Planning for an ambitious high-speed rail system in the Pacific Northwest will continue thanks to nearly $50 million in new U.S. federal funding.
Traveling at up to 250 mph, the Cascadia High-Speed Rail could take passengers from Seattle to Portland or Vancouver in less than an hour. If the route has a stop in Everett, travel to Seattle could take just 15 minutes.
With the federal funding plus a state funding match of US$5.6 million, the state transportation department has enough to begin the project’s next planning phase. Many of the specifics are still up in the air, said program director Ron Pate. It’s not yet known where stops would be and when construction would begin, but the money will go toward getting definitive answers.
The federal funding comes from the Corridor Identification and Development program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The first step was to determine how much money the department would need to create a service development plan. This was completed with US$500,000 of federal funding after the state failed to secure a US$198-million federal grant.
Now, the service development plan can begin to take shape. This plan includes route planning, identifying environmental impacts, creating initial designs and reaching out to tribal governments and the general community.
“To avoid the challenges experienced by other high-speed rail projects across the nation, it is critically important that the initial planning and outreach is done the right way,” members of Washington’s congressional delegation wrote in their funding proposal. “Hamstringing the project with a reduced budget may save money today but could be costly in the long run.”
Snohomish County U.S. Reps. Suzan DelBene and Rick Larsen were two of 13 legislators to sign the funding proposal.
“Cascadia High Speed Rail means more jobs and long-term economic growth in the Pacific Northwest,” Larsen said in a press release.
READ MORE: Ride the rails on Amtrak Cascades from Everett to Portland
The proposal stated four million new residents are anticipated in the Washington, Oregon and British Columbia region by 2050. A Consumer Affairs report from September found Seattle is the second-most congested city in the United States.
More than 900,000 riders have taken the Amtrak Cascades route in 2024, slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels and a 40-percent increase from 2023. Amtrak can only run up to 79 mph, and it takes three to four hours to get to Portland or Vancouver.
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