More Amtrak Trains for British Columbia

The Province, A British Columbia publication, takes the side of the region’s tourism industry in a cross-border spat over that second Seattle-Vancouver train. The paper just rips Canadian customs officials and the national government. It is a terrific article.

One aspect concerns Bruce Agnew of the Cascades Centre, a Seattle think tank.

Agnew points to a Washington state Department of Transportation study showing that Amtrak passengers currently spend nearly $16 million Cdn a year in the Vancouver area. With a second train on the Vancouver-Seattle run, that could soar to as much as $49 million.

Then, once there are two daily trains, we could think about four trains . . . and even high-speed trains. In the meantime, our premier should step in and convince Ottawa to get all the trains it can headed down the track.

Filed under: Amtrak, Regional USA Passenger Rail