Nicola Valley Line

The Nicola Valley Line is a 47.0 mile railway line of the British Columbia Railway (BC Rail) running from Spences Bridge on the Inter-Dominion Line, where it also connects with the Canadian Pacific Railway's Thompson Subdivision, to Nicola via Merritt, where it connects to the Coquihalla Line.

The Nicola Valley Line is Line 22 of BC Rail's Lower Mainland Region.

History
The Nicola, Kamloops & Similkameen Railway (NK&S), a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, opened its line from Spences Bridge on the CPR mainline to Nicola in 1907. In 1915, after completing its line from Hope to Merritt, the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) took over the NK&S, and the Nicola line became the KVR's Nicola Subdivision. After the KVR's absorption by the BCR in 1955, the line was named Nicola Valley Line.

Services
Traffic on this line is quite light, with one freight movement and two local passenger trains in each direction every day.

Freight
Freight traffic on the Coquihalla Line comprises one daily wayfreight and a thrice-weekly copper train from Coyle. Because the station at Nicola is a dead end, trains are pushed from Merritt to Nicola with the engine at the rear.

Passenger
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.

Local
Local trains are passenger trains that make scheduled stops at all stations and halts along the route they serve. There is one Local train on the Nicola Valley Line.


 * 3003D.1-2/3004D.1-2: Kamloops – Spences Bridge – Merritt – Nicola
 * Two daily return trips operated by diesel car, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.

Timetable

 * "Down" is towards Spences Bridge; Down trains are superior to Up trains.
 * ↑↓ - train does not stop

Route
• - Local stop