High-Speed Rail Study Underway

Governor Inslee and Premier Clark at the Cascadia Conference in September 2016 (Microsoft Photo)

WSDOT has posted some new information about the high speed rail study funded by the legislature this session to the tune of $300,000. The final report is due on December 15, just three months from now. Five "conceptual corridors" will be studied between Vancouver and Portland. The team of consultants is led by CH2M and includes EnviroIssues, AECOM and Deutsche Bahn International Engineering Consulting. WSDOT's site dryly notes that "Hyperloop technology also will be reviewed, but it currently lacks complete data needed for a full comparison."

As part of the effort the agency has also unearthed a 28-page 1992 feasibility study. Read it and weep at the notion of HSR between Vancouver, Portland, Seattle and Spokane up and running by 2020. Spoiler alert: the challenges to HSR in the region are not primarily technical in nature.

If you want to know more about the tradeoffs between various alignments between Vancouver and Seattle, check out our 4-part series on the subject.