A long-discussed plan to bring passenger rail back to Greater Victoria is taking another step forward, according to a new annual report from the Island Corridor Foundation (ICF).
Released on June 26th, the Foundation’s 2025-26 Annual Report looks back at the organization’s progress over the past year while outlining what’s next for the rail corridor that stretches across Vancouver Island.
One of the biggest updates for Greater Victoria is that partners plan to launch a feasibility study in 2026 to determine whether passenger rail between Langford and Vic West could become a reality.
The study will examine what would be needed to make the service work, including whether part of the rail corridor through Esquimalt Nation lands could be rerouted.
It will also explore opportunities for future development along the corridor and potential benefits for participating First Nations.
If the study concludes the project is viable, the next step would be developing a business plan in 2027.
The proposed project is part of the Reconciliation Corridor Initiative, an agreement signed in December 2025 between Esquimalt Nation, Songhees Nation, five neighbouring municipalities and the Capital Regional District.
The partners agreed to work together to explore bringing passenger rail back to the region while also addressing the future of the corridor through Esquimalt Nation lands.
While the passenger rail study is the biggest update for Greater Victoria, the report also highlights several milestones from across Vancouver Island over the past year.
The Foundation says it improved its financial position through increased licensing revenue and better property management. It also created a Finance and Audit Committee and continued cataloguing infrastructure along the corridor, including 677 culverts on the Victoria subdivision and another 225 on the Port Alberni subdivision.
The report also highlights continued work with First Nations on projects ranging from land stewardship and vegetation management to future planning for the corridor.
In one of its key points, the Foundation says building those relationships remains one of its key priorities.
Other projects completed or underway include the opening of the Seventh Street Connector nature path in Nanaimo, continued work on the city’s rail-with-trail project and a $1 million provincially funded renovation of the Ladysmith Train Station that will transform it into a community and visitor hub.
The Foundation also held demonstrations of a hi-rail bus in Port Alberni and Ladysmith to showcase another possible use for the existing rail corridor.
Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan during the year.
The report notes the Wesley Ridge wildfire near Cameron Lake destroyed two historic railway trestle bridges and damaged two others, leaving the Foundation and its partners to determine the future of that section of the corridor.
The report suggests the coming year will continue to focus on passenger rail planning in Greater Victoria, maintenance of the rail corridor and partnerships with First Nations and local governments as discussions about the corridor’s future continue.
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How much taxpayer money is going to continue to be wasted on meetings, discussions and whatever about rail from Victoria to up island. I read about the decline of the lack of ridership and deterioration of the rail line when I came here 30 years ago !
Judy
Another study
Am I the only one who remembers the ICFs yearly fantasy announcement that commuter rail is just around the corner? The ICF will keep making these promises as long as the money's rolling in. Nobody at the ICF has a clue how to run a railway, they're all MBAs who exist only to raise money to pay themselves.
