Rail ride revives hopes of a return

"There is no other railway in the world with so much latent potential for citizen security, unlocking social capital and community transformation."

This is the opinion of acting chairman of the Community Rail Project, Neil Howard, who was speaking to THE STAR on Tuesday following a brief train ride from the Pechon Street, downtown Kingston headquarters of the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) to its nearby workshop. There, Canada's High Commissioner to Jamaica Emina Tudakovic and her British counterpart, Judith Slater, where among the dignitaries who got a close-up look at some of the vintage locomotives and engines that ruled the tracks during the golden era of the local railway service which was discontinued 52 years ago. Jamaica's railway service is one of the oldest in the world and has played a key role in passenger and freight transportation for the agricultural, mining and tourism sectors over the years.

The revival of the rail service was revisited after the Jamaica Labour Party returned to power in 2016, with talks with Hertzog Jamaica Limited, a subsidiary of the US-based Herzog International Incorporated. Herzog mooted plans for the phased revitalisation of the local passenger rail service, resulting in a non-binding memorandum of understanding between the investor and the State. But this arrangement was cancelled by December 2017.

Now there are plans afoot to get the passenger rail service going again, on a phased basis, which will see passengers boarding the train from Pechon Street and taken to the Trench Town Culture Yard, former home of reggae legend Bob Marley. Slated for implementation by next summer, the project is being spearheaded by the Jamaica Social Intervention Railway Project and led by an alliance of 200 railway engineers from the United Kingdom and the US.

"The mission is to repair the oldest colonial railway in the Commonwealth. Keep it out of debt and transform it into a sustainable 21st century engine for social change in the urban communities it bisects," Howard explained.

Meanwhile, High Commissioner Tudakovic declared that although the Canadian Government had not committed to the project, she was convinced it was worthy of support.

"We do have a large development programme for Jamaica and a lot of our activities focus on vulnerable groups including women and youths. We have projects in agriculture, sexual and reproductive health just started. So this is where I can see this possibly fitting into some of our work. What we don't normally do is fund infrastructure projects, so it's more kind of on the human side in capacity building or finding experts," she told the news team.

With motor vehicle crashes, fatalities and injuries on the rise, Howard posited that the public interest in the railway as a safer and more convenient option for business and pleasure travel was growing.