Premier John Horgan has joined Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to announce that B.C. will help fund the next proposed phase of a study of a potential ultra-high-speed corridor service linking British Columbia, Washington state and Oregon.
A high-speed transportation corridor could reduce the travel time between Vancouver, and Seattle to about one hour from three hours. High-speed trains travel up to 400 kilometres per hour.
Washington state released an economic analysis in 2018 that estimated a high-speed corridor link could create up to 200,000 jobs for people in B.C. and the U.S. and generate billions of dollars in economic benefits for the Cascadia corridor between B.C., Washington and Oregon.
In March 2018, B.C. contributed $300,000 for a business case analysis to explore ridership levels, project delivery methods, cost and financing.
B.C. has announced the contribution of an additional $300,000 for the proposed next phase of the project to lead a community engagement process and preliminary environmental review.