Vancouver’s Stanley Park train off its tracks for foreseeable future

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation announced Monday that the Stanley Park Train is once again derailed and will not run for its Easter event. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!

The train has been halted since December after a worker was sent to hospital for breathing in toxic fumes from an engine during the Bright Nights event.

General Manager of Parks and Recreation Steve Jackson says staff have been working tirelessly to get the train back on track, and he understands the disappointment.

He says the potential emissions cause too much of a concern to operate at a safe manner right now.

“Recent testing of the locomotive engines, all of which are 50-years old or more and showing signs of their age, indicates efforts to address emissions concerns were unsuccessful,” said a release Monday.

The Park Board said many steps have been taken to extend the lifespan of the train, but the latest closure puts the future of the attraction in question, due to operational and financial feasibility.

Jackson says, over the past five years, the train has lost the park around $3 million, with most of the money going to repair the aging fleet.

He says due to the public interest in the attraction, the board felt like it was a good investment at the time of repairs.

“We were spending money on a belief that those fixes were going to be successful,” he said.

“There have been a continuous number of hurdles and wildcards thrown our way that we weren’t anticipating.”

He said the only way forward is to go electric, which presents its own financial challenges and is in the hands of the Park Board.

“Our current estimate for an electrification is anywhere from $1.5 to $2.5 million,” Jackson explained.

“Ultimately it will be the board’s decision to determine where this sits in their priorities, and from there, we will have figure out whether we have the financial means within our budgets to reprioritize, or potentially seek endorsement from council to allocate some capital funds to this asset.”

Staff have now being directed to come up with a plan for the train’s future and present it to the Park Board in June.