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On July 15, 2019 the Washington State Department of Transportation released its Ultra-High-Speed Ground Transportation study and business case, forecasting $355 billion in economic growth, up to 200,000 jobs created, and 3 million passengers annually.
https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/planning/studies/ultra-high-speed-travel/2019-business-case-analysis
Transport Action BC agrees that high speed rail (HSR) linking Vancouver, Seattle and Portland is a great idea, but there are a lot of questions and complexities surrounding this proposal yet to be answered.
First, the line must serve the city centres of Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. BC Premier John Horgan’s suggestion that Surrey be the end-of-the-line would add an extra forty-five minutes to the travel time to downtown Vancouver, and more than an hour to the airport. That would be a serious mistake. Instead, consideration should be given to building a four-track joint high speed and regional rail corridor from downtown towards Surrey that would to better serve regional trips toward Abbotsford, relieve the Expo Line, and increase connectivity to the HSR.
Read the full story on our BC website:
http://bc.transportaction.ca/issues/rail/high-speed-rail/portland-seattle-vancouver-high-speed-rail-makes-economic-sense/
Transport Action will have more to say on this topic in the coming months. Join us and get involved.
Photo of Bombardier Zefiro 380 by Björn König via Wikimedia Commons
Source: TABC
