Port Hardy Trunk Line

The Port Hardy Trunk Line is a 163.4 mile railway line of the RBCN Railway on Vancouver Island, running from Port Hardy to Campbell River, where it connects with BC Rail's Central Coast Line. It is designated RBCNR Line 1.

From Port Hardy the RBCN operates rail ferry services to Bella Coola, connecting with BC Rail's Chilcotin-Owikeno Line there, and to HMBCS Rainbow, where it connects to the RBCN's railway network there, via which it connects to BC Rail's northern trunk line, the Grand Trunk Line.

History
The Woss - Kokish section of the line was opened in 1917 by the Nimpkish Valley Railway (NVR), a logging railway owned by Nimpkish Timber Company (later absorbed by Western Forest Products). When the Royal BC Navy began building the base at Quatsino in 1928, it decided to undertake the construction of its own railway line to the base from Campbell River to Quatsino and to Port Hardy, buying the NVR and incorporating it into the new Railway Flotilla.

The acquisition of the NVR allowed for construction of the new line to proceed from four locations; the work was done with great speed, and the section from Port Hardy to Woss was completed in August 1929 and was immediately put into operation along with the rail ferry from Port Hardy to HMBCS Rainbow. At that point, the line north from Campbell River had reached Elk Bay; construction of the remaining section between to Woss was suspended for the winter; work resumed in April 1930, and was completed in September of the same year.

Express

 * 75/76 Pacific Coast Limited (BC Rail/RBCN Railway): Victoria (Union) – Prince Rupert
 * One daily morning departure in each direction with BC Rail first and second class chair cars, baggage cars, sleepers, sleeperettes, and dining cars. Baggage handling is free of charge to first class passengers, and available to second class passengers for a surcharge. A short-trip surcharge is applicable to travel between Victoria and Nanaimo. Over BC Rail trackage between Victoria and Campbell River BC Rail locomotives are used, whilst on RBCN Railway trackage between Campbell River and Port Hardy, RBCN Railway locomotives are used. BC Rail locomotives haul the trains between Prince Rupert and the rail ferry terminal at HMBCS Rainbow. Intermediate stops: Langford, Duncan, Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Parksville, Courtenay, Campbell River, Woss, Steel Creek, Suquash, Port McNeill, Port Hardy

Local
These trains make scheduled stops at all stations and halts along the route they serve. RBCNR Local trains are second-class only, with baggage and parcel handling service available for a surcharge, and have seat-side drink and snack service.


 * L1/L2, L3/L4: Campbell River – Steel Creek – Suquash – Port Hardy
 * Two daily returns, with an RBCN through car running Campbell River – Steel Creek – Tahsis, and two BCR through cars: one Nanaimo – Campbell River – Port Hardy, and one Nanaimo – Campbell River – Tahsis.


 * L5/L6, L7/L8: Port Hardy – Steel Creek – Tahsis
 * Two daily returns, with an RBCN through car running Campbell River – Steel Creek – Tahsis and a BCR through car running Nanaimo – Campbell River – Tahsis.


 * L11/L12, L13/L14, L15/L16: Port Hardy – Suquash – Sara Lake – Port Alice
 * Three daily returns. Between Port Hardy and Sara Lake these trains are operated as through cars on the Quatsino mixed.

Mixed trains
British Columbia is the last country in North America where regularly scheduled mixed trains still operate; these consist of passenger cars attached to freight trains. Aside from the RBCN Railways's three mixed trains, the only other one is the BCR's Williams Lake – Bella Coola mixed. Mixed trains have second class chair cars only, along with baggage and parcel service for a surcharge; there is no drink/snack service.


 * M1/M2, M3/M4, M5/M6: Port Hardy – Suquash – Sara Lake – Quatsino
 * Three daily returns. Between Port Hardy and Sara Lake, these trains handle the cars of the Port Hardy – Port Alice locals.


 * M7/M8: Campbell River – Steel Creek – Suquash – Sara Lake – Quatsino
 * One daily return.


 * M9/M10: Port Hardy – Suquash – Sara Lake – Port Alice
 * One daily return.

RailBus
Nimpkish – Kokish – Telegraph Cove – Kokish – Port McNeill: operated by the RBCN Railway under contract to School District 85 Vancouver Island North. Operates on school days, going to Port McNeill in the morning and returning to Nimpkish in the afternoon. Being the only passenger service on the Telegraph Cove Branch Line, this train is open to passengers other than schoolchildren. However, whereas the travel is free of charge for the children, other passengers are charged at the standard Ministry second-class chair fare (£2.3s.9d for a one-way trip between Nimpkish and Telegraph Cove, £1.13s.4d between Telegraph Cove and Port Hardy).

Passenger service on freight trains
Additionally, all local freight trains of the RBCN Railway - both scheduled and extra - carry an extra-long caboose with a sitting compartment (similar in appearance to the "drover caboose" of the granger roads of the US prairies) in which passengers are carried; these trains will pick up and drop off passengers at any station or halt when flagged. Since these trains do local shunting work at all of the scheduled stops, they are quite slow; consequently the price of a passenger ticket is much lower than on dedicated passenger trains, with a flat-rate price of only one crown (5/-, approximately C$0.75, US$0.58, GB£0.43) per station. For example, a trip from Suquash to Quatsino, a total of six stations, would cost £1.10s.- (approximately C$3.30, US$2.61, GB£1.90); in comparison, of a second-class ticket on a local train over an equal tariff-distance (23 miles) at the standard second-class chair car fare of 2/1 (approximately C$0.31, US$0.24, GB£0.18) per mile would be £2.7s.11d (approximately C$7.19, US$5.69, GB£4.14) - over twice the price.

Route
♦ - Limited express stop | - Limited express do not stop