Quatsino Trunk Line

The Quatsino Trunk Line is a 23.4 mile railway line of the RBCN Railway on Vancouver Island, running from Suquash on the RBCN Railway's Port Hardy Trunk Line to Quatsino. It is designated RBCNR Line 3. At Sara Lake it connects to the Port Alice Branch Line, designated Line 3A, a 14.1 mile line running to Neucel Station south of the town of Port Alice.

There are an additional 14.8 miles of trackage on HMBCS Tyee connecting to Quatsino Station.

History
The Quatsino Trunk Line was opened by the Railway Flotilla in 1932 to connect to the new naval base completed the same year, HMBCS Tyee, located at Quatsino.

The first section of the Port Alice Branch Line, from Sara Lake to Port Alice, was opened by the Railway Flotilla in 1937. The extension to Neucel was opened in 1954 to serve the Neucel Specialty Cellulose factory opened there that year.

Freight
There are no scheduled freight-only trains on either the Quatsino Trunk Line or the Port Alice branch; they are all Mixed trains (see below). However, there are a number of freight extras between Port Hardy and Quatsino that are run for Navy purposes; these haul no civilian goods, and no not carry passenger cabooses.

Passenger
Fares are subject to the Ministry Schedule of Railway Fares.

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


 * 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
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
There is a limited-access RailBus school train between Suquash and Kagoagh, operated by the RBCN Railway under contract to School District 85 Vancouver Island North. Operates on school days, going to Kagoagh in the morning and returning to Suquash in the afternoon. This train is free of charge for the children.

Timetable

 * "Down" is towards Suquash; Down trains are superior to Up trains.
 * ≈ - train travels via different route