High-speed rail from the U.S. Seattle to Vancouver, Canada
The state of Washington has allocated money to continue the construction planning work.
The $150 million USD ($192 million CAD) expenditure has been approved by the Washington State Legislature. Overall, construction of the Cascadia Railroad, from design to opening, is scheduled to take 16 years. Preliminary estimates made in 2019 put the total cost of the road at between $24 billion USD ($30.7 billion CAD) and $42 billion USD ($53.6 billion CAD).
The high-speed railway is planned to be launched in 2035. Once it opens, it will be able to carry 2.1 million passengers a year, making 30 daily round trips. At 400 km/h, it will take one hour to get from Vancouver to Seattle.
The founders of the project believe that the high-speed railroad will make life easier not only for the residents of Seattle and its suburbs, but also for the residents of Vancouver. Even in the small metropolis of Vancouver (9 million inhabitants), compared to Seattle (39 million), people spend an average of two hours a day on their way to work. The location of the high-speed road stations is going to take into account the existing system of urban transport.
Ninety percent of the route will go through the state of Washington. So most of the funding comes from the U.S. federal budget, as well as from Washington state, although at the beginning of planning British Columbia was also invested in the project.
