We want to say thank you to all the supporters of High Speed Rail Canada. What better way to do it then give you a free slideshow of the historic Bombardier JetTrain. Happy Holidays everyone.

It was easy to blame the former Harper government as the main reason why Canada is a half of century behind the rest of the world in having high speed passenger rail.  That excuse is far too simple and it does not explain why other countries are not actively lobbying to sell their high speed trains and technology in Canada. Recent stories from around the world show that China and Japan are aggressively marketing their trains in North America and Asia. In Canada, these countries are hesitant to spend any money on lobbying for their high speed trains. Why? The Bombardier factor is the reason they have given up on Canada. It seems the mere presence of Bombardier in Canada means that no country will be able to win the contract to build, operate and maintain a high speed rail line. Contracts have to be given to Bombardier, henceforth the disappearing act - China and Japan rail companies are not lobbying in Canada.

BE IJING, April 29(Reuters) - China's top two trainmakers have been in discussions with Bombardier Inc about possibly buying a controlling stake in the Canadian company's railway unit, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. China CNR Corp Ltd and state-owned CSR Corp Ltd , now in the process of merging to create the world's biggest railway company, are exploring a stake purchase of the Bombardier unit, complementing China's plan to sell its high-speed rail technology abroad, the sources said. But discussions can not move forward until after the Chinese trainmakers complete a planned $26-billion merger next month, said a person close to one of the Chinese companies.

Well for fans of Bombardier's 2002 JetTrain what a day it is. When it was introduced Bombardier had a promo video just under 4 minutes made. When they pulled the plus on the project, the website and video disappeared. We are very very happy to have found it and loaded in on our High Speed Rail Canada Youtube Channel . Enjoy the magic of the JetTrain.

MONTREAL — Amtrak has scrapped plans to add 40 Bombardier Inc. cars to its Acela high-speed train line, judging them “too expensive” and “not based on reasonable cost.” In addition, the U.S. rail operator has decided to replace Bombardier’s entire original Acela fleet of 120 cars and 40 locomotives on the line inaugurated in 2000, the first and still only high-speed rail line in North America, linking Washington, New York and Boston. An internal report by Amtrak’s auditor-general said that after issuing a sole-source contract (to Bombardier), the railway received a proposal for the 40 cars on Feb. 27. “Given the high dollar value and Amtrak’s plan to award a sole-source contract,” the report states, “we initiated a review of the price proposal to determine whether it was based on well-supported and reasonable cost and pricing data.” Read more :