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Perfect 10-0 start beaks new ground for LMG
SPORTS, Page 26 6
“A Fresh Approach” Lifetime valley resident , passionate for the Future of Duncan! Authorized Agent, Kevin Rod ger electRogerBruce@gm
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COWICHAN REMEMBERS
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Top Shelf hit hard by halt to rail freight KEVIN ROTHBAUER CITIZEN
Surrounded by the beauty of an autumn day, it’s time to salute a veteran buried in the cemetery at St. Francis Xavier in Mill Bay. Placing white crosses on the graves of veterans is a Cowichan Valley tradition. [LEXI BAINAS/CITIZEN]
Communications for people on the go! W W W. C O W I C H A N S O U N D . C O M
Rail freight on Vancouver Island has been suspended temporarily, with no word on when it will resume. One of the largest users of rail freight service in the Cowichan Valley, Top Shelf Feeds, is treating the suspension as indefinite, and trying to find ways to continue operating without the train. “I don’t know if temporary is the proper term,” Top Shelf owner Robert Davison said. “I personally look at it as it won’t ever be lifted and rail is gone. We’re making arrangements that it’s not nine months or whatever we’ve been told.” According to Davison, he was informed late last week that Southern Rail of Vancouver Island, which operates the railway, and the Island Corridor Foundation, which owns it, were shutting down service. “For them to tell us at the 12th hour that we were no longer getting rail cars was in poor taste and poorly done,” he said, noting that the majority of Top Shelf’s product comes to its facility south of Duncan by rail. “This took us totally by surprise, especially after
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six months ago they informed us that any delays due to construction would not effect us and that they would make sure there was as little disruption as possible to our service.” Passenger service was suspended in March 2011 after rail conditions reached unacceptable safety levels. Freight, which can move more slowly, continued between Duncan and Parksville. SVI and the ICF worked to secure $20.9 million in funding commitments from three levels of government to restart passenger service, with plans to expand existing freight business and develop new excursion rail services. Those funds are expected to be released in early 2015. In the meantime, rail conditions have been monitored closely, leading to last week’s suspension of freight service. “This week, after completion of a detailed risk assessment, it was determined that the safest course of action was to temporarily discontinue the freight service to Duncan and Parksville,” says a statement posted on the Island Corridor Foundation website. See WE DIDN’T, Page 4
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