Southern Railway of British Columbia
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| 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 |
| Website | Southern Railway |
The Southern Railway of British Columbia, branded as SRY Rail Link (reporting mark SRY) is a Canadian short line railway operating in the southwestern 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 (CP), Canadian National (CN) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). It operates a fleet of 29 locomotives, mostly consisting of EMD GP-9 & SW900 locomotives. It also rosters 5 unique Ex. Canadian National Railway GMD-1 locomotives, and also runs 3 SD38-2 locomotives, and 1 SD38AC. The railroad also operates a fleet 2,000 rail cars, SRY 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.
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.
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