WATCH: Yet another delay for the West Coast Express today, and once again, CP Rail is being blamed
There was another delay for the West Coast Express Tuesday.
This time it was blocked by a broken down freight train in Maple Ridge. It’s becoming a more common occurrence much toTransLink’s frustration.
The recent increase in delays has prompted TransLink to review the reliability of the West Coast Express. It found that over 13 years, trains were late only 1.6 per cent of the time. Even 2014 wasn’t too bad coming in at 1.7 per cent. But 2015 is another story with delays happening 6.3 per cent of the time. To put it another way, in 2014 there were 291 CP-related delays. So far this year there have been 358, according to TransLink.
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CP’s response to this sudden increase in delays states, in part: “over the last few years, the track into Vancouver has become a busier corridor…It makes good business sense for us all to continue to work together to minimize disruptions…”
But it’s not just TransLink. Commuter trains in Southern Ontario are also experiencing delays to the point where the province is actively buying track so it can improve reliability. There are no plans for that here as TransLink is focused on renegotiating its 20-year contract with CP, which expires this October.
-with files from Ted Chernecki
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