There is a new sheriff in town; ENRR, whatever it means, is the new power behind reviving the E&N railway.
The plans are vague, but maybe it could include some kind of LRT (light rail trains).
That might fit the light infrastructure left on the E&N tracks, including less HD upgrading of the many bridges and tracks.
Upgrading would be much more expensive if the usual very heavy trains would be used.
I travelled with (light) trains in Switzerland and it was amazing, the speed and the agilty to climb the hills and mountains all throughout the country.
The trains are much lighter than even the Skytrains used in Vancouver.
For local transfer, we would need passing lanes at the several towns on the route, eg. Courtenay, Deep Bay, QB, Parksville, Lantzville. Nanaimo could have their own connection with some light rail cars going in between, same for the greater Victoria, Lake Cowichan, Duncan area.
As those trains use electricity for power, it would need a third rail or an overhead PTO, which is relatively cheap to do.
Just let’s see what happens with this new initiative.
Pieter de Reuver
Parksville