Island Corridor Foundation says the E&N could once again move people and goods

Using the E&N Corridor to transport people and good is under consideration, with the potential to bring in "high-rail" bus service.

Could the E&N Corridor start moving people and goods around Vancouver Island again? That’s the question local politicians and the foundation that operates the rail line are currently exploring.

Thomas Bevan, CEO of the Island Corridor Foundation, was near Lillooet B.C. on Seton Lake First Nation lands for a fact-finding mission Wednesday.

“Up here in Seton Lake a lot of people use this high-rail bus because it’s just so much more convenient than the two-hour winding logging road,” said Bevan. “It’s just a 40-minute trip into Lillooet.”

It’s a bus riding on train rails and the CEO is exploring the possibility of bringing a similar service to portions of the E&N Corridor that has sat idle since 2011.

“At least in a prototype way we could try something like this on Vancouver Island,” said Bevan.

On June 10, Capital Region mayors and Capital Regional District staff will ride the rails on Southern Vancouver Island, exploring the feasibility of using the E&N Corridor.

“The question is, does that corridor have a use looking at overall transportation within the region,” said Mayor of Esquimalt Barb Desjardins.

“How do we work with what we’ve got, adjust where we need to and ensure that that corridor remains for public use in some fashion where it can.”

High-rail vehicles are a dual-purpose and can operate on both roads and rail tracks.

The Island Corridor is owned by 14 First Nations and five regional districts. There is currently an ongoing dispute involving First Nation Land that the rail cuts through. Some are seeking the return of the land while others are seeking compensation and remediation.

“That is an ongoing dialogue right now,” said Desjardins.

For the upcoming trip those portions of the rail line will be avoided.

“This is a commercial operation that is contracted out by Seton Lake and it’s kind of like a charter bus company,” said Bevan.

The Island Corridor Foundation would want to follow in those footsteps, using a private company instead of BC Transit.

Bevan says having the option of running high-rail vehicles on the line could be a game-changer in an emergency, like the one that arose when Highway 4 was closed for weeks due to wildfire in the summer of 2023.

“Having something like this for Cameron Lake would be incredible,” said Bevan. “We have to look at our economic corridors, we have to move people better.”