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Southern Railway Vancouver Island - SVI

Route:

Victoria - Esquimalt - Nanaimo - Parksville - Courtenay, BC (139.7 miles)

Parksville - Port Alberni, BC (37 miles) --- currently out of service

Headquarters:

Wellcox Yard, Nanaimo, BC

Junctions with other railroads:

CP: via barge between Nanaimo and Tilbury (Delta), BC

Radio frequencies:

unknown

History:

Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway incorporated on September 27, 1883.

Railroad sold to CPR in 1905.

Renamed E&N Railfreight in 1996.

Port Alberni to Nanaimo section sold to (rest of line leased by) RailAmerica on September 22, 1998.

Service inaugurated by RailAmerica as E&N Railway on January 8, 1999.

Service to Port Alberni suspended during 2001.

Nov 29, 2001 - RailAmerica announced that freight service would end on Dec 31, 2001, with passenger service ending in March 2002.

Freight and passenger service extended month by month while a plan to save the railway was formulated.

By late 2002, negotiations between the Vancouver Island Railway Coalition, RailAmerica and CPR ensured that service would continue.

Mar 7, 2003 - Vancouver Island Railway announced its plans to take over operations by July 2003. These plans did not materialize.

Feb 2006 - Island Corridor Foundation acquired CP-owned portion (Victoria-Nanaimo & Parksville-Courtenay) of ENR.

Mar 2006 - Island Corridor Foundation acquired RailAmerica-owned portion (Nanaimo-Parksville-Port Alberni) of ENR.

Operations taken over by Southern Railway Vancouver Island (SRVI) on July 1, 2006. First day of service was July 4, 2006.

Ownership:

Washington Companies

Roster:

Reporting Marks Reference

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Last updated: Sept. 08, 2019