Green Party candidate Myron Jespersen this week called on all candidates on Vancouver Island to join him in a call to save the E&N Railway.
“The effort to kill the E&N railroad through neglect must be stopped,” he said. “I call upon all candidates from all parties on Vancouver Island to add their voices to insist that this end to rail service must not happen.”
The call came in light of the suspension of passenger rail service between Victoria and Courtenay because of safety concerns.
“The suspension of rail service has made it clear to everyone that this asset has been deliberately neglected and will be lost,” Jespersen said. “Right now there is an immediate need for the injection of $15 million to make track repairs so that the trains might get rolling again.”
Last October the Island Corridor Foundation applied to both the federal and provincial governments for financial assistance but have so far been unsuccessful in obtaining it.
“How come the much- vaunted Economic Action Plan can cough up $24 million for a totally unnecessary airport interchange in a Conservative cabinet minister’s riding but not one cent for the eco-friendly rail link that serves the entire Island?” Jespersen said.
“The only reasonable conclusion to come to is that our Island MPs have neither the vision nor the intestinal fortitude to see and support the environmentally friendly alternative offered by improved and frequent rail service.”