Plan to add 2nd Seattle-to-Vancouver passenger train stalled by CBSA fees
The Canadian Border Services Agency says it will charge an American passenger rail service more than half a million dollars in fees to add another train between Seattle and Vancouver — a decision that has derailed the plan.
Amtrak Cascades, funded by the Washington state government, planned to add a second daily run to and from Vancouver beginning in August of last year and continuing through the 2010 Winter Olympics and beyond.
'Maybe the benefits don't accrue directly to [the] CBSA, but there's all sorts of other economic activity.' — Joan McIntyre, B.C. minister of state for intergovernmental relations
But Washington's Transportation Department says the proposal was put on hold when the CBSA demanded $1,500 a day — more than $500,000 a year — to pay for extra staff to process passengers.
The service has been stalled ever since.
Governments in Washington state and British Columbia, which are currently negotiating with the CBSA, are increasing pressure on the federal agency to scrap the fee altogether for a service supporters say could add millions of tourism dollars to the local economy.
"It's not a fee that's charged to any transportation program; no one else is being charged this fee," Vickie Sheehan of the Washington Department of Transportation said in an interview Tuesday.
"It's a big anticipated thing that wasn't planned for, so it's just been a monkey wrench."
Direct service
Currently, an Amtrak train departs from Seattle in the morning and leaves Vancouver in the evening.
The proposed second run would leave Seattle at night and bring passengers back from Vancouver in the morning. The additional run would also mean direct service to Vancouver all the way from Eugene, Ore.
The CBSA doesn't charge additional fees to process passengers on the current run, but it argues it would need to bring in extra staff for the evening crossing into B.C.
'The CBSA must take into account the costs of providing additional resources to clear travellers outside of its core hours of service.' — Patrizia Giolti, CBSA spokesperson
The agency has said it would waive the fee immediately before, during and after the Olympics, but governments in Washington state and British Columbia say that isn't enough to get additional trains on the tracks.
"Maybe the benefits don't accrue directly to [the] CBSA, but there's all sorts of other economic activity," said Joan McIntyre, B.C's minister of state for intergovernmental relations.
"To only open just before and after the Olympics, that's too little, too late. I'm delighted that they were able to give us that much leeway, but we want this train going now for the summer."
The CBSA wouldn't say whether it charges similar fees anywhere else in the country, but a spokeswoman defended the fee for the proposed Seattle-Vancouver run.
"The CBSA must take into account the costs of providing additional resources to clear travellers outside of its core hours of service," Patrizia Giolti said in an email.
The federal government set aside an extra $1.9 million for the CBSA to cover Olympic-related costs between 2007 and 2011, according to the Treasury Board's website, although it's not clear how the rail proposal would fit into that.
Last year, the B.C. government spent $4.5 million upgrading rail infrastructure specifically to accommodate the second Seattle-Vancouver run.
Call for fee drop
The Transportation Department estimates the added service could bring an extra 50,000 passengers a year to British Columbia, adding $14 million to the province's economy.
During the Olympics, Amtrak plans to use the second run, along with added cars on both trips, to handle the influx of people heading to and from the Games.
Politicians in Vancouver also want the fee dropped.
City councillor Suzanne Anton brought forward a motion Tuesday asking the agency waive the hefty fee against Amtrak.
Anton, who estimated the value of the added service at as much as $30 million to the local economy, said the issue should be a no-brainer.
"You really have to look at it as the broader economic argument for the whole region," said Anton, who expected her motion to pass unanimously.
"It's kind of ridiculous that the train is being held up like this. There's no sense to it at all."
Stephen Pearce of Tourism Vancouver said the agency should at least waive the fee on a trial basis for a year and then evaluate the impact on the B.C. economy.
"It would give us so much more flexibility in terms of being able to book trips to Vancouver," said Pearce. "The impact would be substantial for us as a community."