I guess your right, I was thinking along the lines of station stops and how they add to travel time.
Were you thinking something like the Talgo high speed DMU running in Spain that can be modified to meet FRA rules?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talgo#Talgo_XXI
Either way though it seems a good bit of double/triple tracking would be necessary between E. Portland and Vancouver to seperate it from freight trains
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