern part of the regional district, where residents are farther from other transportation options.
“It was something that the board felt was important enough to put the full weight of the board behind,” he said. “It came up fairly recently.”
Rail service from North Vancouver through Squamish and the Sea to Sky Corridor up to Prince George ended in 2002, around the time the province was attempting to sell BC Rail.
