Elevated Sky Train could link Island towns

Re: “Commuter rail hopes high despite B.C. switch,” June 4. We are wasting time on small thinking. We need world-class planning on all of Vancouver Island.

The Island Rail corridor runs from Greater Victoria to Courtenay and west to Port Alberni. These lands are a gift in planning the entire geography of Vancouver Island, not just Greater Victoria.

The Island’s population will reach three million or more by the end of this century.

A two-way elevated Sky Train would be the basis of future urban planning on Vancouver Island and stop the sprawl and poor planning we see now.

The line would service Swartz Bay, Sidney, the airport, the University of Victoria and downtown Victoria, and connect to the rail corridor, heading north, with a line to West Shore and then northward connecting the up-Island communities right to base of Mount Washington and on to Campbell River.

The line from the Parksville junction west to Port Alberni is a natural with more than one million visitors each year to Pacific Rim National Park.

Travel times would compete with car travel. Frequent takeaway from transit stations would allow daily trips and home again wherever your Island residence. Many school bus routes could be eliminated and options added for post-secondary students.

The mega-project would provide return on investment many times over.

It would provide thousands of jobs during construction, thousands more in urban development construction and thousands more in growing the tourism industry as the elevated structure and cars are designed for comfort, and spectacular views would become an international mustdo. Brian Jenkins Qualicum Beach