Plan to put hydrogen trains on interurban line from Surrey to Chilliwack picks up speed
Group pitching 99-kilometre, 90-minute route with 12 stops that they say would serve 1.2M people
While the Surrey to Langley SkyTrain extension is still very much in the early planning process, another group is pitching a passenger train linking Surrey with stations across the Fraser Valley.
The South Fraser Community Rail Group believes rapid transit could be built south of the Fraser River utilizing the existing interurban rail line that runs from Chilliwack to the Pattullo Bridge at a fraction of the cost of SkyTrain, or even the light-rail project that was scrapped last year.
The group believes using hydrogen power would save on the expense of electrifying the entire 99 kilometre network of track.
Rick Green, a former mayor of Township of Langley and spokesman for the South Fraser Community Rail Group, says the cars will be more expensive to buy but cheaper to run, producing nothing but water as emissions.
He believes all the pieces are in place — it’s just a matter of political will to get it done.
“We can build this thing for somewhere between $12.5 million and $14 million per kilometre. We can build the whole thing including rolling stock, construction, and road closures for around $1.3 billion,” he said.
“The line will be accessible to 1.2 million people, and it goes right by 14 post-secondary institutions and connects 16 communities.”
The old interurban line was operated until the 1950s by the B.C. Electric Railway. The government-owned tracks were sold off, but a provision in the sales contract still allows for the re-introduction of passenger traffic.
Patrick Condon, a UBC urban planner who has been studying the problem of transportation south of the Fraser, says his research suggests Surrey is not only set to become the province’s largest city, but the entire population south of the Fraser could swell to three million people by 2060.
“There are only two options: build reasonably dense housing around existing infrastructure, or continue to sprawl out and eat up all the farmland. We can’t continue to build more roads to ease congestion,” Condon said.
According to the experts, those who live south of the Fraser can’t continue to rely on getting around by car, but spending billions on SkyTrain technology isn’t the right solution either.
Green agrees, calling the SkyTrain down the Fraser Highway “insanity” and adding the $1.6 billion to get the train to Fleetwood seems excessive.
“It just makes so much sense,” he said when comparing his proposal.
Just announced by the Province of BC was the widening of Highway 1. Here is some information from Rick Green:
Widening Highway #1 will happen over time…. But it IS NOT the solution!
Mayors, past and present have promised Highway widening suggesting it was the answer? Two current examples - widening 202nd to 216th and NOW 216th to 264th
- 13 kms at a total cost of $294 million (cost shared, Province, Feds and Township of Langley) started in 2017 due to finish in 2025 (8 Years).
- The distance between Langley and Chilliwack is 56 kms @ 3.25 kms per 2 years equates to finishing an extra lane (HOV) each way by 2051. (32 years)
- The exponential increase in growth and traffic will out strip the benefits of Highway widening by three times! We will be three times worse off than we are today!
- The above suggests that all Provincial, Federal and Municipal budgets align annually, planning started now and didn’t stop until finished. Estimated total cost of widening in 2018 dollars - $1.2 Billion! It will not solve our problem!
- NOTE: The Township of Langley has contributed $41,433,000 on the above two projects, so a precedent has been set, will Abbotsford and Chilliwack be willing to do the same, and when?
