Canadian Rail
Hydrogen Intermodal Transporation
A Foundation for All Nations to Compete in the Global Economy
Imagine a mountain ridge that snakes like a knobbly spine all the way from the frozen Canadian Arctic down to the deserts of Mexico.
Now imagine a Railroad that runs along the base of the mountains following the 'shoreline' between the mountains and the plains —
twisting through stream gullies, unraveling over low ridges and around buttes running on for 2,000 to 3,000 miles.
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B.C. Rail to cut passenger service to Prince George
WHISTLER -- B.C. Rail's passenger service between North Vancouver and Prince George will turn into a pumpkin on Halloween.
The Crown corporation will stop running its Budd-built diesel cars -- known as the Cariboo Prospector -- because it doesn't have the $30 million it would take to refurbish the 50-year-old coaches. It's estimated the service is losing $5 million a year.
Communities along the rail line are devastated by the news.
"The impact on 100 Mile House will be felt greatly in the tourism sector," said Mayor Donna Barnett, who met with the minister of transportation earlier this week in the hope of saving passenger service.
"And we have a large community of senior citizens who utilize this service mainly in the winter time to visit family in the Lower Mainland.
"The minister [Judith Reid] is very receptive and open for us to sit down and try and come up with solutions and hopefully this will happen before October, otherwise we definitely feel we will lose the passenger service."
Ken Veldman, vice-president of the Prince George Development Corporation, wasn't surprised about the news. He said B.C. Rail had been open about shutting down the Prospector for months.
"Certainly the elimination of that is going to have impact, but I think the industry in general in northern B.C. knew what was coming down."
B.C. Rail provides daily service between North Vancouver and Lillooet and thrice-weekly service between North Van and Prince George.
The only portion of the service that might be saved lies between Darcy and Lillooet.
"People need the trains along Anderson and Seton Lakes," said B.C. Rail spokesman Alan Dever.
"We are in discussions and we are going to provide some sort of passenger rail service to the people in that corridor because they just have no other way of getting around."
However, Dever would not comment on who B.C. Rail is in discussions with. He would say that B.C. Rail is open to talks with other companies interested in running passenger rail cars on the routes for tourists.
Eighty-per-cent of the people using the critical Vancouver to Prince George route are tourists. Of the 20 per cent local traffic, the majority travel between Pemberton and Lillooet.
It's early days yet, but Malcolm Andrews, senior public affairs adviser with VIA Rail said: "We have had brief discussions with B.C. Rail on the topic. We are looking at all the options which might be available, but no decisions have been made."
It's the same story at Rocky Mountaineer Railtours, which runs the popular luxury rail service through the Rockies to Lake Louise and Banff.
"Would we be interested in looking at it?"
pondered Rocky Mountaineer Railtours' Graham Gilley.
"Sure, we are a rail operator and we are in tourism, but certainly no decision has been made at this time." writestuff@uniserve.com
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