High-speed rail plans inch forward in the Pacific Northwest
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Plans for a high-speed rail line that connects Seattle to Portland and Vancouver, B.C., are slowly moving forward — although it will likely be decades before anyone can board one of the trains.
Why it matters: The Cascadia region is expected to gain at least 3 million residents by 2050. A bullet train could help move those people quickly, cutting car and plane trips that generate emissions and fuel climate change.
Catch up quick: In December, the federal government awarded a $49.7 million grant to underwrite four years of planning for a Pacific Northwest high-speed rail line.
- Washington's Legislature also budgeted $7.5 million in matching funds in April — part of a larger pledge to spend up to $150 million in state money on the project over the next several years.
- Oregon and British Columbia contributed funding for earlier high-speed rail studies, plus signed a memorandum of agreement in 2021 pledging to help advance the project.
How it works: The goal is to reduce travel time between Seattle and Portland to a little over an hour, with similar travel times planned between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., Steve Peer, a Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson, told Axios.
- The high-speed trains would use a separate track from Amtrak trains, so they could move faster and wouldn't have to stop for other rail traffic.
- The trains would likely travel 200 miles an hour or more, Peer said.
What's happening: With the federal grant, state officials will look at route and service options, conduct early engineering work, and produce "very high-level cost estimates," Peer said.
What they're saying: From an environmental perspective, allowing driving to remain the primary means of travel between the Pacific Northwest's largest cities "is not responsible in the long term," said Washington state Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), who chairs the Senate transportation committee.
- Liias told Axios the high-speed trains would work in tandem with local light rail, bus service and intercity trains like Amtrak, because a bullet train "can't serve every single town."
What's next: By December 2028, state officials expect to propose a phased implementation plan for high-speed rail, with recommendations for next steps.
- Those will include ideas on how to pay for the project, which could mean looking at public-private partnerships, Peer said.