Sunday Video: Give Amtrak Cascades The Upgrade It Deserves

High-speed rail as in investment in Cascadia remains a popular policy idea, but Reece Martin of RMTransit makes the case for prioritizing higher-speed rail upgrades to Amtrak Cascades. In the piece, Martin shows how targeted investments along the 470-mile corridor could really improve speed and reliability as service frequency ramps up. Martin also calls for multiple trips per hour rather than hourly service and discusses how the Canadian segment of the corridor could benefit from more stations and major track improvements.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) won a $50 million grant in December 2024 to advance high-speed rail planning — assuming that the Trump Administration doesn’t illegally impound the funding. In 2023, WSDOT conducted a study of Amtrak Cascades service that found that 16 daily trips to Portland (more than doubling existing service) would be the optimal level. However, a state plan to fund and implement such a service plan has yet to emerge.

Sunday Video: Replacing I-5 Lanes with Cascadia High Speed Rail

Lucid Stew’s “Taking Back The Streets Cascadia Edition” analyzes the idea of repurposing I-5 lanes to create a high speed rail line between Eugene and Vancouver, BC, connecting Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, and a handful of other cities along the way. A two-hour trip from Seattle to Portland or Vancouver, BC would be possible.

The Urbanist

Amtrak’s Long-Distance Expansion Plan Includes Two New Pacific Northwest Routes

Yakima, Boise, Missoula, and Pocatello could see Amtrak service again under a new federal plan that adds a daily route from Seattle to Denver and another running to Chicago on a modified alignment from Amtrak’s Empire Builder.

The Urbanist