Monthly Archives: June 2013

The Oregon TRail Part 2

The study of the potential routes for passenger rail in Oregon is on-going and will follow the process shown in the image below.  If you click on the image it will take you to the meeting materials for the meeting at Linn Benton community College on April 24, 2013.  This meeting concerned the passenger rail routing study and described to potential routes the train could take.

Rail Train route study

Passenger Rail Study Schedule

We talked about the Willamette Valley rail route possibilities and the positives and negatives of a route that includes Corvallis (Oregon State University town with 50,000 residents) – the ‘Yellow’ Route.

Train route - Yellow- Willamette valley

Potential Willamette valley routes

The yellow corridor concept starts in the Eugene-Springfield area, and continues west of the
purple corridor to travel through Monroe and Corvallis, and then either travels east to connect with the red or blue line in Albany.

Goals and Objectives of the project:

Goal 1: Improve passenger rail mobility and accessibility to communities in the Willamette Valley.
Objectives:
 1A – Provide a viable alternative to auto, air, and bus travel between Eugene and Vancouver, WA.
 1B – Provide reliable and frequent passenger rail service.
 1C – Support multimodal integration at each passenger rail station.
 1D – Allow for future passenger rail improvements, including higher speeds.

Goal 2: Protect freight-rail capacity and investments in the corridor, and maintain safety.
Objectives:
 2A – Does not increase conflicts between passenger rail or freight rail and vehicles.
 2B – Protect freight-rail carrying capability.

Goal 3: Plan, design, implement, maintain, and operate a cost-effective project.
Objectives:
 3A – Develop a strategy that can be reasonably funded and leveraged with range of investment tools for construction and operation.
 3B – Serve the maximum number of people with every dollar invested.

Goal 4: Provide an affordable and equitable travel alternative.
Objectives:
 4A – Provide a viable and affordable alternative for travelers.
 4B – Provide equitable investments and service, with consideration to race/ethnicity and income.

Goal 5: Be compatible with passenger rail investments planned in Washington State.
Objective:
 5A – Provide passenger rail service to meet the existing and future passenger rail
demand for an interconnected system in the Pacific Northwest High Speed Rail corridor.

Goal 6: Promote community health and quality of life for communities along the corridor.
Objectives:
 6A – Benefit communities within the corridor.
 6B – Minimize negative impacts to communities along the corridor.

Goal 7: Protect and preserve the natural and built environment.
Objectives:
 7A – Support Oregon’s commitment to the preservation of resource lands and local land
use and transportation planning.
 7B – Reduce greenhouse gas emissions in support of national and state policies to slow
climate change.
 7C – Avoid and minimize impacts to the natural environment and cultural resources.

Please visit http://www.oregonpassengerrail.org/ to learn more about this project

Please visit: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/bring-passenger-rail-1?source=s.fwd&r_by=7814433 to sign a petition to bring passenger rail to Corvallis, OR

Comments?

Larry, Chief Advocate, Casprail.org