Premier John Horgan joined Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee Friday on a patio outside the premier’s Vancouver office to announce a $300,000 contribution to help further study the concept of a high speed train service from Vancouver to Seattle and Portland. Photo Dan Toulgoet
Premier John Horgan joined Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee Friday to announce a $300,000 contribution to develop a business case for a potential ultra-high-speed train service connecting Vancouver, Seattle and Portland.
The two leaders, who spoke to reporters on a patio outside the premier’s Vancouver office, were optimistic creating the service was doable but said further study was needed on a concept that could see a train travel is less than 60 minutes between Vancouver and Seattle.
“It’s our view that this is an opportunity that we shouldn’t let pass by,” said Horgan, noting such a link would get cars off the road and move people and goods in a fast and effective way.
The study will build on an economic analysis the Washington State Department of Transportation released in December that estimated the cost of running high speed trains from Vancouver to Seattle to Portland at $24 billion to $42 billion US, depending on technology and tunneling required.
A current Amtrak Cascades trip from Seattle to Vancouver takes four hours and 30 minutes, according to the analysis, which showed at least one of the possible train technologies, which uses “magnetic levitation,” can reach speeds of 400 kilometres per hour.
Inslee said there was no “showstoppers” in the analysis, which also suggested a high-speed corridor link could create up to 200,000 jobs for B.C. and U.S. workers, and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits along the corridor of the three geographic areas.
“We are really pleased that you have a premier that’s joined us in a mutual investment for the second step of this analysis,” said Inslee, who joked that such a service would allow residents of both cities to travel back and forth to watch what will surely be a rivalry between the Vancouver Canucks and soon-to-be Seattle hockey franchise.
A reporter pointed out to both leaders that California has yet to complete its “bullet train” system and it’s gone close to $6 billion over budget. Horgan responded that he recently traveled to China and Japan on a trade trip and was impressed by the high speed trains.
“I would just say,” Inslee continued, “don’t tell us in Washington we can’t be as smart, as creative and as innovative as people in Japan. And don’t tell us we can’t be as smart as innovative as the people in China. We at least have those attributes, and we have the advantage of going to school in California. And any mistake they’ve made, we’re going to put it in the bank and learn from it.”
The new study will also examine ridership levels, the development of the system and financing.
mhowell@vancourier.com
@Howellings
