In the News

In hopes to deliver 250 mph rail service by midcentury, the Democrats in Washington’s congressional delegation are asking the federal government for $198 million to help plan a route between Vancouver, B.C.; Seattle; and Portland.

The Cascadia high-speed corridor would be faster than any trains that currently operate in the United States, though contractors are now building a starter bullet-train line in central California.

Washington state’s eight Democratic representatives, and both senators, signed the funding request to federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a letter dated Tuesday. Grants would be drawn from President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure program, passed by Congress in 2021, which contains $66 billion for railways.