Dear Minister Strahl,

A constituent from my riding,as written to me about his dismay at the elimination of passenger train service between Vancouver and southern points in the US such as Seattle and Portland. I am including his email for your reference.

I respectfully request that your office investigate this matter with the aim toward resolving it.

My consitutent understands that this route, provided by Amtrak, was highly successful in the past year, and the demand for this service remains. He also points out that this decision to cut service apparently also involves VIA Rail.

As you are from BC as well, I’m sure that you can appreciate the growing interdependence between BC and Washington state. I know that your government will agree that it is important to stimulate and support the local economy and tourism and one way to achieve this is through expanded rail service.

In addition to the economic situation, people between our two regions enjoy a close connection as neighbours, friends and family because of our proximity. Further, expanded train service makes environmental sense in terms of reduced car trips.

I would appreciate a response as to why the service was cancelled and how this matter can be resolved.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Libby Davies, MP Vancouver East