Biden set to make funding decision on Vancouver-Seattle high-speed rail

US government set to make funding decision on high-speed rail linking Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland

High-speed rail train. (Shutterstock)

Before the end of 2023, the United States federal government could make an initial funding decision supporting the Cascadia High-Speed Rail (HSR) project, which will link the American cities of Portland and Seattle with the Canadian city of Vancouver.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSHDOT) submitted two grant applications to President Joe Biden’s administration in early 2023 seeking a combined total of US$198 million (CA$267 million) in US federal funding to support project planning and the initial development stage. This includes requested funding for the creation of a detailed business case, which should take between two to five years to complete.

Additionally, WSHDOT has formally asked the US federal government to designate the Vancouver-Seattle-Portland corridor as a “Corridor of Interest.”

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According to David Hoff, the Chair of the BC Business Coalition for the Cascadia HSR, any decision and announcement is expected to be made by US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg within weeks.

One application requests funding from the Corridor Identification and Development Program, while the other application seeks to tap into the US$66 billion (CA$89 billion) infrastructure fund specifically for intercity passenger rail projects, which is billed by the administration as the largest investment in US passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak.

If the Cascadia HSR project is successful with these grant applications, the US federal funding will augment the significant funding for detailed planning already set aside by the Washington state government, which approved up to US$150 million (CA$202 million) in 2022 for the forthcoming scope of planning work.

Hoff told Daily Hive Urbanized that if the funding from the US federal government is approved, the activity on the project will quickly begin to pick up, with the Washington state government and British Columbia provincial government expected to proceed with a number of initiatives to move the project forward. This includes performing consultation with the public and stakeholders, conducting transportation and travel market studies, identifying engineering challenges and solutions, creating more detailed financial estimates, determining housing and environmental impacts, working with First Nations, and furthering intergovernmental cooperation.

Furthermore, he adds, the new phase of planning work will kick off with a government business conference specifically on the project in Spring 2024.

Hoff also notes the Cascadia HSR project is likely competing with other projects from California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and the US eastern seaboard for a share of the intercity passenger rail funding.

“The Cascadia HSR project was initiated about half a dozen years ago by a consortium of businesses and the Washington state and the BC governments following encouragement from the Cascadia Innovation Corridor (CIC) initiative,” Hoff, who is also a member of the CIC steering committee, told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“Cascadia High-Speed Rail has emerged as one of the more prominent elements of the CIC initiative.”

Over the past few years, both Washington state and BC provincial governments, along with contributions by Microsoft, have committed millions of dollars towards the previous highly preliminary planning and economic impact studies. Both governments have also signed several memorandums of understandings regarding cross-jurisdictional partnerships, including high-speed rail.

Canadian business organizations currently involved in the project entail the Business Council of BC, Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Surrey Board of Trade, and BC Construction Association.

Anita Huberman, president and CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, told Daily Hive Urbanized today her organization is advocating for two BC stations, with one station in Surrey and another station further north in Vancouver.

Vancouver Seattle Portland high speed rail

Cascadia high-speed rail business case, July 2019. (Washington State Department of Transportation)

Cascadia High-Speed Rail ridership forecast, July 2019. (Washington State Department of Transportation)

The project has received strong corporate support from not only Microsoft, but also Amazon. As well, consultants with Deloitte in both Vancouver and Seattle have been working with WSHDOT on the project since 2022.

With the vast majority of the Cascadia HSR route situated within the jurisdiction Washington state, WSHDOT is naturally taking the leading role for the project. As currently envisioned, the route only makes slight incursions north of the BC-Washington border to reach Metro Vancouver and south of the Washington-Oregon border to reach Portland, with some stops along the way between these three cities.

The goal is to establish a high-speed rail service with travel speeds of up to 400 km/hr (250 mph) and travel times of about one hour for each of the segments between Vancouver and Seattle and between Seattle and Portland. A future phase beyond the current project could also bring the HSR route further south to reach Eugene, Oregon.

Highly preliminary estimates made in pre-pandemic 2019 by WSHDOT put the total cost of detailed planning, final engineering and design, and full construction between US$24 billion (CA$32 billion) and US$42 billion (CA$57 billion), based on construction occurring from 2027 to 2034, with the service opening in 2035.

As many as 30 roundtrips could be made daily, depending on the scenario, using 260-seat trains. It would see 2.1 million annual riders upon opening, with ridership growing to 3.3 million annually by 2055. It is assumed this rail service would replace many existing flight trips between Vancouver and Seattle; prior to the pandemic, the direct flight route reaching Vancouver International Airport was Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s busiest international route.

The economic spinoffs would reach as much as US$355 billion (CA$452 billion) and generate as many as 200,000 new direct and indirect jobs.

Artistic rendering of the new Airo train model for Amtrak Cascades. (Washington State Department of Transportation)

Starting in 2026, WSHDOT will be deploying a brand new fleet of trains and passenger cars on the existing Amtrak Cascades service linking Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. The drastically improved service on the Amtrak Cascades could potentially help build up demand for HSR.

The Cascadia megaregion’s three metropolitan areas of Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland are currently home to 9.1 million residents and 6.6 million jobs, combined. By 2040, these three metropolitan areas of the megaregion are expected to add a combined 3.5 million residents and at least two million jobs.

In its legislative update on the project earlier in 2023, WSHDOT expects the high-speed rail’s construction costs in the tens of billions of dollars will need to be covered by not only a variety of public funding sources, but also private funding sources, including the possibility of a public-private partnership.

In recent years, Brightline has been responsible for the vast majority of the positive news stories relating to new intercity passenger rail services in North America. In 2018, it became the first privately-operated intercity passenger service to launch in the United States in a century, with the rollout of its initial Florida service linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach.

In September 2023, at a privately-funded cost of US$6 billion (CA$8.1 billion), Brightline opened its extended Florida route northwards from West Palm Beach to Orlando International Airport, just a short drive from Walt Disney World Resort. This extension includes a long segment where trains can reach speeds of 201 km/hr, enabling Brightline Florida to achieve the high-speed rail classification for the east-west segment between Florida’s east coast and Orlando. To be classified as high-speed rail, trains must reach a speed of at least 200 km/hr. For other segments, Brightline Florida is technically a “higher-speed” rail service.

During the Orlando service launch, Brightline indicated to media that it sees the potential for long-term expansion into other corridors and markets in North America, with Cascadia HSR specifically highlighted as one of the candidates.

Brightline already has other near-term expansion plans on the West Coast. Construction is expected to begin soon on Brightline’s high-speed rail line between near the Las Vegas Strip and the Los Angeles region, which will be the first true high-speed rail service in North America with all-new, purpose-built tracks and infrastructure, and speeds of up to 322 km/hr. The US$10 billion (CA$13.5 billion) project is targeted for a 2028 opening.

brightline orlando international airport station mco f2

First Brightline train arriving at the train station at Orlando International Airport (MCO) on Friday, September 22, 2023. (Brightline)

brightline orlando international airport station mco

Inside the Orlando International Airport (MCO) station for Brightline. (Brightline)

Artistic rendering of the high-speed rail train running through the desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. (Brightline West)

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