U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Representatives Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), Derek Kilmer (D, WA-06), Marilyn Strickland (D, WA-10), Adam Smith (D, WA-09), Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01), and Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-07) released a joint statement to announce that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded $49.7 million for planning work for the proposed Cascadia High-Speed Rail project, which would link the Pacific Northwest’s major population centers, including Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, and Portland, with regular train service running at up to 250 mph.
Some of the broader reasons why it’s expensive are here:https://www.governing.com/finance/why-are-u-s-transit-projects-so-costly-this-group-is-on-the-case
It boils down to the US not having established experts in house, whether for design, permitting, technology, supply chain, etc. so they have to outsource it which makes us pay 3-7x global average cost. Artificial dominance of auto travel due to lobbying over decades does not help political resistance and transience either to completing such a project.
Yeah… I can see why Not Just Bikes just said fuck it and moved to the Netherlands.