Representatives from two statewide transportation advocacy groups will attend the next Blaine City Council to discuss the latest developments on a possible commuter rail stop in Blaine.

Bruce Agnew, the executive director of the Seattle-based transportation advocacy group Cascadia Center for Regional Development, and  Loren Herrigstad, with rail advocacy group All Aboard Washington, will speak at the Monday, February 27, about the progress made in establishing a commuter rail stop in Blaine. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Blaine City Council chambers.

As I reported here, representatives from the Cascadia Center are working with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to determine where to get funding for a Blaine train stop. The Cascadia Center’s goal is to impress upon WSDOT officials how much Canadian and U.S. interest there is for such a project, and the parties involved hope to achieve this understanding at future meetings.

Blaine City Council members, especially Bonnie Onyon, have stressed that WSDOT, not Amtrak, would run any future commuter rail station in Blaine. Onyon has also said that the restoration of the Blaine train depot and the rail stop are not tied together; one could in fact happen without the other.