WATCH: Transport minister 'looking at' expanding passenger rail service in BC — but highway still priority

LANGLEY — Work is well under way to extend SkyTrain service from Surrey one town further east, but what about the rest of the Fraser Valley?

According to Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth, expanding passenger rail service is something he and his team are "looking at."

When asked by Sitka Media what's being done to ensure transportation infrastructure in the region keeps pace with population growth, Farnworth first pointed to the four-phase expansion of Highway 1.

"At the same time, we have been looking at in terms of how we can take commuter rail — West Coast Express — from Mission across the river," he continued. "We have done work within my ministry in terms of looking at the additional rail corridors that we do have out to Chilliwack, so there is work underway, but the focus is on Highway 1."

Farnworth noted that the highway would have "dedicated lanes" for buses and rapid transit or "an alternative transit." He later told Sitka Media that the road is being constructed in a way that could allow for parallel light rail tracks to be installed in the future.

"This project here is gonna significantly improve commuter time," he added, referring to the aforementioned Langley SkyTrain extension.

"There is a lot of interest in rail right now," Farnworth said when asked by Sitka Media about growing demand for train service in various corners of the province. On southern Vancouver Island, for example, CRD and the Island Corridor Rail Foundation are both undertaking work in terms of looking at what are the opportunities in terms of rail on south Island."

A petition launched by Restore Island Railway to bring back service on the existing tracks has garnered over 40,000 signatures.

"If it's not restored, it will cost Canadians and British Columbians an estimated $1-$3 million per km to remediate," they warned, citing Stantec's estimates that at 289km, the total cost of decommission would be between $302.4 to $748.8 million. "It can be restored for $901 Million or we can have the best of both worlds with a trail beside it too for just over $1 billion! Why wouldn't we do that while our highways are clogged?"

Farnworth also cited CN's discontinuation of the line from Squamish to 100 Mile House, noting that, "there's work underway in my ministry in terms of what options does the government have."

"We own that rail bed, but that's a federally-regulated process that starts in July," he added.

Passenger rail service in the province is nothing new. While the only current lines — aside from the West Coast Express — are VIA Rail's Vancouver to Jasper and Jasper to Prince Rupert, there were once trains running up and down the Island, the Sunshine Coast, and beyond. Deteriorating track conditions and lack of demand, however, eventually caused operators to come to a halt.