A group lobbying for an expansive new regional rail network in and around Metro Vancouver asked 91原创 Township for its endorsement at the Monday, April 7 council meeting.

Mountain Valley Express (MVX) is a non-profit committed to creating a world-class regional rail network that would link communities from Whistler and Squamish down to Tsawwassen and as far east as Mission and Chilliwack.

"Regional Rail makes sense for Metro Vancouver, and it especially makes sense for the Township of 91原创," said Lee Haber, MVE's director of strategy and partnerships.

He told the council that similar-sized communities like Brisbane, Australia already have extensive regional rail networks, with Brisbane served by 689 km of rail lines.

The network MVX is proposing is smaller than Brisbane's but would still cover 350 km of rail lines on both sides of the Fraser River. 

"It's not going to be cheap," Haber noted, saying MVX has estimated the cost of the entire project at about $12 billion. For comparison, the cost of the Surrey-91原创 SkyTrain extension is just under $6 billion.

If built, the rail line's first phase would run from Vancouver east through Burnaby, Coquitlam, Surrey, and 91原创 Township to Abbotsford. Its main route through Surrey, 91原创, and Abbotsford would be down the median between the lanes of Highway One, and it would have a stop at Carvolth in 91原创, where there is already a major bus park and ride.

Haber said that the estimated travel times for the network would be from Carvolth to Vancouver International Airport in 35 minutes, to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal in 44 minutes, to Horseshoe Bay in 37 minutes, and to Whistler in an hour and 44 minutes.

He fielded a number of questions from councillors, including about the project's similarity to the Rail for the Valley proposals, which have called for the revival of the old interurban railway line that once ran from Vancouver as far east as Chilliwack through 91原创. That proposal, which has drawn interest from politicians, is based on using existing rail lines and rights of way.

Councillor Margaret Kunst asked about whether MVX's plan also uses existing rail lines.

鈥淔or the most part, our planned network does not run on existing rail corridors," Haber said. "I want to be also clear that where we do run on rail corridors, the intention is to build new tracks that are dedicated to passenger rail service.鈥�

Questions about the source of funding came from Coun. Kim Richter.

Haber said MVX was looking at several options, both public and private. The Canada Infrastructure Bank was one possible source, and he said it exists to leverage private sector investent in infrastructure. Private funding and land value capture mechanisms 鈥� which are funded by the rise in property prices near new transit infrastructure 鈥� are also being considered, as is public funding from the province, he noted.

The council was being asked to sign on to an open letter, to be sent to TransLink and B.C.'s Minister of Transportation Mike Farnworth, with two major requests.

The letter asks for TransLink and the province to study regional rail on a variety of corridors, and to establish a directory of properties that should be monitored and preserved to ensure they can accommodate a future regional rail corridor and stations.

Mayor Eric Woodward noted that the council would want to see the entire open letter before deciding whether to add their endorsement.

Coun. Michael Pratt is a former member of MVX's board of directors.