Okanagan Line

The Okanagan Line is a 132.7 mile railway line of the British Columbia Railway (BC Rail) running from Armstrong, where it connects with the Slahaltkan Line and the Canadian Pacific Railway's Okanagan Subdivision, to Sooyoos, where it connects with the Washington & British Columbia Railway's Sooyoos Lake Line. It also connects to the Lumby Line at Middleton, to the Kettle Valley Line at Lebanon Lake, and to the Syilx Line at Penticton.

The Okanagan Line is Line 40 of BC Rail's Kettle Valley Region.

Between Armstrong and Kelowna, a distance of 47.6 miles, the line is electrified and double-tracked.

History
The origins of the Okanagan Line can be traced back to 1889, when the Shuswap & Okanagan Railway (S&O) was chartered to build a railway from Sicamous on the Canadian Pacific Railway's transcontinental mainline to Kelowna. The first section of the proposed line, from Sicamous to Vernon via Armstrong, was opened in 1891, but funds were insufficient to commence work on the next section towards Kelowna. In 1893, the CPR bought the S&O and absorbed it.

The Vernon & Midway Railway (V&M) was chartered in 1908 to build a railway between the two named cities. It wasn't until 1910, however, that work actually began, progressing slowly - by 1912, the V&M had opened only 9 miles from Penticton to Naramata, with a further 40.8 miles from Naramata to Myra via Lebanon Lake graded, partially graded, or cleared.

To face the threat of American influence in the Okanagan and Kootenay regions of the country, in the form of the northwards expansion of the Great Northern Railway from Washington state, the Canadian Pacific Railway and the BCR created the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) as a joint venture in 1912, seeing the necessity of countering the American threat as more important than any domestic economic rivalry. Work was immediately begun on a line from Midway westwards towards Myra, to meet the line being built by the V&M.

The KVR spared neither effort nor expense into building the line quickly and well, completing the 84.2 miles from Midway to Myra in November 1913; by that time, the V&M had completed work only as far as Adra, 11.5 miles from Naramata, leaving a further 29.3 miles left to build to Myra. Consequently, the KVR opted to buy out the V&M, absorbing it on 1 January 1914, and on 14 June 1914, the Penticton–Midway line was opened; at that same time, the Armstrong–Vernon section of the CPR line was transferred to the KVR.

Following that, the KVR's construction efforts were initially focussed on connecting the Midway line to Vancouver by the shortest possible route; this resulted in the Hope–Brodie–Merritt and Brodie–Penticton lines being opened in 1915. After that, the First World War forced the suspension of new construction, but after war's end it resumed with intensity: in 1923, a line south from Penticton to Haynes was opened, and the line from Vernon was pushed south to reach Kelowna in 1925. The Great Depression, combined with difficult terrain, meant that it wasn't until 1938 that the gap between Kelowna and Myra was finally closed and through traffic finally began.

Economic activity abounded in the area, including large-scale fruit-growing and fruit processing enterprises which made up the bulk of traffic before the outbreak of the Second World War. The growth of freight traffic was ensured during the Pacific War, when, due to fears of Japanese attack, much industry was moved to the Interior during the war. Supermarine BC's vast aeroplane plant was opened north of Kelowna, and Hoffar Aero Engines' enormous facility at Lumby, both in 1942. To meet the enormous surge in traffic, the BCR's Slahaltkan Line (Kamloops–Armstrong) and the KVR's lines from Armstrong to Kelowna and from Vernon to Lumby were double-tracked and electrified. Finally, the line from Haynes to Sooyoos was completed in 1944, a few months after the Washington & British Columbia Railway's line from Oroville, Washington to Sooyoos had been opened in 1943.

Under the KVR, the Armstrong–Lebanon Lake section was part of the Kelowna Subdivision, the Penticton–Lebanon Lake–Midway line made up the Carmi Subdivision, and the Penticton - Sooyoos section was part of the Sooyoos Subdivision.

When the BCR absorbed the KVR in 1955, it did away with the KVR's organisation of divisions and subdivisions, dividing the absorbed network into its own system of Lines established in 1922, with the entire Armstrong–Sooyoos line becoming the Okanagan Line. The economic importance of the line was further boosts in the years after the end of the war, with the opening of other industries in the area, such as Kelowna Flightcraft's helicopter factory was opened at Kelowna Airport.

Services
This line is one of the busiest in British Columbia both in freight and passenger traffic.

Freight
There are numerous freight trains on the section north of Kelowna; between Kelowna and Sooyoos, freight work is lighter, but fruit harvest season brings increased levels of traffic.

Supermarine is a large freight yard, in between what were Supermarine BC's two production facilities - the floatplane plant on the south shore of Ellison Lake, and the landplane plant north of Kelowna Airport. The floatplane facility, just over 31 acres in total area, was sold in 1961 to Kelowna Aviation Co. Ltd., which originally specialised in the maintenance and overhaul of floatplanes; in 1991 Kelowna Aviation was renamed Kelowna Flightcraft, and began licence-construction of Russian Mil and Kamov helicopters for sale in North America in 1992. The 135-acre landplane plant at the airport was retained, and was the site of primary construction and assembly of Shukopoots and Spitfire II fighters for the RBCAF, along with other work.

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.

Limited Express
Limited Express trains are BC Rail's fastest and most prestigious trains, making very few or no intermediate stops. They feature free baggage handling for both first and second classes, along with a cafeteria car open to both classes. The Okanagan Line sees one international Limited Express service.

All international Limited Express trains feature full-service dining cars open to first and second class passengers, sleeping cars (first class) and sleeperette cars (second class), as well as baggage handling, free of charge for first class passengers, or for a surcharge for second class passengers. International services may be used for domestic travel, but for travel between three or fewer domestic stops a surcharge is applied.


 * 133/134 Okanagan Limited (BCR/Amtrak): Kamloops, BC – Spokane, Washington, USA
 * Daily service with a morning departure from each end using one Amtrak consist and one BC Rail consist. This train runs over the trackage of three railways: BC Rail between Kamloops and Sooyoos, the Washington & British Columbia between Sooyoos and Oroville, Washington, and the Burlington Northern & Gulf between Oroville and Spokane. A BC Rail locomotive works the train on the electrified line between Kamloops and Kelowna, a W&BC locomotive and crew is used between Kelowna and Oroville, and an Amtrak locomotive and crew works the train between Oroville and Spokane. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Falkland, Armstrong, Vernon, Kelowna, Naramata, Penticton, Skaha, Oliver, Sooyoos (BC customs checks)
 * Washington: Oroville (US customs checks), Chelan, Wenatchee

Express
Regular Express trains stop more often than Limited Express trains, but do not make unscheduled stops, featuring baggage handling free of charge to first class passengers, and available to second class passengers for a surcharge, and all include either a full-service dining car or a cafeteria car open to all classes. For travel between three or fewer stops a surcharge is applied. There are two Express trains on the Okanagan Line, one operated by BC Rail, the other being a joint operation between the Washington & British Columbia Railway and Amtrak.


 * 35/36 Okanagan Highlander: Kamloops – Sooyoos
 * Three daily return trips with a cafeteria car in the summer timetable, two in the winter timetable. Intermediate stops: Falkland, Armstrong, Vernon, Oyama, Kelowna, Naramata, Poplar Grove, Penticton, Skaha, Kaleden, Okanagan Falls, Oliver


 * 441/442 Bitterroot Mountaineer: Penticton, BC – Coeur d'Alene, ID
 * Daily service with a morning departure from each end, using an Amtrak consist (second class chair cars only, with a cafeteria car) pulled by a W&BC locomotive. Between Penticton and Sooyoos this train runs over BCR trackage, between Sooyoos and Oroville, Washington over W&BC trackage, and between Oroville and Spokane over BN&G trackage. BC and US customs checks take place at Boundary, Washington; passengers may not board or alight there. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Oliver, Sooyoos
 * Washington: Boundary (US customs checks), Oroville, Okanogan, Chelan, Wenatchee, Odessa, Spokane

Local
Local trains are passenger trains that make scheduled stops at all stations and halts along the route they serve. There are five Local trains on the Okanagan Line.


 * 3101E.1-4/3102E.1-4: Kamloops – Armstrong – Vernon
 * Four daily return trips operated by EMU, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 4001.1-5/4002.1-5: Penticton – Kelowna
 * Five daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 4003E.1-6/4004E.1-6: Vernon – Kelowna
 * Six daily return trips operated by EMU, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 4005.1-3/4006.1-3: Penticton – Sooyoos
 * Five daily return trips, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 4201D.1-2/4202D.1-2: Kelowna – Lebanon Lake – Midway – Grand Forks – Christina Lake
 * Two daily return trips operated by DC, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.

KalExpress
The KalExpress service, introduced in 1993, is operated by BC Rail under contract to Vernon Regional Transit (VRT), a department of the Urban Transit Authority (UTA), itself a department of the Dominion government's Ministry of Transport and Communications. This service is operated with single-class electric multiple-unit trainsets painted in a special KalExpress livery, but owned by BC Rail.

KalExpress trains run between Armstrong and Lumby via Vernon with hourly service from 05:20 to 01:20 Monday through Thursday, 05:20 to 02:20 Friday and Saturday, and 07:00 to 24:00 on Sundays and statutory holidays.

Route
A yellow background indicates that that section of line is electrified; italic text indicates a closed station or connection.

● - Scheduled Limited Express, Express, Local, and KalExpress stop ▲ - Scheduled Express, Local, and KalExpress stop • - Local and KalExpress stop K - KalExpress stop only | - No passenger service