Dec. 10, 2015
Oregon Passenger Rail Leadership Council recommends preferred alternative for intercity improvements
SALEM –The Oregon Passenger Rail Leadership Council reached agreement on Dec. 8 to support the recommended preferred alternative to improve Oregon’s intercity passenger rail over the next two decades. The Oregon Department of Transportation will advance this alternative to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
The Leadership Council ... agreed with ODOT’s ... Project team that Alternative 1 is the preferred option because it provides more frequent and reliable rail service in a cost-effective way.
The recommended preferred alternative follows the existing alignment on the Union Pacific Railroad line and increases Amtrak Cascades ... service between Eugene and Portland from two daily round trips to six daily round trips over the next 20 years. This planned increase in passenger rail service in Oregon will ... match [ the levels of ] scheduled train service north of Portland Union Station into Washington and British Columbia [ that will take effect in about two years ]. The recommendation was developed after years of technical analysis, robust public engagement, and ... Council deliberation.
[ It ] is a major milestone toward making Oregon eligible to compete for future federal funding when [ or if any ] becomes available, such as the recently approved FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) Act ... bill.
A Council member wrote, “Alternative 1 is the best opportunity to advance passenger rail in Oregon. It provides a cost-effective choice that will increase the reliability and frequency of rail service near population centers in the Willamette Valley, with shorter travel times and an ability to implement incrementally when funding becomes available. ... Alternative 1 has the support of ... the Federal Railroad Administration and is something Oregon should support building.”
... more information... at
http://www.OregonPassengerRail.org or contact Jill Pearson ... (503) 986-3313,
[email protected].
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