Central Island Trunk Line

The Central Island Trunk Line is a 92.2 mile railway line of the British Columbia Railway (BC Rail) on Vancouver Island running from Cowichan Bay to Port Alberni on the Alberni Line via Deerholme on the Central Island South Line

History
After opening the Victoria–Patricia Bay line in 1901, the Vancouver Island Railway undertook to connect Victoria to Port Alberni via a railway along the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, opening the first 27.5 milestage from Victoria to Sooke in 1903. From the very beginning of planning, Sooke was foreseen as a branchline station, with the main line would continue from Saseenos, 2.5 miles before Sooke. The next stage to be open proved to be the longest section opened at once: 48.7 miles from Saseenos to Lake Cowichan, opened in October 1905.

In order to expedite the shipment of forest products from Lake Cowichan to the sea, the VIR built a branch line from Deerholme to Cowichan Bay, where a barge slip and other port facilities were built. Opened in 1907, this 7.1-mile branch crossed the E&N's mainline at Tyup, and a connection between the two railways was opened in 1912. The section between Tyup and Cowichan Bay is freight only. Including the lead from Cowichan Bay Station to the barge slip, the total length of the route is 7.5 miles.

Construction of the line onwards to Port Alberni was then delayed for nearly a decade; it wasn't until 1914 that the next extension, 7.6 miles to Youbou, was opened, but after that, a steady pace was maintained as the line reached Kissinger in 1916 and Ditidaht in 1918. Port Alberni was finally reached in 1921, where a connection was made with the E&N.

When the VIR was absorbed by the British Columbia Railway in 1960, the Victoria–Saseenos–Port Alberni line was named Island Trunk Line, with the Saseenos–Sooke section being called the Sooke Branch Line. In 1970, two years after the BCR absorbed the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway (E&N), the Island Trunk Line was divided into three sections: the Victoria–Saseenos–Sooke section became the South Coast Line, the Saseenos–Deerholme–Port Alberni section became the Central Island Line; the Deerholme–Cowichan Bay branch remained the Cowichan Bay Branch as it had been since 1960. In 1974 this was changed once again to the present arrangement, with the Cowichan Bay–Deerholme–Port Alberni section becoming the Central Island Trunk Line, and the Deerholme–Saseenos portion becoming the Central Island South Line.

The absorption of the E&N saw passenger service moved from South Alberni Station to the E&N's Port Alberni Station, with South Alberni becoming a freight-only yard.

Services
The Central Island Trunk Line sees both passenger and freight operations.

Freight
Freight traffic along the entirety of the line is quite extensive, moving forest products from numerous places along the line to port at both Cowichan Bay (if destined for the Mainland) and Port Alberni (if destined for export to Asia). In addition, there are several other rail-served industries along the line.

Although freight service between Saseenos and Deerholme is fairly light, between Deerholme and Lake Cowichan, and on the Cowichan Bay Branch, it is quite extensive, primarily moving forest products from the region northeast of Lake Cowichan to port at Cowichan Bay.

Passenger
BC Rail operates three year-round services on the South Coast Line, three Local and two Rapid; as well, in the summer timetable only, there is a second Rapid service. The Metro services and the Victoria–Sooke locals are operated with electric multiple-unit trainsets, all other trains are locomotive-hauled. BC Rail also operates a limited-access RailBus service under contract to Domforco.

The various categories of passenger service are defined by the Ministry of Labour, Industry & Railways in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport & Communications; these categories are applicable to and used by all railways providing passenger service in British Columbia. Like all other railways in BC, ticket prices for BC Rail passenger trains are based on the Ministry's Schedule of Railway Fares. Exempt from this are the Victoria Metro trains, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Victoria Transit System.

Rapid
Rapid (also known as "semi-express") trains are similar to regular Express trains, making a limited number of scheduled stops, but stops can be booked up to three hours in advance at any station on the route that has passenger service.


 * 191/192 Central Island Rapid (BCR): Sooke – Port Alberni
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class chair cars only with seat-side drink and snack service. Scheduled intermediate stops: Saseenos, Shawnigan Beach, Deerholme, Lake Cowichan, Youbou, Kissinger, Ditidaht, Franklin


 * 193/194 Sportsman Rapid (BCR): Victoria Union – Youbou
 * Two daily return trips in the summer timetable only, first and second class chair cars only with seat-side drink and snack service. Scheduled intermediate stops: Colwood, Saseenos, Shawnigan Beach, Deerholme, Lake Cowichan

Local
Local trains are passenger trains that make scheduled stops at all stations and halts.


 * 1311.1-2/1312.1-2: Sooke – Lake Cowichan
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 1313.1-2/1313.1-2: Sooke – Duncan
 * Two daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 1321.1-2/1322.1-2: Lake Cowichan – Port Alberni
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class with seat-side drink and snack service.

RailBus
The RailBus moniker is given to a Dominion-wide network of heavy rail transit operated under contract to the Ministry of Transport & Communication, various departments of the Urban Transit Authority, to school districts, or to First Nation governments, as the case may be. BC Rail operates a single RailBus service on the Central Island Trunk Line


 * Duncan – Deerholme – Lake Cowichan – Domforco: four return trips on workdays only for Domforco employees only. Operated under contract to Domforco.

Route
♦ - Scheduled Rapid stop • - Local stop; Rapid trains stop only with advance booking | - No passenger service