Microsoft to host Pacific Northwest high-speed rail summit

Microsoft and the US High Speed Rail Association (USHSR) will host the Cascadia Rail Summit Nov. 6-9, an event dedicated to building a high-speed rail line linking Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

The summit will build on early feasibility studies that have demonstrated the market viability of the high-speed rail concept and confirmed it could be successfully developed and operated, according to the summit's website.

The event will create momentum for the project and begin planning, financing and governance work to bring it to a reality, USHSR officials said.

Featured speakers include officials from Washington state, the Oregon Department of Transportation, the city of Vancouver, Microsoft, WSP, Talgo, Siemens and Alstom.

The summit will be held at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Microsoft has contributed $573,667 toward the cost of studies examining the possibility of building a high-speed rail line in the Pacific Northwest.