Cascadia High-Speed Railway (ESPLAR Universe)

In the ESPLAR Universe, the **Cascadia High-Speed Railway** is a dedicated high speed railway line operated by **Cascadia Railway District**, which is a joint division of Amtrak and Union Pacific. The line goes from Sacramento in the US state of California to Seattle in the state of Washington. As of 2023, the line is currently being extended to Everett and Bellingham, with a further extension to Vancouver in final planning and revision stages. The former extension is planned to open in 4Q 2023, while the Vancouver extension is scheduled for 2Q 2026. It is part of the West Coast High-Speed Railway Corridor with the California High Speed Railway.

Since the line opened in 2008, the Cascadia High-Speed Railway has carried a combined total of 480 million passengers. As of 2022, the annual ridership is 93 million passengers (not counting crossover services from the California High Speed Railway). It has also led to explosive population growth and economic development along the Pacific Northwest. Despite the BNV20 pandemic wrecking havoc on passenger train services globally, the Cascadia High-Speed Railway like many other high-speed railway lines has a bright future ahead of it.

## History

During the 1st Golden Age of ESPLAR, races were held both in Washington and Oregon. Both of them attracted huge crowds in which traffic issues quickly became a huge problem, especially the race in Washington which was for years held at Evergreen Speedway. Eventually in the mid 90s, ESPLAR pulled out of Washington State and Portland became Cascadia's only racing venue for ESPLAR for many years.

Issues with the Coast Starlight train service, which was Cascadia's only passenger train service, which included late trains, on-track obstructions and freight congestion only necessitated the need for a dedicated high speed rail line for the region. In 1997, both Amtrak and Union Pacific announced the creation of the Cascadia Railway District which was responsible for planning, building, and operating the region's high speed rail service. The next year, plans for the Cascadia HSR were announced; the first stage of the route would go from Seattle to Portland via Olympia and Kelso-Longview. The second stage would go from Portland to Medford, completely bypassing Bend and Klamath Falls. The final stage would be from Medford to Sacramento which would link with the California High Speed Railway which at the time was under construction from Sacramento to Fresno (the section from San Francisco to Los Angeles via Fresno/Bakersfield had already been operational by 1997). The project cost $1.8 billion for the section between Seattle and Portland, mostly for the immense tunneling work between Seattle and Tacoma and under the Columbia River. This caused the first stage's cost to balloon to almost $5.2 billion dollars, but that did not stop the Cascadia Railway District from continuing the work.

The first stage underwent alignment revisions as the section between SeaTac Airport and Tacoma was revised to travel parallel to Interstate 5 between S 375th Street and Kent Des Moines Road. In Olympia, the station was relocated to Henderson Boulevard after plans to replace the Olympia-Lacey Station fell apart. This meant the route had to go around the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge for environmental reasons instead of tunneling under it (the Cascadia Railway District cited its 2000 Environmental Review for its decision)

When construction started on Stage 2 in 2004, the route was planned to go through Oregon's major cities around Interstate 5: Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, and Medford. This route cost considerably less than stage 1, but tunneling revisions still pushed its final cost higher. The Mid-Oregon mountain ranges made things even more difficult.

Stage 3's construction began in 2009, a year after Stage 1 was opened between Seattle and Portland. Initial problems on the route between Sacramento and Redding were brushed aside after Cascadia Railway District agreed to route through Yuba City and Chico since the economic benefits were greater than routing through Orland and Williams. In Redding, the final station site was at North Market Street and Twin View Boulevard, which involved the relocation (not demolition) of several buildings to other parts of the area.

The question of the section between Redding and Yreka was a contentious issue throughout 2010 and 2011, as it could not pass through Shasta Dam, and it had to go around Mount Shasta due to potential collateral damage that might result from a volcanic eruption. Eventually, the consensus was reached that the route went to the west entirely underground until it was about 10 kilometers northwest of the Shasta Dam, going around the Dam and tunneling under the Shasta Mountains to Yreka. The platinum rail that marked the completion of the Cascadia High Speed Rail Line was laid south of Hornbrook on June 23, 2013.

The first stage opened between Seattle and Portland on September 10, 2008, just right on the offset of the Great Recession, which delayed Stage 2's opening to 2010.

## Train Services/Rolling Stock

As of 2023, the following train types operate on Cascadia HSR services:

* CC100: operates the all-station *Roosevelt* service between Sacramento and Seattle; in operation since 2008. Based on the SNCF TGV POS. After reaching capacity in 2012 the CC150 supplemented the service. The CC100 are planned to be retired and rebranded as GL100 series when that line opens later in 2023. Top speed: 300 kph
* CC150: operates the all-station *Roosevelt* service between Sacramento and Seattle; in operation since 2012. Based on the SNCF TGV Duplex. With capacity being reached on the all-station regional services, 45 of these trains supplemented the existing 40 CC100 trains that were already in service. 68 are currently in service and will be the only type running the *Roosevelt* all-stations service when the CC100 trains are transferred to the Great Lakes High Speed Rail Line as GL100. Top speed: 320 kph
* CC1X: operates the regional *Azalea* service between Sacramento and Seattle, stopping at Chico, Redding, Medford, Eugene, Portland, Olympia, and Tacoma. This was the first express service in the Cascadia HSR, in operation since 2010. Based on the N700 Series Shinkansen. Later, all CC1X sets were refitted into the ones based on the N700A sets. Top speed: 320 kph
* CC5X: operates the *Séliš* service between Sacramento and Seattle, stopping at Portland; in operation since 2014. Based on the E5 Series Shinkansen. This train operates the fastest train service outside of Asia, tying the record currently held by the Beijing-Guangzhou HSR. When the CAX50 train enters service in 2024 for the CAHSR-CCHSR joint *Nisenan* service between Los Angeles and Seattle, this record will be toppled with the CAX50 trains capable for 400kph operational speed (the section between Sacramento and Redding, and between Eugene and Salem is the only area in the route capable of 400kph operation). Top speed: 350kph

When the extension to Bellingham opens later in 2023, the all-station *Roosevelt* service will be extended to Bellingham. The Séliš Cascadia express service will not be extended north of Seattle until the extension to Vancouver opens.

All foreign tourists using the Eagle Pass (the ESPLAR Universe American equivalent of the Japan Rail Pass) are covered through all Cascadia HSR services, with the exception of the CAHSR-CCHSR joint *Nisenan* service between Los Angeles and Seattle. This is due to high domestic demand for the service.

The Cascadia HSR's rolling stock code is CC, which is common standard since the revision of the US High Speed Rail code in 1988. Trains are stored either in Tacoma or in Sacramento.

## Trivia

* This line does not actually exist in real life, but rather is an ESPLAR Universe hypothetical scenario if high speed rail was actually invested in the United States.