Forum pushes light rail revival

At a Saturday forum, passenger rail advocates argued the cost benefits of reusing the old Interurban line.


CREDIT: Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance
VALTAC director Peter Holt talked about the costs of different types of rail systems in Surrey and Langley at a transit rally on Saturday.

Passenger rail in Langley makes sense, a group of rail advocates told local politicians and members of the public on Saturday.

At the six-hour rail forum organized by the Valley Transportation Advisory Committee (VALTAC) in the Township council chambers, the potential costs and benefits of a revived Interurban line were laid out.

Peter Holt, a VALTAC director, told the crowd that a rail line from Scott Road SkyTrain station to Langley's City centre could cost about $700 million, or about $27 million per kilometre.

He compared that to other recent or pending rail lines in the Lower Mainland.

The Canada Line, the Evergreen Line and the UBC Line have been costed at between $105 million to $233 million per kilometre of track, Holt said.

A rebuilt Interurban would be cheaper because it would run at ground level, along or beside already existing track, on an existing right of way.

The Interurban ran for more than 40 years through the Lower Mainland until being scrapped in the 1950s.

It went from Vancouver to Chilliwack, and the tracks are now used largely by heavy freight rail.

Holt's estimates are based on using simple diesel-powered community rail cars.

Eric Doherty of the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) gave a Transit Lab 101 presentation, talking about the many light rail and bus options in use around the world.

His talk about the Zurich, Switzerland railcar system drew several questions and comments from the crowed. Zurich citizens twice defeated efforts to scrap their downtown rail system in referenda.

He also said that oil, and gasoline for cars, is unlikely to get much cheaper.

"Whether or now we're at the peak of [oil] production or close to it, the cheap easy-to-get-to oil is gone," Doherty said.

He talked about a variety of transit solutions, including rail and buses.

However, he noted that the South of the Fraser area is poorly served even for its current density, much less its future density.

Parts of Langley City and Surrey are already denser than large swathes of east Vancouver, Doherty said.

Transportation economist Stephen Rees noted that governments often seem more eager to spend money on roads than on rail lines.

"If you spend money on roads, that's investment," Rees said. "If you spend money on rail, that's subsidy."

He said that transit planning can be reactive, working to catch up to existing populations, or it can be used to shape future growth in the communities it serves.

While the crowd was not large, it included several Township councillors for a portion of the day. Steve Ferguson and Charlie Fox both appeared to ask questions of the panelists.

Councillor Kim Richter, who has publicly pondered running for mayor, was also in attendance, along with current mayor Kurt Alberts and mayoral candidate Rick Green.

Green said he may not agree with every detail espoused by the panelists, but he agrees with the overall idea.

The right of way and much of the track exists now, he said.

"We have this staring us right in the face," Green said.

SkyTrain doesn't make sense for Langley in the short term, and Green said he doubted that the $14 billion provincial transit plan recently announced will be able to do enough.

Langley should be proactive rather than reactive on its transit needs, Green said.

Alberts focussed on the need for a fully integrated transit system, not just rail.

There is a high level of interest in the rail link, he said, and he noted that the Township is working to keep rail options open for the future.

The province has pledged to study the Interurban option.

mclaxton@langleyadvance.com