Provincial Archives of 8. Cc. phato THE WHYTECLIFF train station in West Vancouver was becoming a quiet place when this photograph was taken in 1923. Five years later the Pacific Great Eastern Railway abandoned the North Vancouver-to-Whytecliff service. © ALLS. FOR commuter -rail service on the North Shore. are on the wrong track, according to rail and tran- . Sit officials. By Anna Marie D'Angelo. . Mews Reporter if So- say. BC. Rail, Canadian National Railways (CN Rail) and BC Transit representatives. . - The technical leup needed to go from moving freight through busy rail fines'on the North Shore to mov- ing people.in passenger trains would: be costly and impractical, they say. But commuter , train: proponent Bryan Vogler disagrees. Vogler..a.Via: Rail mechanic, argues the commuter rail line from Mission’ to Vancouver should go fur- ther. He has lobbied g governments, and rail companies ~since the 1980s to establish commuter train routes in the Lower Mainland. Vogier, believes the rail links are in place and could be used to move people all over the Lower Mainland. There must be a political will to do so. > West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Jeremy Dalton said the idea of commuter rail is intriguing. “The whole question: of transportation in the Lower ’ Mainland should be examined.” “Given the rail bed is there, we should look at the possibility of commuter transit on the water- front. It is a good concept. We've got to do some- thing about the crush of car traffic,” he said. Said Christine Skjerven,a CN representative in Edmonton, “If you ,have endless amounts , of ‘money, you can do anything, out when you consid- er who would be paying , for commuter rail, 1 sus- pect there is a limit.” Skjerven dogs not know what exactly i is needed to.establish passenger train service from the North Shore to downtown Vancouver. But she said there is no infrastructure set up despite the telltale tracks s running along the local waterfront. Skjerven said it costs on average S1 million to -build a mile of railway. Another obstacle. Skjerven’ said. is. the - rail - bridge near the Second Narrows Bridge. The rail bridge is a hit bridge to accommodate marine and ‘freight traffic, Every day, at least 10 CN trains travel the bridge” n ei ach direction, she said 3 yenue for the long trek to: as Ambleside, said; rain with’ 150’ passengers on board ey swiftly” along the route, as lined with’ cheering Supportérs und’ puzzled Native pe ated the 1914 newspape: “it is already one of those things that requires a lot of cooperation between CN and the port, to'add another rail component, espectally commuter traf- fic with specific times. would be logistically awk- ward.” said Skjerven. : BC Transit spokesman Trace Acres said the rail track past the Second Narrows ends up ina rail yard in Burnaby, a place relatively far from downtown Vancouver for North Shore commuters. According to a CN official. passengers would have to switch at the Burnaby rail yard and take another train to the Via Rail station at Main and ‘Termina} and then transfer to the SkyTrain lo get to ’ downtown Vancouver. : “Such a service would not offer a competitive altermative to buses, SeaBus or private automo- hiles.” states a CN press release on the issue, Acres acknowledged that North Shore residents who see trains go effortlessly by clogged roads may think the railway is the answer to transit problems. “What we are irying to get to is a situation that you are sitting in the traffic and watch the bus go by.” said Acres.: He said BC Transit concluded in a recent study that an enhanced bus system would be the best option for the Nerth Shore. ° canwhile BC Rail spokesman Burtie Wall said “the busy freight railway doesn’t casily lend itself to passenger » service. BC Rail moved 8.6 million tons of freight - through its North Vancouver yard fast year. NEWS phota Terry Priere THE USE .of North Shore freight rail tines is close to full” ’ capscity. ae The Crown owned ray makes a profit. « Wall said the railway's s passenger service, Vancouver to Prince George; loses money. : “Our objective with. passenger service is to try and break even. We are ni there yet.’ said Wall. Meanwhile Wall said BC Rail made $40 million last year on a capital investment of $1.4 billion. He sees te railways mandate as staying oul of the taxpayers’ pocket. Wall said that the recently announced commuter train service from Mission to Vancouver i is a money loser. “Even at ¢ a fare of $7.50 each way, it is still going to be subsidized by the taxpayer.” said Wall. Wall said train commuter service around the world dees not make money. He said isolated services such as bullet trains in Japan are profitable, but the passenger rail service in the country is not profitable. He said that passenger trains filled with people do not mean a rail line makes money, Wall said the southeast rail commuter system in England which focuses on London loses “huge” sums of money. “There is a difference in Europe and that’s that the various governments have made 4 conscious decision to pump subsidies in the railway system as an alternative to. going. overboard building free- ways.” said Wall. ‘Wall said that if a commuter train line was ever agreed to on the North Shore, a dedicated rail fine would have to be built, “Otherwise these so-called commuter trains — would be shunted while freight trains came through, Freight trains have the priority on freight ' See Freight page 4 ‘Bellevue, a; daily run from North’ Viurder suspects charged with | mischief in NV TWO FORMER West Vancouver secondary. stu- dents who are suspects in Washington, murders were charged early this month with com- miting mischief against their neighbors in North Vancouver. By Anna Marie D’Angelo News Reporter Sebastien Burns, 20, and Auf Rafay, 19, next appear in ~ North Vancouver provincial court on Nov. 27 for a trial. The men, who live at 2021 Phillip Ave., are suspects in the ‘ murders. of - Rafay's father, mother and sister. Tariq Rafay, 56, his wife, Sultana. in her 50s, and- their 21-year-old daughter Basma . were bludgeoned to death in their home in July [994, Tariq Rafay, a civil engineer, was 4 prominent member of Vancouver's Pakistani commu- nity for a decade, and a past- president of the Pakistan-' Canada Friendship Society... The family had moved from North Vancouver to the upper- middle-class’ Bellevue. ‘neigh-. . . borhood just over a year before their murders,” ; Bellevue poiice had fequest- ed hair and blood samples from Rafay and Burns; whom police uy have refused to cooperate. - “The ‘pair had returned: to* Canada two or, three days after . ‘the murder. : : Had “they “remained ‘in “the United, States, DNA samples: would | have © ‘been _ taken: American law permits the price" ‘tice in homicide cases involv: ing arrested suspects. 2 2” In Canada, DNA sampling currently ‘requires the consent. - of suspects, Bellevue detectives ~ have leamed. ; .-, Bellevue detectives say the DNA samples from Burs and Rafay would help police deter- mine if someone other. than the two suspects and three victims were in the house. Bums and Rafay have had Vancouver lawyer — Patrick Beirme speak on their. behalf concerning the nuirders’ inves- tigation. Beime is also sepre- senting them on the. mischief charge. Beime was unavailable © to press time. The criminal charge of mis-' chief against the pair covers a period from Oct. 30,1994, to, April 28. The charges allege that the, two ‘committed mischief by obstructing the lawful use of property in) North Vancouver District. .