Getting between the Sea to Sky Corridor and the Lower Mainland could become faster if a plan for high-speed rail gathers steam.
Proponents from Sqomish Sea to Sky Developments and Matthews Southwest are looking into the possibility of high-speed rail to connect Vancouver and Whistler. At this point, the plan is to weigh the merits of the idea through a feasibility study.
“We think for a lot of different reasons it makes sense,” said John Matthews, project manager for Matthews Southwest. “It’s a real quality of life issue… It is 21st century development.”
They have approached the District of Squamish, the Squamish First Nation, Whistler, the Lil’wat Nation and the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District.
As to where the idea goes next, if it proceeds, will depend on higher levels of government.
Matthews said they will look at garnering support at the provincial level as well exploring potential federal government infrastructure funding.
The feasibility study, he explained, will examine questions such as potential costs, ridership and routes. Of the latter, he said it is likely a route would require some existing right-of-way as well as new track, although the study will answer these questions.
“We’ll be pulling in a team of experts,” Matthews said.
As well, the process will provide his company with a better idea of how and if it will be involved with any further development of plans. He hopes a study could be done in approximately 10 weeks, although he adds there are too many factors at present to consider.
Matthews Southwest already has a presence in the region, working with Sqomish Sea to Sky Developments on projects like the Squamish Oceanfront. It has offices in the metro area of Dallas, Texas, as well as Calgary, Mississauga and Dubai.
Many of its developments are commercial and residential, but it is currently in the early stages of a high-speed rail project connecting Dallas and Houston. What is currently a four-hour ride by automobile should be cut down to about an hour by rail.
Some U.S. states such as California and Florida have begun to look at high-speed rail, though Matthews realizes the concept is far less familiar to North Americans than it would be to people in places like Europe and Japan.
“We’d be using Japanese technology,” Matthews added.
He is hoping the plan can do for the Sea to Sky area what it will do in Texas and cut down potential travel time to and from Whistler and Vancouver from three hours down to approximately one hour.
In recent months, there has been discussion about restoring rail through the corridor, although the provincial government has suggested this would require private interests to step forward.
At the SLRD level, Crompton said he did not expect the project could go ahead without some type of funding from higher levels of government, though he reiterated the situation is not clear so far.
“The exact structure of the funding profile isn’t clear at this point,” he added.
As to when a feasibility study could take place, Matthews is not sure but hopes it could get underway by next spring.
“I don’t think there’s an official timeframe,” he said. “I would love to get this moving as soon as possible.”
SLRD chair Jack Crompton told The Squamish Chief via email, “At this point the proponent is pursuing funding for a feasibility study.”
The idea is still in the early stages, and he is hesitant to put a date on anything, especially since it is unclear whether the project will proceed beyond the study.
“We don’t like to hype-up projects that are really early on,” he added.
