Time running out for Vancouver-Seattle train

METRO VANCOUVER -Time is running out for one of the two daily trains connecting Vancouver and Seattle, as Washington state officials said they will begin shutting down the service Monday if they can’t reach a deal on border fees with the Canadian government.

"We’re in the last week, really, to make the decision," said Andrew Wood, deputy director of the state transportation department’s rail and marine office. "I’m sad and disappointed, because we’ve put a lot of effort into trying to grow this service."

Amtrak Cascades added a second train to its Vancouver-Seattle route in August 2009, arriving in Vancouver at 10:50 p.m. and departing the next morning at 6:40 a.m. It joined the original train, which gets into Vancouver at 11:40 a.m. and departs at 5:45 p.m.

The second train was part of a pilot project supported with millions of dollars from both the Washington and B.C. governments. However, the Canada Border Services Agency, after agreeing to extend the pilot beyond its original March deadline, notified Amtrak it plans to begin charging the company $1,500 a day starting Nov. 1.

CBSA spokeswoman Sabrina Mehes said in an e-mail the fee, which amounts to almost $550,000 annually, is needed to cover the cost of additional staff required to process the second train’s passengers. She noted similar "cost-recovery" fees are charged to many airport authorities.

Wood said the fees requested would add about $20 to each ticket, making the price uncompetitive. As a result, if CBSA refuses to budge, Amtrak will run its last night train to Vancouver on Oct. 31.

"We are very surprised and disappointed about the current position of the federal government," said B.C. Transportation Minister Shirley Bond.

Bond said she’s tried to arrange a meeting with federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews but, so far, has not even been able to get him on the phone.

Wood noted CBSA has never charged Amtrak fees to process the original Vancouver-Seattle train or the shuttle buses it runs between the two cities.

Stephen Regan, president of the B.C. Council of Tourism Association, called the federal government’s decision "penny-wise but pound-foolish", saying it’s another blow to a tourism industry already suffering from a high Canadian dollar and increased border restrictions.

Determining the exact benefit of the second train to Vancouver’s economy is difficult. Washington state estimates the train has brought about $15 million a year in additional revenue to Vancouver’s tourism industry, with about 75 additional passengers a day on the evening train. Amtrak says it has also seen an increase in ridership on its original train, owing to the added convenience of having a choice of return times. What’s not clear, however, is how many of those tourists would have come to Vancouver anyway. Some, no doubt, would have driven across the border. And before Amtrak added its second train to Vancouver, a shuttle bus took passengers from Bellingham to Vancouver – a bus that will resume service if the second train is cancelled.

However, Wood noted, Amtrak has marketed the train line heavily to international visitors – especially those in Japan – and is convinced many of the tourists aboard would not have come to Vancouver otherwise. Regan agreed, saying the biggest risk of cancelling the train won’t be the immediate impact, but rather the fact that the service won’t be given a chance to expand.

Vancouver Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh said the Conservative government should be nurturing projects like the second Amtrak train, not hindering them.

cskelton@vancouversun.com