(The Portland Oregonian posted the following story by Janie Har on its website on September 20.)
SALEM, Ore. — All four of Oregon’s Willamette Valley Amtrak trains will continue running for now, thanks to a tentative last-minute deal between Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s office and the Union Pacific Railroad.
Two of the four daily trips between Portland and Eugene were scheduled to end Sept. 30 unless the state delivered on a years-old obligation to pay $15 million to improve congested rail lines owned by Union Pacific.
A spokesman for the railroad company confirmed Friday that Union Pacific officials plan to visit Oregon in mid-October to work out the specifics of a construction plan paid for primarily by federal rail dollars and some state lottery proceeds.
“We agreed we would not stop the trains, and it looks like we’re going to come together on a plan that will resolve all of these issues,” said John Bromley, a Union Pacific spokesman.
A long-term agreement would be the second time this year that Oregon’s Willamette Valley trains have survived near-termination.
All four trains looked doomed for most of the recession-wracked legislative session until lawmakers restored nearly $10 million to operate the trips in 2003-05. But in the flurry of end-of-session negotiations, they declined to budget the necessary dollars for track improvements.
At stake, rail advocates say, is a commuter and tourist alternative that’s just hitting its stride after more than two decades of sluggish state investment.
The slightest dip in trips would set back a rail service that carries 95,000 passengers a year — up from 45,000 in 1995 — and that may boost tourism around the state, especially when Vancouver, B.C., hosts the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
“If we had five trains instead of two, it would be totally self-sufficient,” said Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland. “We’re providing operating subsidies because it’s inefficient.”
In 1981, Oregon stopped short-distance train trips between Portland and Eugene after 18 months because of budget problems.
They didn’t come back until 1994, 13 years later. In 2000, state transportation officials added the second daily round trip.
The four Amtrak Cascades trains — two round trips each day — link Eugene, Albany, Salem and Portland. The trains will stop in Oregon City after its new station opens later this year.
Amtrak’s Cascades run between Portland and Vancouver, B.C., would not be affected. Neither would the Coast Starlight, which runs from Seattle to Los Angeles.
One train in danger of being lost departs Eugene at 9:30 a.m. and arrives in Portland at noon; the other departs Portland at 5:30 p.m. and arrives in Eugene at 8 p.m.
Union Pacific warned the Oregon Department of Transportation in May that service on the two trains would stop 30 days after the Legislature adjourned unless the state delivered on its promise to pay $15 million to add extra tracks and other upgrades to handle growth. In 2000, Union Pacific allowed Oregon to use the company’s tracks for two additional trains in exchange for the improvements.
The state’s payment and construction plan tentatively calls for upgrades at four Union Pacific yards, in Portland, Eugene, Millersburg and Harrisburg.
“Whether it ends up being exactly those four, I don’t know for sure,” said Pat Egan, the governor’s key transportation adviser.
Kulongoski spoke with rail officials Thursday; his staff continued to firm up details with the Omaha, Neb.-based company Friday. Oregon’s congressional delegates, particularly Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Peter DeFazio, both Democrats, also helped lobby the company, Egan said.
Losing the train time slots on the tracks could set the state back years, rail advocates say. They point out that Washington state owns most of the Oregon runs’ train equipment and might take back its rail cars to expand service if Oregon doesn’t use them. This year, Washington lawmakers approved a nickel hike in the gas tax and other new fees, partly to finance more than $200 million in new rail projects.
“We cannot continue to widen freeways ad infinitum,” said Fred Nussbaum, strategic planner with the Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates, a nonprofit advocacy group.
“The plan is that we have seven trains a day between Portland and Eugene, in my lifetime, I hope,” Nussbaum said.