I would like to thank Pieter de Reuver for his support of the railway (Letters, Thursday, August 17).
Qualicum Beach and Parksville are numbers one and three having the oldest populations in Canada; many seniors have medical specialists in Victoria and with the increased traffic and possibility of accidents causing traffic jams, it is not a pleasant drive. Adding more small buses to help out does not alleviate traffic; the train would be a sensible option.
The idea that some large urban population is required is a facetious argument, as there are thousands more people along the Island corridor than up the VAR Valley in France, which runs a train through about 50 small villages.
Naysayers were against the LRT in Edmonton and the Canada Line in Vancouver; LRT parking lots are now full most days and the Canada Line was up to full ridership in three months. Western Canadians finally got the message and got out of their half-tons and onto public transit.
It will cost much less to rejuvenate an existing rail line than cut a tunnel 30 miles through a mountain for a new rail line as was done recently in Europe. Let’s hire someone from France or Spain and get the job done. Funds? The money was there for fast ferries, the blue bridge in Victoria and Bombardier bailouts.
Ed Fergusson
Parksville