Island Corridor Foundation CEO Larry Stevenson wants to return freight service to Port Alberni, and this is a bad thing?
Until ill-considered actions by shippers and Rail America (the E&N鈥檚 operator at that time) caused the end of freight service to Port Alberni in December of 2001, 鈥渟low speed trains鈥� carried 6,000-plus carloads of freight yearly out of that city. Untold tonnes of freight moving in and out of port on rails rather than rumbling over the Hump on public highways. This lucrative freight business subsidized the rest of E&N operations on Vancouver Island.
If Stevenson gets anything accomplished during his tenure as the ICF鈥檚 boss, reactivating this service would be a win-win for the E&N and the Island, economically and environmentally.
Jamie Masters
Saanich
