Darrell Thorne announced WINNER! First Nation's Vancouver Island Railway Art Contest

The Vancouver Island Transportation Corridor Coalition (VITCC) wishes to congratulate Tusqanum, Darrell Thorne, of Quw’utsun, Cowichan Tribes on recently announced victory in the Island Corridor Foundation (ICF) Art Contest. The competition was designed to elicit design direction for the future rail stock that will run on a revitalized and modern Southern Railway of Vancouver Island (formerly known as the E&N). The ICF and VITCC along with many other groups are actively pursuing the agenda to help Vancouver Island transition it's transportation infrastructure to use rail service as the backbone with connections for all other forms of transportation including cycling, park and ride, bus, taxi, ferry, pedestrian, equestrian and airport connections (not an exclusive list). The environmental, economic and social benefits for island residents are immense, including massive reductions in traffic congestion, faster commute times, dramatically reduced GHG emissions and strong economic stimulus including over 2200 person/years of employment.

The VITCCC would like to applaud Darrell Thorne on his design. We immediately noticed he took a very detailed and well-thought out approach to converge the lines of the train cars with his Orca design to create an aesthetically pleasing package. The colour scheme, while not traditional, is very captivating and we feel it represents the hope for the Island's future. His Orca design (depicted above) was crafted in honor of the Salish Sea that encompasses Vancouver Island. The design depicts traditional Coast Salish form line combined with a contempary flare exclusive to Darrell. The contest ran for a total of 6 weeks ending on October 9th, 2020. For more information on the winning design visit www.islandcorridor.ca and for more information on Tusqanum, Darrell Thorne visit the Darrell Thorne Facebook Page. The formal announcement is available on the ICF website.