A coalition of Washington lawmakers announced Wednesday that $49.7 million has been awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, to assist the proposed high-speed rail between Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia..
The much-discussed rail project would let trains to go up to 250 miles per hour between Portland, Oregon; Seattle; and Vancouver, British Columbia. State lawmakers stated in the news release that it would take less than an hour for people to go from Seattle to Portland.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said in the press release that the Cascadia corridor, which is home to 10 million people, will be transformed by the introduction of high speed rail. This will enable Washingtonians to travel between Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and communities in between much more quickly and easily.
When is the Cascadia High-Speed Rail expected to be completed?
The project will benefit greatly from the prize, but it will only cover the planning stage.
According to Murray, this government award is a significant advancement for the Cascadia High-Speed Rail project and will fund crucial planning, community involvement, and preliminary design work.
However, a spokesman for the Washington State Department of Transportation stated that the funds will significantly contribute to the project’s realization.
WSDOT Cascadia High-Speed Rail and Interstate 5 Program Administrator Ron Pate told McClatchy over the phone, “I think it gives it a strong likelihood, as long as the programs continue to be supported, and there’s a lot of support.”
What comes next?
The news announcement states that the grant funds will be utilized to identify the train’s optimal path, fund community outreach initiatives, and identify long-term construction projects that the railroad would need. To develop a plan for the high-speed train, officials will now start collaborating with locals, including tribes.
According to the news release, Sen. Maria Cantwell said the financing will allow the state to collaborate with communities to create the optimal high-speed passenger train route, eventually providing Washingtonians with the option to forego the highway and get to their destination more quickly.
The cash will enable the project to proceed to its second phase, according to Pate of DOT.
First, we received $500,000 to complete phase one of the [Corridor Identification and Development] initiative. Step one involves creating the service development plan’s scope, timeline, and budget in order to examine how the system would operate in two nations and two states, according to Pate.
According to Pate, the project team may begin creating the strategy itself with the additional funds.
We have committed those money, so the service development plan work can begin immediately, Pate stated. Therefore, our team is preparing to begin working on a project management plan for that immediately after the first of the year. Following that, we will complete the duties that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has mandated for a service development plan.
Pate believes that this next step will take four to five years, but he noted there isn’t a defined schedule for the project as a whole.
High-speed rail would halt where?
According to WSDOT, the project would include places between and beyond the Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver metropolitan areas, even if its primary objective is to connect them. In its first project plan, the nonprofit organization Cascadia Rail, which supports the project, lists possible stops in Kelso, Centralia, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Mount Vernon, and Bellingham.
Other train choices are now available in the area, although they don’t travel as far or run as fast.
There are six stops on Amtrak Cascades between Portland and Seattle: Kelso-Longview, Centralia, Olympia-Lacey, Tacoma, Tukwila, and Vancouver. Along the route to British Columbia, it also makes stops in Edmonds, Everett, Stanwood, Mount Vernon, and Bellingham. In order to guarantee higher travel rates, the high-speed rail would probably have fewer stops, albeit some of those locations would probably also see stops.
Between Everett and Lakewood, Sound Transit has 12 Sounder light rail stops, including those in Seattle, Puyallup, and Tacoma.
What possible effects might a new train have?
The project’s supporters contend that in addition to making travel easier, it would boost travel and economic activity throughout the Pacific Northwest while lowering carbon emissions and traffic on I-5.
Congresswoman Suzan DelBene said in the news release that connecting the Cascadia region with modern, efficient transportation will make travel easier and faster while also reducing emissions, increasing economic growth, and creating jobs.
According to a 2019 WSDOT research, the rail line would reduce carbon emissions by six million metric tons in its first forty years, provide $355 in long-term economic growth for the area, and serve between 1.7 and 3.1 million riders annually after it opens.
Although there are some opponents of the project who are concerned about its expense, polling suggests that support for the project is rather broad, according to reporting in the Urbanist.
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