3mo ago

Lawmakers announce high-speed rail to link Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, BC

www.kptv.com Lawmakers announce high-speed rail to link Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, BC

A group of Oregon lawmakers announced new federal funding for planning the development of high-speed rail in the Pacific Northwest.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Representatives Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), Derek Kilmer (D, WA-06), Marilyn Strickland (D, WA-10), Adam Smith (D, WA-09), Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01), and Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-07) released a joint statement to announce that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded $49.7 million for planning work for the proposed Cascadia High-Speed Rail project, which would link the Pacific Northwest’s major population centers, including Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, and Portland, with regular train service running at up to 250 mph.

28 comments

Speaking from the other end of this line, a ticket on the Cascades to Seattle costs just $27 for a 3½-hour journey. A high-speed train travelling at an average speed of 350 km/h could traverse the 280 km between King Street Station and Union Station in just 48 minutes. This is affordable and fast enough that I could even imagine people living in one city commuting to work in the other. It would really benefit the tech sector in both cities.
- 280 km between King Street Station and Union Station
  I don't understand. Those stations are literally across the street (4th Ave S) from each other, ~~although as far as I know not actually connected to the same rails at any point since Union Station is light rail and King St. is not.~~
  Edit: I was really tired last night I guess, and confused it with International District Station.
  Apparently Seattle's Union Station isn't physically connected to rail at all now, but is the HQ of Sound Transit
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Union_Station

It's better than nothing, but not by much. Criticize China for many things but they had ZERO HSR in 2007 and now have the largest network in the world they had an essential network completed within ~10 years and now are just adding to it.
$50m for planning and nothing actually happening. $8b in 2010 was allocated by Obama and it went to planning in Florida and CA and "improving service" in 11 other high impact states with rail including WA. Compared to $50b bailout auto industry got, it of course amounts to nothing which is why the US is a nothing burger of HSR (don't buy the marketing of Acela in the NE as HSR, that's just semantics and categorization--just like how internet companies lobbied for decades to categorize crappy speeds as "high speed internet" when it wasn't anything close to what was offered in other developed countries.
If anything close to what we waste on roads was allocated to rail in the US, we could have HSR in logical corridors in 10 years. As it is, I fear I won't see it in my life now with the Trump Trifecta government.
- Yep.
  It's just $50m for an initial assessment.
  At this rate, this one high speed line might be built in something like 20 years.
  Its been about 15 years of building just a light rail system in the Seattle area... and we've got One line as a spine from Lynnwood to SeaTac (about 30 miles), and Two line as a spine from Redmond to Bellevue (about 8 miles).
  These lines don't even link up.
  Whole system planned completion date?
  2045?
  Total cost so far?
  50 billion dollars? More?
  Total planned cost out to project completion date?
  150 billion dollars? More?
  I pose these all as question marks as it takes a fairly involved effort to actually figure out real numbers.
  If anyone can give me an accurate, unbiased breakdown, I'd appreciate it, I can't find one easily with a fucked up wrist, on a phone.
  ...
  I like transit. I think we should build more transit.
  I know HSR has less stops and stations than an urban light rail system.
  The point here is that this scale of costs and timetables are ludicrous compared to what other countries or regions or cities of other countries have achieved.
  
  Some of the broader reasons why it's expensive are here:https://www.governing.com/finance/why-are-u-s-transit-projects-so-costly-this-group-is-on-the-case
  It boils down to the US not having established experts in house, whether for design, permitting, technology, supply chain, etc. so they have to outsource it which makes us pay 3-7x global average cost. Artificial dominance of auto travel due to lobbying over decades does not help political resistance and transience either to completing such a project.
  
  Seems like Seattle is doing ok.
  Link across lake Washington was supposed to be done already, but the floating bridge itself has an issue with improperly made concrete for the tremendous additional tonnage frequent train service will add (particularly if there was a seismic event).
  This has had a number of knock-on effects, particularly the lack of access to the main OMF (operations and maintenance facility) in Bellevue, so the 1 line only has access to the smaller facility near sodo. That also means the additional train sets ordered can't be stored in a useful place, and messes up the phases of other parts of the schedule.
  Good news: tracks are done, most likely we should expect to get trains testing for a few months in mid to late spring, with the cross-bridge connection finally opening to the public in summer 25.
  Little late, sure, but I'd say this system is coming along quite nicely, after having previously supported NYC's transit systems.
- We the people are not fans of use of eminent domain. It severely damages a project's reputation, see Robert Moses' destruction of many parts of NYC with shitty highways.
  We do need more rail, and it gets easy to build in flat, unoccupied areas. CA HSR is taking advantage of that, so will WA. Maybe some day they'll connect.
- they had ZERO HSR in 2007 and now have the largest network in the world
  Thanks to all the cheesy clothing, electro-toy-baubles, and solar panets we were buying from them.

$49.7 million for planning work
Aaand it's gone.
- This is just for planning. A budget for actual construction will be in the billions.

This would be so awesome! Connect it to California and LETS GOOOOOO!

I would visit Portland and Vancouver all the time if this were in place.

Yes! Yes yes!

Give them bitches some trains! Bitches love trains!

Will this link to the California HSR?
- Probably not for a long time. There’s a lot of distance with mountains and too little population for it to be worthwhile by itself.
  Hopefully once we have two segments of high speed rail, spending the money to connect the network will be an easier sale

There’s already the frontier flights from Seattle to Portland. Like a dozen flights a day. Great opportunity for light rail.

It should probably be noted these are Washington State lawmakers not Oregon State lawmakers.
Kind of an odd mixup since the article is apparently published/written out of Portland, OR.
- KPTV is a privately-owned station that serves the Portland/Vancouver WA metro area. Reporting on it like this makes sense and is in line with the sorts of things they generally report on.
  
  I am aware that, it's just they seem like they should most of all be aware enough not to call a group of Washington lawmakers Oregon lawmakers. They appear to have updated the headline now at least but not the article body.

And right when the US is off the list for travel destinations due to horrible human rights. With the TSA skimming data from your phone I don't think I even want to connect flights through America.
- I fail to see how your comment is relevant to an interstate high speed rail system.

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