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So cool to see companies that help the community in such a great way

Awesome vid

It would cost a billion dollars to make the line useable, just between Victoria and Duncan. It will never be curable.

Adelante!!!!

One of the highlights of being in Nanaimo, is getting on the Hullo ferry, and waving goodbye to Nanaimo. Sadly, I have to return to Nanaimo more often than I would like to.

Awesome podcast. You have a beautiful friendship - so glad to have met both of you! All the best!

I live near that park, and I saw a shadow person in the basement window.

The required trestles and up grades to the infrastructure will cost well over half a billion dollars. The largest group of people who will use it would be tourists in the summer. Public transit in the towns it runs through isn’t convenient enough to make the journey worthwhile. I took this trip three times in the seventies and it was nice. But I had someone pick me up in Courtney. I can’t b see this line opening again.

Muchas felicidades muchachas! Saludos desde Mx:)

Great video!!

Great to see more fun activities in Nanaimo!

Looks fun - great to see some familiar faces, too!

Great video!

great work

I love this

Props to the editor, this looks beautiful 👏

How much does it costt 😍

This is exactly what I was looking for

omg I need to go there now 😮

Looks like a pretty cool spot!

Very interesting!!!

This railway needs to be turned into one multiple use trail. This would better suit the growing trends of hiking/biking/equestrian activities on the island and help promote healthy lifestyles and connect people to communities which will increase revenue for these places. Also much more affordable to maintain than a full blown railway.

Even from your average BCF employee, the competition is most welcome. BCF needs competition, or nothing improves for anybody. I really hope Hullo succeeds where the others could not.

Hullo is great for convenience DT Vancouver to DT Nanaimo. I’m not sure the overhead to run it but when I went it was half full both directions, and to that I felt a-little worried for their financials but again I don’t know their overhead. The shuttle bus from their Nanaimo terminal runs every 10 minutes to bring you to a public bus terminal (convenient DT location) and the driver I had was very nice *Nanaimo public bus drivers are great)). The wifi was good. The coffee maker was down… big NoNo for myself both for my comfort and for business litmus test. If I were Hullo I would put 3 vending machines in place of the snack shop (save money and make money) but I just bring my own and eat on the seat table. Over all I would take it again I just hope finances are feasible. The ride is smooth and fast at sea level. A bike rack on the deck could be a plus. Waiting outside is a warning, bring an umbrella if it calls for rain.

Let’s get more action then talk. Money used talking should be put into action. I would use the railway just to see the areas where it goes through. So different from the highway. Plus a nice way to go to Victoria from Nanaimo for the day.

Incidentally their website, shall we say...sucks.

Clear the rails and implement a multipurpose trail!

I lived next door the a senior engineer for island rail over a decade ago and he agreed it would be a staggering amount to rebuild it to operational requirements. The funny thing is graham bruce who more or less had made it his thing to get it going again was also a member of the governing party that let it go along with bc rail. All it is now is a dog walking path, homeless express and pit of embezzlement

The cost to fix up the rail line is now around $6 million per km. As was evident before the line closed down, there just isn't anywhere near the ridership to justify the costs. You'd need tens of thousands of people paying $100+ per month to even think about... scratch that ($100 x 10,000 = $1 million/m) isn't even going to pay the interest on fixing up Vic to Nam. Sorry, never going to happen. I doubt even ripping the tracks out for a trail is economically sound given how expensive everything is these days. Most realistic thing to do is leave as is and weedwhack annually until the trellises give out in a few decades.

Took the ferry this past weekend, great experience. Thanks Hullo!

ok so its 20 mins shorter than the horseshoe bay ferry walk on? better vancouver side access....cant walk around and enjoy being outside like you can on the big ferries. why? I could see if the sailing time was like only 45 mins or something super quick. but its barely faster than a big ferry. and they have horseshoe bay ferry expresses or tawassen express busses. I dont really see why this would even be a thing? I would just do a walk on at horseshoe bay. cafeteria, coffee, seating, being on deck if its nice out...this seems not well thought out. no wonder companies fold

My idea: Electrify the line for goods transportation only. Get rid of diesel powered train engines and replace them with fully electric units which are quiet and efficient. This would free up the Malahat which is notoriously a pinch point for traffic congestion.

Rail to Trail makes the most sense at this point - there simply isnt the demand to sustain passenger rail service on the island. At best its a touristic curiosity. Better to develop multi-use strategies similar to other deactiated rail lines on Vancouver Island. Cycling, hiking and walking on the old trestles of Cowichan railway is excellent and helps to develop services along this route. Its a draw for both locals and tourists alike. Developing a similar route from Victoria up to Courtenay would similar. And cheaper.

The wifi didn’t work for me either when I crossed last week

i stopped watching at the stolen lands comment. twerp

Pretty great services. I had playoff tickets and they delayed the boat because it went into overtime 😊 Loved that boat. Also, you can pay an extra 10 bucks to not have to sit near children 😂More Hullo less BC ferrys please

This looks amazing 🤩 personally I think BC ferries is better yes I know it takes longer but you get way more on bc ferries plus there is a lot of room to walk around inside and outside and now on at least one BC ferries vessel there is a pet area

How long is the trip?

I regret to inform you that our city council in Port Alberni has torn up the tracks into the town as of June 2024. The heritage society trains are stuck where they are now I guess. Very sad for rail history on VI

Great Ferry! Horrible online customer service. On the few occasions I’ve needed to message them, regarding a trip, and some travel vouchers I had, my questions were not answered, and clearly not read properly. I had to message back to clarify, about 2 times, and every time it’s like they read one sentence, and gave me info I wasn’t asking for. Happened to a friend as well. I’m not trying to be a rude, but Hullo needs to take their customer service more seriously, because there’s no one you can talk to over the phone. Whoever has replied to me the couple times I has questions was very incompetent, or overworked so they couldn’t possibly put care into reading emails, and replying

I ride my fat tire bicycle down a section near where I live. Still I would like to see trains. My Grandfather was a CNR Engineer. (Engineman). I miss trains on the Island.

Cannot see it coming back. The rail base needs to be worked on. The ties are shot, would need to be replaced. We are talking huge money.

Keep the rail line for passenger service .

Who is going to pay for this

The E&N was incredibly slow and not very scenic when it was operating. I can’t see there would be much demand for this service these days.

not that much faster than a bc ferry horseshoe bay to departure bay is only 89 or 90 minutes and you get to bring your car as well. its a pain in the arse in Nanaimo. I don't think its gonna survive the summer

You forgot to mention that if people walk they are walking right into zombies literally everywhere

It was promised to be up and running 12 years ago

Mosaic, which owns/governs much of the E&N land grant, as parent company and owner of the forest companies directly cutting trees, is itself owned, in large part, by ‘B.C. Investment Management Corp’, which is the B.C. government employees pension plan. So in fact the stakeholders locking everybody on the Island out of those lands, is our own B.C. Government, by proxy. The people setting the rules Mosiac must follow, deciding cut volumes, environmental rules, exporting raw logs, making profits, and denying the public access to the lands, is the government itself. This is a massive conflict of interest hardly anybody seems to be aware of. Mosiac is only “private” in concept. Being owned by the BC government pension fund, it might as well be the government. Look it up and you will see.

They ain't gonna last