I’ve never been able to warm up to high-speed rail—the Shinkansen. As someone who photographs trains—and perhaps holds a bit of an "old-school" perspective—I find that the arrival of the Shinkansen has made the railway hobby far less interesting. In regions where the Shinkansen was introduced, many conventional-line limited express and sleeper trains were discontinued, stripping away much of the variety that made the hobby so engaging. Most railway enthusiasts aren't particularly drawn to the Shinkansen; they tend to have a much deeper passion for locomotives, commuter trains, and limited express services. For those of us living in Hokkaido, the loss of sleeper trains like the Hokutosei,Cassiopeia,Twilight Express, and the Hamanasu express was a devastating blow. I still vividly remember being at Sapporo Station as a child, watching the final runs of the HokutoseiandCassiopeia. Barriers were set up on the platform, and many people—some even in tears—called out their thanks to the departing trains. Television programs ran special features on overnight trains for days on end; it was a moment that truly shook the entire nation. The fact that I never managed to capture these sleeper trains with my DSLR remains the single biggest regret—the greatest "complex"—of my time as a railway enthusiast. While I do have a soft spot for certain Shinkansen models—like the 300, 500, and E4 series, or experimental trains like the WIN350, the 500-900 series, and the 300X (955 series)—they have all long since retired, and I don't find them particularly compelling as subjects for photography anymore.
They want to gauge interest and their current message. It’s honestly not good. The fact they didn’t post to Reddit means they don’t know where their audience is either.
Urge you to take the poll and comment needed support for better message and effort.
What you should say, you want them to say:
we have the technology and know-how, to build it fast, and on budget. (Learned Link Lessons).
Fastest train in USA.
Solution for I5 woes, and promoting travel.
Show support to starting EIS and moving onto stage 3 of CID Program. It’s lengthy and should be started asap assuming FRA also gives support.
Not good messaging - just info graph.
Cons of their message:
Safety - (safety should already be implied). “Hey, it’s safe to ride the train” is a bad approach.
“Bring public and private partners and people together” - build the train to move people, fast. Sell that. Don’t build it because it creates something else. Better yet, prove you can build it. “First true HSR in US.” “Fastest train in US” etc
“Grow the economy” - more of same. Grow a high speed rail line. Grow commitment to stage 3 and begin EIS.
“Connects The region” - the communities are already connected. Prove you can build it and build it fast and on budget. That’s what people want. It’s more common to have delays and price slips than anything else. Building it would be impressive enough.
“Use resources efficiently” and “Enhance infrastructure resiliency and operational efficiency” same thing said two different ways - build it fast, and on budget. Don’t use word salads to complicate it. Simply, build HSR.
Their recent studies and their results are echoes of previous studies from the past decade: economic benefit, growing population, I5 costs more to build, etc. How about telling us something we don’t know - 30yrs of mega project construction with Link Light Rail “makes us experienced to create the next mega project, faster, and better, since we have learned many valuable lessons before.”
Unfortunately the WSDOT didn’t commit to moving onto stage 3 of federal corridor process even with completion of stage 2. This isn’t reassuring, and isn’t the type of leadership that instills confidence for people to want to follow into another transportation endeavour. The 3 territories only need to commit a matching 20% to begin a lengthy EIS (environmental study). That and design will take years. Near annual business and political events say they support the endeavor but so far nothing besides more studies. Commit the 20% and get the leaders of 3 territories to support that instead of an idea.
Pros
only significant project to enter stage 2 of corridor ID process. Honestly, not difficult to advance to stage 3. Stage 2 could be much shorter considering the results mostly echo or build on previous studies. Instead have to wait until 2028 for no reasonable reason($49 million equates to a 4 year study of mostly recycled information? Could’ve been almost finished with EIS by now). Next year, proposed routes will be released but we already saw 4 route options from previous study.
Stage 3, as mentioned, requires minimal local funding and has guaranteed federal funding, 5x that amount, for initial startup cost. Cascadia has supplied about 175mil to-date for studies, it will take roughly the same amount or perhaps double to begin work, and continue CID progress.
They could begin that lengthy process, work through design work, as they do other local steps simultaneously, to get real pricing picture. This isn’t secret - communities harped for similar methods during Link Light Rail, but they always prefer staged efforts. We’ve seen prices fluctuating until most design work is done, and also with inflation delays. So start it. Commit. They entered stage 2, reaffirmed support with Canada and Oregon and Washington governors last year. There’s no harm to begin a study and see its results, while talking to the community and raising support politically if necessary.
Two years and all they did was add mountains to their $49mil map.Can do environmental and much design work simultaneously. EIS timeline estimate not given, likely 5+ years
They’re taking a poll. They’re asking for insight. Give them some.
Am I repetitive, idealistic, and aggressive with message? Possibly, but its better than incrementalism, and “better than nothing” mentality. I think they need a fire lit under them to get the message across. Messages reaffirming what we already know “a train connects places safely” makes the conversation elementary, and isn’t helpful. pushing for action, simplicity, clear messaging, beyond kindergarten level, is supportive.
