Who's going tostop tl

Prince George speaks out against propos

Our BC *NOT* for sale! Stop killing our economy! BC Rail, not for

tions to every rail-served point in North America. The BC Rail main- save mone’

sale! These signs and more shouted their messages across the lawn of _ line consists of about 2,315 kilometres:of track, serving areas as diverse combined «
the Prince George City Hall on November third. Despite the chilly as Vancouver, Fort Nelson, Dawson Creek, Chipmunk, and, of course, make it too
weather, an impressive crowd of Prince George's citizens made it out Prince George. Financially speaking, BC Rail is the third largest rail- longer has |
to the rally against the sale of BC Rail. “For Prince George, this wasa way in North America. About 80% of BC Rail’s total revenue is gener- the passens
really good turnout,” one attendee marvelled. ated from freight transport of such goods as forest, energy and agri- _ been the be
This is all good and fine, but why are so many Prince George citizens cultural products. The remainder of the business unit’s revenue is While the
made by hiring out cars. there are of

ra a ee Bas Now that we know some details about the railway, why isit forsale? _ nities. On
A proposal made by CN included The BC Liberals claim that the company is losing money on its freight | about BC R

tearing up the rail line from
Vancouver to Whistler, and
replacing it with highway to
make it cheaper and eas-

service, and is already largely debt-ridden. In fact, the government has
gone so far as to call BC Rail a “billion dollar drain to taxpayers.” Are
these alleged financial problems truly costing the taxpayers of BC this
much money? BC Rail supporter and union member Glen McInnis
says no,

“We're getting rid of a really big source of revenue that could be
going towards building schools and hospitals,” McInnis claims. The
numbers seem to support his statement. Since 1996, BC Rail’s operat-
ing income has averaged about $59 million per year, with a 2002 finish

ger service was axed in 2002, apparently after running at a consistent
loss for quite a while. This lack of passenger train service is a bone of

“We’
revel
build

H oe of $71,315,000. The next three years are projected at $58 million each a handful o
ier to get to the 201 0 for 2003 and 2004, and then $63 million - 2005. BC Rail is also consis- union or ni
ym . 9 tently reducing its debt. Ever since 2000, BC Rail’s debt has been _ the railway
Olympic Games. reduced by almost ten million dollars a year. By 2005, BC Rail’s debt- _in the railw
to-equity ratio will be 1.03. This compares favourably with those of ° are sold-to:
Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, which sit at 0.79 and 1.19 Another |
concerned about the proposed sale of BC respectively. private rail
Rail? For that matter, what is BC Rail, The railway also spends a lot of money in communities along the rail _ that includ
and what is its connection to.our line, including Prince George. In 1998, BC Rail paid ICG Gas over it with hi
fair city? $30,000, Fountain Tire over $175,000, and Husky Oil over $18 million! Vanouver/
pa Rail operates exclu- In Prince George, BC Rail annually spends about $40 million for goods _—_— purchase o
“sively in British and services from 170 different businesses, including Husky Oil, Esso § company, s
Columbia, and Bulk, London Drugs, Finning, and the Coast Inn of the North. a similar n
has _inter- While freight is currently the name of the game, some would like to _ George.
line con- see increased passenger service over BC Rail’s routes, and think it Despite tl
nec- would help the railway earn even higher profits. The BC Rail passen- _— for BC Rail

lion dollars
$30 million

contention for some people. “Whoever runs BC Rail, we need afford- | enue is exp
able economy class rail travel, as well as a high-end tourism class” = way has rec
says artist and train enthusiast Matthew Wheeler. He believes _ service to s
that the train is an excellent way for people to travel safely | unions ha\

and reliably in the shifting climates of British Columbia. _ proved the

“Lots of people don’t drive, and people are often relaunch pé

warned. off of snow-covered highways in the win- Unfortun

ter,” Wheeler says. “Even planes can be grounded _ with severa

_ by fog. But this kind of weather almost never stops —_ way, but th:

the train.” ._ However, passenger service can fallinto setback, ho

a trap in which everybody loses: combined econo- how you cé

my and tourist service. Wheeler insists thatcom- _ tion at http

bining these two services, though it may seem to