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Vancouver risks being isolated from a high- speed rail corridor on the West Coast of North America, along with its business and tourism benefits, as efforts to build U.S. portions of the corridor progress faster than any initiatives on this side of the border.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson signed a pact with the mayors of Seattle and Portland on June 9 to push to secure a high-speed railway service through the Pacific Northwest, but the plan still faces many obstacles – physically, financially and politically – before it will be realized.
The pact, which follows a similar agreement made last year between the province and Washington state, was arranged as rail and government officials, including a Washington state senator and a number of mayors from cities in that state, gathered in Vancouver to discuss how to advance high-speed rail between B.C., Washington state and Oregon.
Attendees heard how a number of U.S. states have progressed in their efforts to advance high-speed rail service in their jurisdictions.
The conclusion from Robertson at the meeting’s end: “Vancouver should eventually be the northern terminus of a West Coast high-speed rail line. But that means taking action and delivering better service in the near-term.”
He told BIV that the first step is to convince the federal government to maintain additional funding for the border services required to maintain a second Amtrak Cascades train running between Vancouver and Seattle.
The train, which began operating last August, is in a test phase that was supposed to conclude after the 2010 Olympic Games, but was extended until September.
Approximately 35,580 passengers rode the second train between August 2009 and April 2010.
“We get huge leverage and economic advantage from it,” said Robertson, “but we need to see that leadership in Ottawa.”
While representatives from the B.C. government attended the meeting, no federal government officials were present.
If the second train is maintained, further baby steps will be made toward the goal of high-speed rail in B.C.
For example, Robertson said that a “modest investment” can be made to straighten out the existing Amtrak track and upgrade bridges along the route to reduce travel times between Seattle and Vancouver to three hours from four.
Given its proximity to communities and the geography on which it lies, the existing Amtrak line could not support high-speed rail.
Another line would likely be built running further east.
But with little cohesive resolve on this side of the border, Charles Kelly of the Cascadia Center, a Seattle-based organization that promotes regional transportation and which co-hosted last week’s meeting with the Vancouver Economic Development Commission, said B.C. is lagging behind many states.
A basic 790-mile starter line that will be the back bone of new rail network in California is budgeted to cost upward of $30 billion to build. About half of the funds would come from the U.S. federal government.
The California high-speed rail authority estimates that the starter line would generate up to US$3.6 billion in revenue.
The state received US$590 million last January 27 for high-speed intercity passenger projects through the U.S.A.’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The capital is being used to add two daily round trips between Seattle and Portland, for a total of six, and to make improvements that reduce travel times by at least 5%. Washington state’s ultimate goal is to link its system with the high-speed rail network that’s being developed in California.
Kelly said B.C. has generated millions in revenue annually from the investments made in Washington state to improve track and boost rail ridership.
He said Vancouver and B.C. should “piggyback” on those investments, “so that we have a plan that is consistent with and looks like it’s part of the same system.
“Washington [state] has made incremental investments in the past 12, 13 years.”
A number of speakers at the event outlined the many challenges that jurisdictions face in developing high-speed rail even if there is a tangible plan and momentum.
Those include NIMBY syndrome, geographical limitations and questions over who should fund such projects – be it the private sector, public sector or both.
While the light at the end of tunnel is still distant, Vancouver’s agreement with Seattle and Portland is among the signs that, at the very least, stakeholders in B.C are discussing the issue with more urgency.
Big business in B.C. is taking an interest as well. Marian Robson, co-chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade’s regional transportation task force, recently joined a high-speed rail sub-committee of the International Mobility and Trade Corridor project.
“I think we all have an interest,” she said, “but it’s very scattered, particularly on the Canadian side.”
Curt Cherewayko 604-608-5157 ccherewayko@biv.com
