With the assistance of Microsoft, the Ministry of transport of the state of Washington embarked on a techno-economic analysis of high-speed trains in Cascadia.
At the end of this spring, the Legislature of the state of Washington has allocated 300 thousand dollars for research to start between the largest cities of the region high-tech trains with speed more than 250 mph.
The legislature requested an analysis of the alignment of the train route between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Portland, with intermediate stops in Bellingham, Everett, Seattle, SeaTac, Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver and Washington. Legislators also asked to assess possible extensions East and West through the Cascade range in Eastern Washington.
Speaking at the conference, regional politicians gathered Wednesday in Portland, the President and Microsoft General counsel brad Smith said that his company will collect an additional 50 thousand dollars to implement this idea.
The feasibility analysis will consider potential points of binding, including «financing mechanisms» and the relevant access rights, because the high-speed train needs a special railway. Technical and economic expertise needs to be completed in mid-December.
The interest of Microsoft to high-speed Railways was the result of last year’s more ambitious initiatives to create high-tech transportation corridor between Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, and now Portland. Microsoft has a growing engineering centre in Vancouver, where, according to Smith, has about 700 people.
