Vancouver risks being isolated from a high- speed rail corridor on the West Coast of North America, along with its business and tourism benefits, as efforts to build U.S. portions of the corridor progress faster than any initiatives on this side of the border.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson signed a pact with the mayors of Seattle and Portland on June 9 to push to secure a high-speed railway service through the Pacific Northwest, but the plan still faces many obstacles – physically, financially and politically – before it will be realized.

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Cascadia Center has continued its work on high-speed rail this summer, being among the sponsors of two highly-successful sessions in Vancouver, B.C., and Portland, Ore. What began in earnest with our May 2009 Cascadia Rail Week continues as we work with colleagues throughout the corridor to organize seminars, forums, meetings and field trips to help regional leaders coalesce around a common cause. 

Information about the June and July events:

Vancouver - June 9, 2010: Here is an article that ties into the event, and click here for a recap of the presentations.

Portland - July 8-9, 2010: The map (above) shows the entire corridor. Click here for a larger version. Also, click here for the America 2050 briefing book for the event. 

"The eyes of the world’s tunneling community are on Seattle,” said Martin Herrenknecht, president of a worldwide company building tunneling machines, speaking at the North America Tunneling Conference in Portland this week.

Herrenknecht spoke in glowing terms of the opportunity for the Alaskan Way Viaduct deep bore tunnel to advance the U.S. into the major leagues with Europe and Asia in tunnel technology. Tunnel boring machines, he and other presenters said, are steadily increasing in diameter with better ground control and now safely excavate in all types of soil, rock or groundwater conditions.

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