{"id":862,"date":"2011-10-19T11:22:40","date_gmt":"2011-10-19T18:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=862"},"modified":"2011-10-24T12:59:34","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T19:59:34","slug":"up-island-travelling-options-sparse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2011\/10\/19\/up-island-travelling-options-sparse\/","title":{"rendered":"Up-island travelling options sparse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travelling up Vancouver Island has become limited since VIA Rail\u2019s temporary closure last April. Fortunately, a plan is in the works.<\/p>\n

The Island Corridor Foundation (ICF), the non-profit organization that owns the railway on Vancouver Island, has requested federal and provincial funding to make assessments and repairs on the railways\u2019 bridges and trestles.<\/p>\n

Malcolm Andrew, senior manager, media and community relations for VIA Rail, says that when passenger rail service was suspended last April the rail line operator gave an ultimatum about changes that needed to be made before the train ran again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Those looking to take the train up island are greeted with sights like these (photo by Lise Chiasson).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSouthern Rail of Vancouver Island, Nanaimo had informed VIA that significant infrastructure improvement was required before passenger rail service could resume on this route,\u201d says Andrew.<\/p>\n

The requested funding has been approved from the provincial government. However, the federal government is still considering.<\/p>\n

For those without a vehicle, the temporary closure of the scenic rail service on Vancouver Island has left few alternatives for travel. Options include IslandLinkBus, Greyhound and trying your luck on Rideshare.<\/p>\n

IslandLinkBus is an express bus service on Vancouver Island that costs a few more dollars than the standard Greyhound bus service. Rideshare is a community ad on Craigslist where people can request or offer rides to and from any destination. Like most Craigslist ads, good judgement is imperative.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, many students find Greyhound unappealing, not only due to poor depot conditions, but also because of the high fares.<\/p>\n

\u201cDue to the competitiveness of the industry we do not release the factors of our ticket prices,\u201d says Timothy Stokes, Greyhound spokesman. \u201cThroughout the year, Greyhound Canada has been an affordable travel option for our customers and continues to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greyhound\u2019s schedule is quite limited, leaving Victoria at 7:30 am and 11:45 am seven days a week, and 7 pm on Fridays and holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the decrease in demand on these routes, Greyhound Canada decided to reduce its service,\u201d says Stokes. \u201cGreyhound Canada evaluates its routes on a yearly basis and makes decisions regarding the increase or reduction of service as it compares to demand\/ridership.\u201d During holidays, only one extra run is scheduled.<\/p>\n

Even students with a vehicle appreciated having the option of using the train. \u201cI wish I was on the train when it\u2019s raining. I don\u2019t like hydroplaning on the Malahat,\u201d says student Chelsea Lang. \u201cI used to study on the train. I find it more efficient than driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ICF suggests writing to federal transport minister Denis Lebel and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to encourage approval of federal funding to make required repairs. See islandrail.ca for more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Travelling up Vancouver Island has become limited since VIA Rail\u2019s temporary closure last April. Fortunately, a plan is in the works. The Island Corridor Foundation (ICF), the non-profit organization that owns the railway on Vancouver Island, has requested federal and provincial funding to make assessments and repairs on the railways\u2019 bridges and trestles. Malcolm Andrew, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-october192011"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":963,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions\/963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}