Whistler Passenger Rail Development Analysis: Cascadia Improvements and Cross-Border Development

 

Arunima Emmanuel
Ayswarya Johnson
Harshal Dabholkar
Rafaat Shaeer
Shivakumar Oruganti

University Canada West 

September 2025

 

Executive Summary


The proposal to reintroduce passenger rail on the Vancouver-Whistler corridor addresses regional transportation, sustainability, and development concerns immediately. First, mounting demand to travel and current Highway 99 congestion highlight the limitations of highway-only access alone and the calls for a guaranteed year-round backup. Second, evidence confirms that passenger rail will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate sustainable land-use practices by reducing reliance on private automobiles (Papagiannakis & Yiannakou, 2022). Third, rail investments have economic benefits in that they improve employment, tourism, and commerce around station locations. However, as property value increases around transit corridors, research cautions that it can lead to gentrification and displacement if not accompanied by affordable housing programs (Bardaka, 2024; Rojas, 2024). Finally, phased implementation allows authorities to strike a balance between costs, coordinate government, and test demand before widening service. Taken together, evidence suggests a phased rail strategy with a focus on environment sustainability and social-economic equity as the optimal means to facilitate mobility, initiate economic development, and give inclusive benefit along the corridor of Vancouver–Whistler