Cascadia bullet train stuck at the station as feds dole out big bucks for rail

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The Federal Railroad Administration largely passed over the Pacific Northwest while doling out more than $8 billion on Friday to improve passenger rail service across the nation.

Advocates who envision a 250 mph bullet train zipping between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada, were looking forward to celebrating a nearly $200 million grant award. Instead, the Washington and Oregon transportation departments came away with a couple of rail development grants of $500,000.

Boosters of the “ultra-high speed” passenger train insisted the dream of one-hour trips from Vancouver to Seattle or Seattle to Portland is still positioned to get federal support down the line and that one of the smaller grants was a positive sign. Skeptics of the costly project breathed a sigh of relief and urged a refocused effort to upgrade existing Amtrak Cascades service between Vancouver and Eugene, Oregon.

“They didn’t ignore us, which is a good thing,” Washington State House Transportation Committee Vice Chair Brandy Donaghy (D-Snohomish County) said. “We can keep going, and that’s the important part.”

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2023/12/08/cascadia-bullet-train-stuck-at-the-station-as-feds-dole-out-big-bucks-for-rail/

[SarahD]

1. Better use for the money

Building a high speed track between Portland and Seattle would cost way too much. They should work on getting decent rail service between Sacramento and Eugene, where the train creeps along on ancient track at a snail's pace. Spend the money on replacing grade crossings with overpasses, decent stations so passengers can get out of the snow and rain, good connections to other transportation modes. Some reasonable improvements would get the Portland to Seattle trip down to three hours or less. No sane person would ride an airplane.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. Why should Washington state be concerned about Sacramento to Eugene?

You know this is a Washington state forum don't you?

[SarahD]

3. Because I'm a selfish shellfish

No, they shouldn't spend the Washington grant money in California and Oregon, but good west coast passenger rail would benefit everyone from San Diego to Vancouver. Many Seattle residents would be very happy about a train that took less than a week to get to Salem or Eugene. A bullet train would be cool, but it would have to serve Olympia and connect to SeaTac, not just blaze back and forth between the two major cities. Personally, I want a train from the Olympic Peninsula, where I live, to a nice connection in Tacoma, but that's not happening.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. Enjoy your short stay