New study envisions Okanagan Valley regional passenger rail line

Conceptual artistic rendering of the Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel cell passenger train running on embedded rails on a traffic lane of Highway 97 next to Okanagan Lake, as part of the Okanagan Valley Electric Regional Passenger Rail. (Andrew Halfhide/UBC)

Instead of widening the BC interior’s highways, one University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan professor has floated the idea of building a regional rail network for passenger services.

A new study by a team of researchers, including Gordon Lovegrove, a professor at the School of Engineering at UBC Okanagan, published in the academic journal named Sustainability, outlines the potential technical and economic feasibility of a regional rail line within the Okanagan Valley.

It would run on a 344-km-long route, generally a north-south corridor in the Okanagan Valley, between Kamloops to the north and Osoyoos to the south, following the Highway 97 route.

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Along the way, following the Highway 97 corridor, the envisioned Okanagan Valley Electric Regional Passenger Rail (OVER PR) line would also serve communities such as Chase, Salmon Arm, Enderby, Armstrong, Vernon, Oyama, Lake Country, Kelowna, West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, Penticton, Oknagan Falls, and Oliver. It would have a total of 16 stations.

OVER PR would serve downtown Kelowna in order to cross Okanagan Lake through the use of a modified William R. Bennett Bridge — the floating pontoon five-lane bridge between downtown Kelowna and West Kelowna, which is frequently congested with an average 50,000 vehicles per day.

Route and station map of the Okanagan Valley Electric Regional Passenger Rail Service (OVER PR). (Sustainability)

The study estimates the service could have an average speed of 86 km/hr, with maximum operating speeds of up to 90 km/hr on rural segments of Highway 97. The end-to-end travel time would be about eight hours and 30 minutes, which is comparable to the car driving time of seven hours and 20 minutes in optimal weather and traffic conditions.

Different from conventional railways like the tracks of Canadian Pacific and Canadian National, the OVER PR would extensively use embedded rails along existing HOV lanes, highway right-of-ways, or medians. This approach would reduce the need for expensive land acquisition and preserve the road’s limited capacity for vehicles. The service’s operating speed and reliability would be enhanced by transit-priority measures, such as traffic signal priority at major intersections.

According to the study, embedding rails into the road surface offers several advantages compared to conventional railway tracks. These include greater durability, a longer lifespan, reduced maintenance costs, less noise and vibration, and improved operating smoothness and stability. However, such tracks involve higher upfront construction costs.

downtown kelowna william r bennett bridge okanagan lake

Downtown Kelowna towers, with Okanagan Lake and the William R. Bennett Bridge in the foreground. (Stan Jones/Shutterstock)

The five-lane William R. Bennett Bridge, completed in 2008. (Ian Ius/Daily Hive)

highway 97 peachland okanagan lake okanagan valley

Highway 97 looking north near Peachland in the Okanagan Valley. (Google Maps)

Moreover, rail-based rapid transit is deemed to be more attractive and safer that intercity buses, especially in the region’s winter climates, with highway coach buses being more prone to fatal winter crashes. The study further suggests that certain types of trains can overcome some of the steep grades along the Highway 97 corridor.

Major infrastructural costs are further reduced by using a train technology that does not require the extensive installation of electrical equipment, such as catenaries — overhead wires to feed power to the trains — and the associated substations.

Instead, the study proposes the use of a hydrogen fuel cell-battery train, with French manufacturer Alstom’s new generation self-powered Coradia iLint passenger train model specifically cited as the example. It is a variant of the company’s diesel-powered multiple-electric unit.

According to Alstom, the Coradia iLint is the world’s first passenger train that uses hydrogen fuel cell, and it has travelled distances of up to 1,175 km without refuelling and reached speeds of up to 140 km/hr. It first entered commercial service in 2018 in Germany, operating regularly on two different German networks, and has since travelled across over half a dozen European countries. Throughout Summer 2023, the Coradia iLint was successfully extensively tested on the Train de Charlevoix in Quebec, fully integrated with the tourist sightseeing train’s regular operations.

Train de Charlevoix Coradia iLint Alstom hydrogen train f

Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use on the Train de Charlevoix in Quebec. (Alstom)

Train de Charlevoix Coradia iLint Alstom hydrogen train

Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Germany. (Alstom)

In terms of its overall body and configured design, the zero-emission Coradia iLint carries some of the characteristics of not only a diesel-powered multiple-unit train but also a light-rail train. Unlike the conventional passenger trains used by VIA Rail, West Coast Express, and GO Train, it does not require a locomotive.

Similar to light rail transit (LRT), the train has a low-floor design, as its hydrogen tanks are mounted on the roof instead of on the underside on the train. The baseline design of a two-car Coradia iLint train can carry 150 seated passengers and 150 standing passengers for a total capacity of up to 300 passengers.

OVER PR would have an initial fleet of 16 vehicles, operating over a 16-hour period each day with frequencies of every 30 to 60 minutes.

The study estimates OVER PR could see a daily ridership of 13,000 passengers per day upon opening. In contrast, TransLink’s existing 99 B-Line — the busiest bus route in Western Canada — sees an average of about 36,000 boardings per weekday along a route that is a small fraction of the length of the OVER PR. This train’s ridership would be comparable to TransLink’s existing No. 19 Metrotown/Stanley Park bus route, which sees an average of about 13,000 boardings per weekday.

Over 30 years, the OVER PR’s total benefits of over $45 billion could outweigh its estimated capital and operating costs by a ratio of 9-1.

“The Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada is experiencing rapid growth in tourism and vehicle-related traffic, resulting in increased traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and road crash deaths.

“As the population continues to rise, the demand for intercity travel within the Okanagan Valley is expected to increase, leading to further congestion on Highway 97, the region’s main transportation artery. Unfortunately, the current approach of accommodating the growing travel demand with more vehicles and roads is unaffordable and exacerbates these problems.”

Okanagan Valley Electric Regional Passenger Rail OVER PR f

Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Poland. (Alstom)

Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Poland. (Alstom)

Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen-fuelled passenger train in use in Czech Republic. (Alstom)

In 2020, the Regional District for the Central Okanagan and the municipalities of Kelowna and West Kelowna endorsed a long-term regional transportation plan that eyes the possibility of rapid transit, including bus rapid transit (BRT) and LRT.

According to the regional district, some specific areas of the Central Okanagan could see increased residential and job densities to support a BRT or LRT by 2040, but there is no corridor with the required level of urban activity to support LRT. To better support LRT, there would need to be more aggressive land use and overall planning policies, including significantly higher density corridors.

In the past, the former railway corridor within the Central Okanagan has been considered as a potential route for rail-based rapid transit. However, the corridor’s topography and low-density land use patterns present challenges for sustaining higher-capacity public transit.

The regional district’s master plan notes that the Highway 97 corridor through Kelowna “has the potential to eventually reach densities that can support LRT, particularly newer LRT technologies that can be converted from bus rapid transit or dedicated transit lanes.”

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