TNT Weighs in on High Speed Rail

The TNT has a great Op-Ed that was posted on Tuesday praising the Obama administration for its investment in rail and highlighting how Amtrak Cascades is well poised to receive rail stimulus money. It is well worth a read!

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/715773.html

"Cascades needs to have quicker, more frequent service and better on-time performance. That goal will require work to clear choke points, install better signals and separate grade crossings.

A recent study by the state Department of Transportation pegged the cost of doubling the number of daily Seattle-to-Portland roundtrips to eight and shaving a half hour off the travel time at $817 million.

The payoff: Ridership would more than double. That’s thousands of cars a day that would not be clogging I-5.

State transportation planners have the projects ready to go. All they need is the money. Washington and Oregon have wisely invested in getting the dream of high-speed rail this far. By rewarding that effort with a healthy infusion of funding, the feds could encourage others to do the same."