Southern Railway of British Columbia

Canadian short line railway branded as SRY Rail Link

Southern Railway of British Columbia

Overview
Headquarters| New Westminster, BC, Canada
Reporting mark| SRY
Locale| Vancouver Island and Lower Mainland, British Columbia
Dates of operation| 1989-
Predecessor| British Columbia Electric Railway
Technical
Track gauge| 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Length| 132 mi (212 km)
Other
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 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 Kansas City (CPKC), Canadian National (CN) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). It operates a fleet of 29 locomotives, mostly consisting of EMD [(11)[GP-9]] and [(10)[SW900]] locomotives. SRY also currently rosters 2 SD38-2s, an SD38AC and an SD35. Additionally, SRY formerly rostered 4 GMD1s. The railroad also operates a fleet 2,000 rail cars, hauling approximately 70,000 carloads per year. It operates around 123 miles (198 km) of track, 62 miles (100 km) of which is mainline track.[1]

## History

[edit]

SRY boxcar

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 1950s) 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 1988 Freight rights, rolling stock and Rails were sold to Itel of Chicago with protected passenger rights at no cost. 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.[2] 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. In 2019, the South Fraser Community Rail campaign was being launched, promoted by former BC premier Bill Vander Zalm and former Langley mayor Rick Green, to resurrect passenger service to Chilliwack using the former BCER right-of-way. The proposed light-rail line would be 103 km (64 mi) long.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* Railways portal

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

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "SRY Rail Link - Profile". Archived from the original on December 10, 2011.
2. ^ Lewis, Brian (July 7, 2009). "Rail reality grows with Hydro's revelation". The Province. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
3. ^ Gold, Kerry (July 12, 2019). "Push begins to rebuild Vancouver-Chilliwack rail line". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern Railway of British Columbia.

* Southern Railway of British Columbia
* Southern Railway of BC Locomotive Roster
* BC Electric, BC Hydro, Southern British Columbia

* v
* t
* e

Railways of Canada

Common freight
carriers|

* Barrie Collingwood Railway
* BNSF Railway
* Boundary Trail Railway
* Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway
* Central Manitoba Railway
* Chemin de fer Lanaudière
* Canadian National Railway
* Canadian Pacific Kansas City
* CSX Transportation (Pan Am Railways)
* Carlton Trail Railway
* Essex Terminal Railway
* Fife Lake Railway
* Goderich–Exeter Railway
* Grand Forks Railway
* Great Sandhills Railway
* Great Western Railway (Saskatchewan)
* Hudson Bay Railway
* Huron Central Railway
* Island Rail Corridor
* Keewatin Railway
* Kettle Falls International Railway
* Last Mountain Railway
* Maine Northern Railway
* Minnesota, Dakota and Western Railway
* New Brunswick Southern Railway
* Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway
* Norfolk Southern Railway
* Orangeville Brampton Railway
* Ontario Northland Railway
* Ontario Southland Railway
* Ottawa Valley Railway
* Quebec Gatineau Railway
* Red Coat Road and Rail
* Sartigan Railway
* Southern Ontario Railway
* Roberval and Saguenay Railway
* Sydney Coal Railway
* St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
* Southern Rails Cooperative
* Southern Railway of British Columbia
* Stewart Southern Railway
* Torch River Rail
* Thunder Rail
* Trillium Railway

Private carriers|

* Cartier Railway
* Arnaud Railway
* Bloom Lake Railway
* Chemin de fer de la Rivière Romaine
* Port of Montreal railway
* Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway
* Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway
* Tshiuetin Rail Transportation
* Vale Railway
* Wabush Lake Railway
* Western Labrador Rail Services

Class II and
III railways|

* v
* t
* e

Class II and class III railways of Canada

Current (operating)
regional railways|

* CSXT
* EXO
* GOT
* HBRY
* HCRY
* KLR
* KRC
* NS
* ONT
* QNSX
* RMV
* TSH
* WCE
* WPY

Former or fallen flag
regional railways|

* AC
* BCOL
* CDAC
* C&K
* C&PR
* CAR
* CAR (original)
* CASO
* CCR
* CER
* CGR
* CMQ
* CNoR
* CV
* CW&LER
* DAR
* E&NAR
* GTPR
* GTR
* H&SW
* HBR
* ICR/IRC
* K&P
* MEC
* MC
* MR
* MMA
* NR
* NTR
* NYC
* NS&T
* NAR
* N&PJ
* NRC
* NSR
* OA&PS
* O&QRR
* PC
* PEIR
* PSCR
* SLQ
* T&NR
* TT
* VR

Current (operating)
short line railways|

* ANR
* APR
* APXX
* ARND
* ARM
* BRR
* BCRY
* BFDC
* BGS
* BLRC
* CBNS
* CCGX
* CEMR
* CFC
* CFL
* CFS
* CFO
* CFQG
* CRM
* CTRW
* CWRL
* ECRM
* ENR
* ETR
* FLR
* FSSR/EKRC
* GEXR
* GHRP
* GJR
* GFR
* GJD
* GSR
* GWWD
* GWR
* HPA
* HCRR
* HCRY
* HCWR
* HPHV
* IRRS
* KFR
* KHR
* KLTR
* KPR
* KVSR
* LMR
* LWR
* MNRY
* MDW
* NBSR
* OKAN
* OBRY
* OSR
* OVR
* OVO
* PAR
* PCHR
* PDCR
* PLC
* POM
* PSTR
* QGRY
* RCRR
* RES
* RLHH
* RLK
* RMRS
* RS
* S&HR
* SCR
* SFG
* SLQ
* SOP
* SOR
* SRCL
* SRY
* SSR
* SSS
* STCR
* STER
* SVI
* THR
* TRR
* TRRY
* VAEX
* VDHR
* WABL
* WLRS
* WCR
* WCRA
* WHRC
* WLRC
* YDHR

Former or fallen flag
short line railways|

* ANY
* B&HER
* BCER
* BQ
* BW&NW
* BR
* CBC
* CFMG
* C&K
* C&SL
* CVR
* CVR
* CW&LER
* DH
* DVR
* DWP
* EIR
* G&LS
* GFCR
* GRNR
* GVR
* H&BIR
* H&DR
* H&NWR
* HER
* HG&BER
* HGR
* HIR
* HRE
* HSR
* H&SW
* IRM
* K&P
* K&S
* KLR
* KVR
* L&LER
* L&MSR
* L&PS
* LEN
* LB&PR
* MVRR
* M&MR/M&M
* MKNR
* MSRT
* NBEC
* N&NR
* N&NWR
* N&S
* NN&RW
* NGR
* NSR
* NSR
* NYR
* O&Q
* OCRR
* OLO
* O&RRR/ORRR
* PAD&WR/PADW
* QC
* QSR
* S&L
* SAR
* SCFQ
* SOO
* STLH
* SW&AR
* TI
* T&MER
* T&SER
* TG&B
* TCR
* THB
* TNR
* TRC
* TS&MJR
* TSt.R
* TSR
* T&YRR
* WJR
* WI
* WAR
* WCR
* WE&LSR
* WESR
* WG&B
* WTV&IR

See also: List of Canadian railways

Passenger railways|

* v
* t
* e

Passenger railways of Canada

Intercity|

* Via Rail
* Amtrak
* Cascades
* Maple Leaf
* Adirondack
* Keewatin Railway
* Ontario Northland Railway
* Tshiuetin Rail Transportation
* Kaoham Shuttle

Sightseeing|

* Agawa Canyon Tour Train
* Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions
* Train de Charlevoix
* Port Stanley Terminal Rail
* Rocky Mountaineer
* Royal Canadian Pacific
* White Pass and Yukon Route

Commuter rail|

* GO Transit
* Greater Toronto
* Union Pearson Express
* Greater Toronto
* Exo
* Greater Montreal
* West Coast Express
* Greater Vancouver

Urban rail|

* CTrain
* Calgary
* Edmonton LRT
* Ion
* Waterloo Region
* Montreal Metro
* O-Train
* Ottawa
* Réseau express métropolitain
* Montreal
* SkyTrain
* Greater Vancouver
* Toronto subway

| Under construction|

* Broadway extension
* Vancouver
* Green Line
* Calgary
* Hurontario LRT
* Peel Region
* Line 5 Eglinton
* Toronto
* Line 6 Finch West
* Toronto
* Ontario Line
* Toronto
* O-Train Stage 2
* Ottawa
* REM Stage 2
* Montreal
* Valley Line West
* Edmonton

|

Planned|

* Blue line extension
* Montreal
* Gatineau LRT
* Gatineau
* Ion Stage 2
* Waterloo Region – Cambridge
* Hamilton LRT
* Hamilton
* Pink Line
* Montreal
* Quebec City Tramway
* Quebec City
* Surrey–Langley extension
* Greater Vancouver

Cancelled or closed|

* Expo Express
* Montreal
* Scarborough RT
* Toronto
* Sheppard East LRT
* Toronto
* Surrey LRT
* REM de l'Est
* Montreal

Streetcar|

* Toronto streetcar system

People mover|

* Terminal Link
* Toronto

Heritage tramways|

* High Level Bridge Streetcar
* Edmonton
* Nelson Electric Tramway

See also|

* Urban rail transit in Canada
* Streetcars in North America
* Heritage railways in Canada
* Canada railways template
* Canada short line railways template

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template