Remember that movie Singles from the ’90s? The one with espresso angst, flannel obsessions, and a killer soundtrack featuring the likes of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and The Smashing Pumpkins?

Somewhere between the love triangles set against the backdrop of the emerging Seattle grunge scene, there’s a subplot that focuses on a character named Steve Dunne, an idealistic city planner with a vision he believes will change the world: the Supertrain.

His plan seemed simple enough: build a citywide high-speed rail network that would cut congestion, clean the air, and maybe, just maybe, make people’s lives a little saner. As Steve puts it in the film, “You give people a reason to get out of their cars. Coffee, great music … they will park and ride. I know they will.”

Back then, Steve’s dream of a cleaner, connected future built on rails felt more nostalgic than realistic. Cars were, and still are, the ultimate freedom. They are youth and identity wrapped up in steel and gasoline.

Skip to three decades later and the idea behind Steve’s Supertrain is curiously relevant in a world looking to reduce emissions and simplify urban commutes. What started out as a random movie subplot has become more of a premonition, and decades later we are seeing the rhythm of the idea echoing beyond the Seattle skyline.

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