Well, picked up the paper after a brief vacation from it, and found more “expert information” on the railway.
It’s amazing how warped the subject has gotten over time. Some facts just don’t change, like this one for instance: the fact that it would be the only alternative way up island if there were a problem on the roadway. You could sit in line for 2.5 hours, perhaps watch the person in the ambulance beside you drop dead, or miss an operation that he/she has waited over a year for, while the blockage is cleared or there could be a railway that you’ve been riding on that continues to travel while others wait on the road, for the blockage to be cleared.
If there is logic in any of this bike path thing, or any logic in comparing the whole system to a city/metro “per capita” use as a walking/hiking/bike path, (by volume) it seems there is a very low possibility of a persuasive argument developing. (As the differences do not compare.)
Then there are the repairs still going on. Imagine a large rock slide that takes out a portion altogether (a quake being the cause as an example only) and isolation to upper island or lower island then exists.
This is all regressive political manure, as while the population grows, the rail corridor is needed to take up the slack. The sooner the better as costs will only rise. Let whoever wants to or can pay for its return, pay; if they lose money, it’s on them. (And yes, I learned about all the litigation, and variables involved in general using the media and some lengthy articles as references.) Seen the ferry fleet lately? Think there will be a ferry around the Malahat from Victoria? Ha, you bet there’ll never be one.
Just in case the buses that are going are mentioned, they will be stuck in traffic too; do any of them have washroom facilities? We know the answer to that!
Good luck with the whining and complaining from both sides. There needs to be more than one way to go up the island than the Malahat Drive.
Don Richardson,
Shawnigan Lake