Southern Railway of British Columbia

Southern Railway of British Columbia
Reporting mark	SRY
Locale	Vancouver Island and Lower Mainland, British Columbia
Dates of operation	1989–
Predecessor	British Columbia Electric Railway
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Length	132 mi (212 km)
Headquarters	New Westminster, BC, Canada

The Southern Railway of British Columbia, branded as SRY Rail Link (reporting mark SRY) is a Canadian short line railway operating in the southwestern mainland of British Columbia. The main facility is the port at Annacis Island with major import of cars, export of forestry products, and other shipments. The railway has interconnections with three Class I railroads, including Canadian Pacific, Canadian National and BNSF. It operates a fleet of 29 locomotives and 2,000 cars, and hauls approximately 70,000 carloads per year. It operates around 123 miles (198 km) of track, 62 miles (100 km) of which is mainline track.

History

The Provincial government sold the railway to the Itel Rail Group in 1988. The railway was renamed the Southern Railway of British Columbia. The line was originally built in 1910 as the British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER), an interurban trolley service for passengers (until 1950) as well as for freight such as farm produce. The railway was taken over by Crown corporation BC Hydro in 1961 and was known as the BC Hydro Railway. In 1994 it was bought by Washington Group International but kept the SRY name. The Washington Group has since merged with URS.

To this day the Province and BC Hydro retain the right to reintroduce passenger service. In recent years, with congestion and growing environmental concerns, there has been increasing demand for this service, and willingness to pay, from persons wishing to travel among Fraser Valley communities other than by private automobile.

See also

• Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, a sister system to SRY.

External links

• Southern Railway of British Columbia