VICTORIA — A business model has been found to keep trains rolling on Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, the historic Vancouver Island line that was to be shut down this month, the Globe and Mail reports.
Details of the plan to be announced Monday were still being worked out by negotiators late yesterday afternoon.
The 118-year-old E&N railway, the last spike of which was driven by Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, on his only visit to British Columbia, has survived several death sentences in recent years. Along the way, it has earned a reputation as the little railway that could.
The 200-kilometre railway, which runs from Victoria to Courtenay, B.C., will no longer require reprieves to keep running, said Tanner Elton, operating director of the Vancouver Island Railway Development Initiative.
“While we’re a long ways from being out of the woods, it’s now being continued on an indeterminate basis,” Mr. Elton said. “We’re back to secure rail operation. As part of that, we’ve got some agreements around acquisition of the assets. Those are being negotiated as we speak.”
Investors in the initiative include Superior Propane, the Calgary-based company that is the railway’s largest freight customer; the Point Hope Shipyards of Victoria; and the Cowichan Development Corporation of Duncan, B.C., an arm of the Cowichan First Nations. Several Island mayors have also been in the talks to save the E&N.
“We’ve had a number of glitches and folks walking away,” Mr. Elton said. “It’s been exhausting. Any one of 500 things can kill this and you’ve got to have everything working to succeed. So far, we’ve kept it together.”
The latest reprieve granted to E&N is set to expire on July 15. Until then, the railway, a subsidiary of RailAmerica Inc., has agreed to leave the tracks undisturbed and intact.
“This was all to buy us some time to see if we could work out a sustainable business plan for the rail services,” Mr. Elton said.
In recent months, the railway has been swamped with paying passengers, as families and rail buffs flock to make one last scenic train trip along the old tracks.
RailAmerica, a company based in Boca Raton, Fla., bought the E&N for $15.5-million (U.S.) from Canadian Pacific Railway in 1999.
VIA Rail operates a daytime passenger service on the line from Victoria to Courtenay. The CPR and later VIA tried several times to end passenger service on the line.
The E&N has grappled with many cliffhangers. This year alone, the railway had three deadlines.
In 2001, the line lost its biggest customer when Norske Canada switched to trucks to service its mill in Port Alberni.
While rail advocates have proposed using the line for vintage train runs for tourists, as well as expanded commuter service, the Vancouver Island Railway Development Initiative has focused on carrying freight.
“We’re trying to save three-quarters of $1-billion worth of railway infrastructure,” Mr. Elton said.