Stephen Rees's blog

Transport 2000 Ottawa

Jon Calon, the Editor of the Western Newsletter of Transport 2000 has written Stockwell Day, the Minister responsible for the Canadian Border Security Agency to protest the delay to the startup of the second Seattle to Vancouver B.C. Amtrak train. The train was to debut today.

The CBSA reportedly wants $15,000 per day to clear the train, calling it a new facility despite the existence of a first train with all the necessary facilities. Airports are grandfathered but CBSA has a different standard for rail transportation.

Transport 2000 British Columbia and Transport 2000 Canada have hired Ken Rubin to make an Access to Information request to find out more. BC invested $3.5 million dollars in a new passing siding to make the second train possible, and it is now losing the tourist dollars it expected.

A letter has also been sent to Suzanne Hurtubise, Deputy Minister.

…

A rock slide buried a short segment of the British Columbia Railway (CN) and the Whistler-Vancouver Highway on Tuesday night. The Rocky Mountaineer (RMR) operates a passenger train on the line.

Rocky Mountaineer staff were working since 2 am Wednesday contacting the 220 passengers scheduled on the 8:30 trip, and RMR riders going to Jasper were put on a 30-passenger plane in four flights. The shutdown will last several days, says the National Post.

Bus operators have cut back runs drastically, sticking to a twice-daily route via Duffy Lake that can take up to seven hours each way. Many passengers bound to and from Vancouver International Airport are going by helicopter.

According to the Rails NorthWest Yahoo Group service will be resumed on Monday

and finally

we learn that China will today open the Beijing – Tianjin Intercity Railway, the first railway with daily 350 km/h passenger service. The new line linking Olympic venues will more than halve the travel time on the 120 km route, down from 70 minutes to 30 minutes.

The 3.1 billion USD line will have six CRH-3 trains built by Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. Meanwhile Vancouver prepares for the 2010 Winter Olympics with a new 1960s era superhighway (currently blocked by nature) and an extra daily train to/from Portland and Seattle now blocked by human folly.