The Victoria–Courtenay train (named the ''Malahat'' until 2009) was a passenger train service operated by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

between

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

, and Courtenay on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The service operated over the

Island Rail Corridor The Island Rail Corridor, previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway (E&N Railway), is a railway operation on Vancouver Island and is the only remaining railway on Vancouver Island after the closure of the Englewood Railway in November 2017. ...

. In March 2011, was suspended indefinitely due to poor track conditions along the line.

History

Via Rail Canada

The train was formerly operated with

Budd Rail Diesel Car The Budd Rail Diesel Car, RDC, Budd car or Buddliner is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars were primarily adop ...

s. Via Rail took over passenger services from Canadian National, renaming the service the Malahat in 1979. The tracks were given minor maintenance due to low ridership, leading to service suspension.

Service suspension

Due to poor track conditions, on March 19, 2011, the service was suspended indefinitely for track replacement work. Prior to further inspection of the track, service along the segment between Nanaimo and Victoria was originally planned to resume on April 8, but lack of funding prevented any of the work from taking place. A temporary bus replacement was brought in for the service after the closure, but dropping passenger numbers caused the service to be discontinued on August 7. On May 10, nearly two months after suspension, the old Budd cars were moved from the roundhouse in Victoria to a secure yard in Nanaimo, in future hopes of starting commuter service from there. On November 5, they were taken off the island to be returned to central Canada and were to be replaced by new train stock if service resumed. In February 2012, the very short stretch of track from Harbour Road to downtown Victoria was taken out of service due to the removal of the railway bridge as the start of the

Johnson Street Bridge Four known bridges have spanned the narrows between the Inner Harbour and Upper Harbour of Victoria, British Columbia, connecting Johnson Street on the east shore with Esquimalt Road on the west shore. The current bridge is Canada's largest sin ...

replacement project. The Johnson Street Bridge now sit upon the location of the railway bridge. Currently, there are no plans to replace the railway bridge. In July 2014, following the successful securing of funds from the local, federal, and provincial governments to replace trackage and repair bridges along the line, Via Rail reached an agreement with the Island Corridor Foundation to resume island passenger rail operations. Service between Victoria and Nanaimo was expected to resume in May 2015, with service between Nanaimo and Courtenay beginning in summer 2015. As of June 2018 repairs to the track have not commenced.

Route

When Via Rail took over the service from Canadian Pacific Railway, the line served only Victoria, Duncan, Nanaimo and Parksville daily except Sundays. In 1979, many intermediate stops that existed until the line's closure were added to the schedule and the train began operating daily. The train operated one daily round trip, departing Victoria in the morning, and returning from Courtenay in the evening. The trip took 4 hours and 45 minutes each way. Proposals of operating a commuter service as far as Nanaimo, or Cowichan have now shifted to focus on running a Westshore commuter service along the first 15 kilometres of track between Victoria and Langford.

References

External links