“Let’s do it”: Congressman wants high-speed rail network to connect US and Canada

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A US Congressman wants to create a high-speed rail network that would connect major Canadian and American cities.

Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton, who serves Massachusetts’ Sixth District, and Suzan DelBene, Congresswoman for Washington’s First District, introduced the American High-Speed Rail Act last month.

The act aims to invest US$205 billion in a national high-speed rail network.

Moulton outlined his vision for what the network could look like back in 2020, with hopes to create routes between major cities like Dallas to Houston or Chicago to Atlanta, allowing travellers to reach their destination quickly and efficiently without worrying about the inconveniences of road traffic or air travel.

But it’s not just US cities that Moulton wants to connect; he’s also hoping Canada will join in to create a multi-national high-speed rail corridor.

On Monday, Moulton retweeted a rendering of the “Greater Northeast Corridor” fantasy high-speed rail map, which imagines a loop connecting major US and Canadian hubs like Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, New York City, and Washington.

Although the map lays out a hypothetical route, Moulton appeared to support the idea.

“Hey @Canada, let’s do it,” he wrote, reposting the map on X.

In a follow-up post, Moulton said he’s not just thinking about how to implement high-speed rail in the US.

“If we could get it to connect major cities in Canada as well, we could connect the Northeast, Midwest, and Canada!” he stated.

Responses to Moulton’s proposal were met with support on X, with folks expressing how the idea could make travel more convenient and “unlock so much economic and cultural dynamism.”

There has been some progression in the high-speed rail connecting the West Coast US and Canadian cities.

In December 2023, President Joe Biden’s administration announced over US$8.2 billion (C$11.2 billion) in investments towards new and improved intercity passenger rail services across the US, including funding to help support design and planning efforts for the high-speed rail proposal between Portland, Seattle, and the Canadian city of Vancouver — also known as Cascadia High-Speed Rail.

The funding will support dozens of projects across the US to upgrade and build new railway infrastructure.

It will also allocate up to US$500,000 (C$680,000) to the Cascadia HSR network.

Furthermore, up to US$500,000 in federal funding will be provided to the Washington State Department of Transportation to upgrade the existing Amtrak Cascades service between Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, including reliability and frequency improvements.

What are your thoughts on high-speed rail connecting Canadian and US cities? Let us know in the comments.

With files from Kenneth Chan

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