By Corey Fischer

BC Backs Study Into Ultra High Speed Service

Mar 16, 2018 | 1:43 PM

BC and Washington state are looking into using ultra-high speed trains to drastically cut the travel time between Vancouver and Seattle.

BC is providing 300-thousand dollars for a business case study into the service, which could also link to Portland Oregon.

Washington governor Jay Inslee says his state is providing 1.2 million dollars for what is the next step in the process.

“Washington conducted a feasibility study. It came back with nothing but optimism. It showed that we could perhaps have 1.8 million riders in the first several years of the application of this,” says Inslee.

The service could cut the current three hour driving time between the two cities, to one hour, with trains travelling at up to 400 km’s an hour.

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BC Premier John Horgan says the proposal would have a number of benefits.

“By doing so, we’ll be able to reduce traffic on our highways. It will have a positive impact on climate action, and it will move people in a safe and effective manner,” Horgan told a news conference in Vancouver with Governor Inslee.

An economic analysis released last month by Washington state estimated a high-speed corridor link could create up to 200,000 jobs for BC and US workers, and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits for the Cascadia Innovation Corridor between BC, Washington and Oregon.

Photo courtesy of flickr.com/BC government)

by Corey Fischer