Vancouver Island accommodates more than 870,000 people (Statistics Canada, 2021).

 

The Island Rail Corridor was an old 289-kilometre former railway owned by the Island Corridor Foundation in partnership with the First Nations and regional governments and has not been served by any passenger since the year 2011 (Island Corridor Foundation, n.d.).

 

Although there is increased public backing and an established provincial interest there has been no staged development strategy founded on the necessities of the community and the viability of infrastructure. This is the main issue that the present reports deal with.

 

The client needs a justifiable plan of phasing when to switch on which stations and which segments first, second and third. In this report, a community rating approach is transformed into a scorecard of eight corridor communities in five factors: population, employment, institutional density, transport connectivity and ridership potential. These findings are being added to the Island Rail Corridor Condition Assessment (WSP Canada Group Ltd., 2020) to create a plan based on the evidence of demand and feasibility of infrastructure.

 

Victoria has a score of 25/25 and Nanaimo has a score of 23/25, confirming that the corridor between Victoria and Nanaimo is Phase 1.

 

Courtenay and Comox have a score of 19/25, to accommodate Phase 2.

 

Smaller communities are categorized into phases depending on their scores and data of infrastructure.

 

Phase 1 will involve activating Victoria to Nanaimo during the years one to five, Phase 2 will involve activating Courtenay and Comox during the fifth year to the tenth year, and finally Phase 3 will entail the integration of the Port Alberni branch, and secondary stops during the tenth year to fifteenth year.

 

The entire project will  offer 80% of the visitors and residents of Vancouver Island rail service.

 

Link to Study