Some of the most common questions about MVX and regional rail on the South Coast.
Regional rail is a form of passenger rail service meant to connect regions, typically using trains that travel at faster-than-highway speeds (100 kph or greater). In contrast to commuter rail systems (such as the West Coast Express), service is far more frequent and reliable, running all day in both directions.
Regional rail trains operate at a top speed of around 160 kph. This allows for travel times that are competitive or much faster than car travel.
For example, the following estimated travel times are likely possible with regional rail:
Though regional rail overlaps with the Skytrain network for parts of its length, it’s important to recognize that it provides a form of transit service that doesn’t currently exist here. Though rapid transit is excellent for local trips, it is not fast enough to offer competitive travel times for trips between regions. This is the role of regional rail.
In the case of trips from Vancouver to Surrey, regional rail will shorten the travel time from 39 minutes (with Skytrain) to only 17 minutes.
Regional rail will extend and complement Metro Vancouver’s existing transit network. For certain sections, it will provide relief and redundancy. In many cases, passengers will use both Skytrain and regional rail to conveniently and quickly reach a far greater range of destinations by transit than they can today.
In an ideal scenario, construction could start as early as 2029.
There are many developed countries (such as Italy, Spain and South Korea) where similar transit projects are being built at ⅓ to ⅕ of the capital cost of North American projects. According to the Transit Costs Project, a research initiative focused on understanding and analyzing the costs associated with public transit systems at NYU, most of this discrepancy is not due to material or labour costs but factors within our control such as planning and procurement practices.
The $10 Billion estimate was made while consulting with cost experts. It assumes that the best practices used in other parts of the world will be adopted for this project. Though a more detailed parametric cost analysis is underway, no significant estimate increases are anticipated.
To be clear, MVX will not be building Regional Rail. Our role is to research regional rail and advocate its merits to those who potentially would build it.
MVX Nexus regional rail could be built through the public or private sector or some combination. Our estimates show that with conventional financing (75% debt, 5% interest over 30 years) and 130,000 riders per day that the system would break even or generate a return for its investors. With government-backed financing and sharing infrastructure with future rapid transit, the financial picture further improves.
There are regions around the world that have a similar or smaller population than the south coast (such as Perth and Stockholm) that already have extensive regional rail systems. Many of these are in regions with lower overall transit usage than the South Coast. We shouldn’t be asking ourselves if we merit regional rail; we should be asking “why don’t we have it already”?
Metro Vancouver is also rapidly growing. This year, it reached 3 million and in a decade it will likely be approaching 4 million. We need to be building tomorrow’s infrastructure, not merely catching up with yesterday’s needs.
MVX is currently funded through private donations and sponsorships. MVX is also in the process of securing long-term funding through grants.
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