In the five years since our Dayliner stopped running, the Swiss have completed the last 15 kilometres of a double-bore tunnel under the Alps which, if under our Malahat, would stretch from Duncan to downtown Victoria.
They intend to run 300 trains a day through it, each taking 20 minutes to cover the 57 kilometres at 150 km/h.
One hundred thirty years ago, multicultural navvies did the hard work for us, hand-laying almost 300 kilometres of track up the Island. Out of respect for them, all we have to do is maintenance to keep this amazing asset viable.
Perhaps we could borrow a horse-drawn tram from a museum collection to kick-start the return of passenger rail to the Island? Aren’t we a joke!
Delmere Kitt
Duncan