BCOL/BCIT BC Rail History

The Company was incorporated originally as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway under Provincial Charter on February 27, 1912, to construct and operate a railway along Howe Sound and northeasterly to a junction with
the Grand Trunk Pacific at Prince George, a distance of 470 miles.

Upon incorporation, at which time the PGE took over nine miles of the then existing Howe Sound and Northern Railway, an agreement was ratified between the Province, the promoters, and the Grand Trunk Pacific, later to become the CNR.

The name of the road came from the Great Eastern Railway of Great Britain along with bond funds from British citizens.

The PGE let the contract for construction to Messrs. Foley, Welch and Stewart, who, at that time, were the leading railway and heavy construction contractors on the continent.

By 1915, the Contractors had laid steel from Squamish to Chasm, a distance of 176 miles, and this portion of the line became operative. Twelve and a half miles of track were also laid, ballasted, and operated from North Vancouver to Whyecliffe.

But there were clearly problems with the
railway. Construction costs were extremely
heavy due in part to the nature of the
geography through which the railway had to pass. As well, World War I changed the
financial climate considerably as money, public and private, was directed to the war effort. By the winter of 1917-18, steel had laid to the Cottonwood River, 17 ½ miles north of Quesnel and south from Prince George for 18 miles, leaving a gap of approximately 45 miles between the two points. At this point the
Contractors informed the government that they no longer had the financial ability to finish construction or operate the Railway. In view of
the hardships to settlements, which lack of
transportation would involve, and the fact that the Province was responsible for principal and interest of the bonds issued, the Legislature in 1918, of which the Honorable John Oliver was Premier, decided to carry on with the project and the Contract-Owners of the Railway
surrendered all their rights to the Province.

Construction moved ahead under the supervision of the Provincial Department of Highways, but it was not until October, 1921, that the line became operative from Squamish to Quesnel, a distance of 348 miles. The Company operated a barge system for freight between Squamish and North Vancouver. Between these two points, passengers were transported by the Union Steamship Company by special arrangement with the Railway. Though the government still had as an objective the completion of the line to Prince George, it would be another thirty years before that work would move ahead.

In 1949, work commenced on an 80-mile extension of the line from Quesnel to a
connection with the Canadian National Railway's northern transcontinental line. Only a portion of the previously graded right-of-way was used, and the rail line was officially
opened for traffic in January, 1953.

Another long-awaited link was completed in August, 1956, with the opening of the southern extension between North Vancouver and Squamish.

In 1957, the railway began to build a microwave communications system, the first of its kind by any railway in North America. This eliminated the need for poles or wires required by conventional systems.

Two years later, the extension to the Peace River area was completed. This line extends from Prince George, 193 miles north to
Chetwynd at which point the mainline forks, running 69 miles north to Fort St. John and 61
miles northeast to Dawson Creek.

On October 5, 1958, the driving of a golden spike at both Fort St. John and Dawson Creek marked the opening of this northern extension and at long last a ailway joined the lands of the Peace and Cariboo to the Pacific Ocean.

To further develop the rich resources of the north country, a 23-mile spur line, from
Kennedy 100 miles north of Prince George to the new "instant" town of Mackenzie was opened in August, 1966, and the 75-mile
extension from Odell, 30 miles north of Prince George to Fort St. James was opened on August 1, 1968.

The Railway's 250-mile link from Fort St. John to Fort Nelson, less than 150 miles from the Province's northern border, was officially opened for traffic on September 10th, 1971.

In December, 1969 the government decided to build a 412 mile extension from Fort St. James to Cassiar called the Dease Lake line. By 1972 costs had escalated and claims were launched by various contractors against the railway.

On April 1, 1972, the operations of the PGE passed into the pages of history with the introduction of a new name, the British Columbia Railway, and a corporate ymbol was created using British Columbia's floral emblem, the dogwood flower.

In December, 1975 a change in government ushered in a change in the philosophical direction of the railway. A nine-member board of directors from private business was formed to operate the British Columbia Railway. The change removed direct political influence from the day-to-day operation of the railway. The railway had become so deeply entwined with the ebb and low of provincial finances, that in December 1976, a royal ommission was
appointed to sort it out. The construction of the Dease Lake line was suspended. The report from the Mackenzie Royal Commission in 1978 changed the structure of BC Rail. It encouraged a new direction of operating on a commercial mandate from it's previous role as an instrument of public policy and provincial development. As a result, in December, 1978
"Mac" Norris became President and CEO
becoming the first non-political appointed president. The Commission supported the
railway's decision to suspend construction on the Dease Lake line and recommended that it
should not operate north of Fort St. James
unless sufficient traffic existed to maintain
capital and operating costs.

Today in partnership with a number of forest companies, BC Rail runs as far north asMinaret on the Dease Lake Line transporting logs to mills in both Fort St James and Prince George.

In 1978, the British Columbia Railway started on the construction of a rail line to coal
deposits in Northeastern BC. A new township was formed called Tumbler Ridge to service the Quintette mine. The Tumbler Subdivision was a technological marvel. It was one of only three 50 kilovolt electrified lines in the world. The decision to electrify the line was due to the close proximity to the W.A.C Bennet dam and transmission lines.

In 1984 the British Columbia Railway was financially estructured. Under the new
organization BC Rail Ltd. was formed as a taxable Canadian corporation, 25 percent owned by the British Columbia Railway
Company (BCRC) and 75 present owned by a wholly-owned subsidiary of BCRC, BCR
Properties Ltd. The sole common shareholder of BCRC is the province of British Columbia .
Shortly after the reorganization, the BCRC group purchased the B.C. Harbours Board
Railway, a 23 mile line linking the national railways to the Robert's Bank super port.

In 1989 "Mac" Norris retired and Paul McElligott was chosen to head BC Rail. Paul in recognizing that though BC Rail had become
both efficient and profitable in the transportation of traditional commodities also
understood that to continue to operate on a commercial mandate, diversification was a necessity. In the years that followed opportunities were aggressively pursued on
both communication and properties side. In 1993, Vancouver Wharves, one of the largest multi-product, deep sea loading terminals on the Pacific Coast, was purchased and in 1998 Casco Terminals was purchased enabling BC Rail to become a true integrated shipper to shoreline transportation company.

In 1997 the railway operations were transferred to the BC Rail Partnership,
comprised of British Columbia Railway
Company, BCR Properties Ltd. and BC Rail Ltd.

On May 15 2003, the Government of British Columbia announced it was issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new operator for BC Rail.

On November 25 2003, the Government of British Columbia announced it had accepted CN’s offer to be the new operator for BC Rail.