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Local rail progress slow and steady

State officials would welcome funding for high-speed network

By Erik Robinson
Published: February 10, 2011, 12:00am
2 Photos
A southbound Amtrak Cascades train pulls into Vancouver recently.
A southbound Amtrak Cascades train pulls into Vancouver recently. Amtrak travel between Portland and Seattle remains halted until Thursday due to landslides along the route. Photo Gallery

State transportation officials say they would welcome a new infusion of federal funding for high-speed rail, but local riders shouldn’t expect a bullet train to Seattle anytime soon.

President Obama this week called for a new six-year, $53 billion spending plan to develop a national high-speed rail network.

The proposal identified no specific rail improvements, and it may be unlikely to gain traction in a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Even so, Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond endorsed the administration’s latest initiative while attending an event with Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Hammond chairs the States for Passenger Rail Coalition.

“Washington’s future economic competitiveness is threatened by increased highway congestion and declining roadway conditions,” she said in a prepared statement. “A recovered economy will depend on an integrated transportation system that works for everyone.”

Rail improvements are gradually beginning to take shape along the rail corridor linking Seattle to Portland.

In fact, the Department of Transportation and BNSF Railway have started improving the main line between Vancouver and Seattle. In Vancouver, state officials expect to tap about $30 million in federal economic stimulus funding as part of a $150 million rail improvement project.

That project will add a new set of bypass tracks running east of the BNSF main line between downtown Vancouver and the Fruit Valley Road overpass.

The bypass tracks, along with a slew of other improvements planned by the city and the Port of Vancouver, ultimately will free up space to accommodate projected increases in freight traffic while improving the speed and on-time reliability of passenger trains. The state plans to add two Amtrak Cascades trains to the four daily round-trip journeys currently operating between Portland and Seattle.

Scott Witt, rail and marine director for the DOT, said that state officials anticipate making slow but steady improvements on the existing line.

European-style bullet trains traveling at up to 250 mph are likely to occur only on segregated rail lines constructed on entirely new corridors, currently envisioned in Florida and California. In the Pacific Northwest, Witt said, transportation officials hope to boost maximum passenger speeds to 90 mph. The current speed limit on that corridor is 79 mph.

That will mainly happen through incremental steps such as straightening track, cutting back the number of grade crossings and reducing freight congestion with new siding.

Complicating matters is the Federal Railroad Administration’s insistence on an agreement with BNSF Railway and the state Department of Transportation. Federal officials want assurances that, by spending federal money on a privately owned railroad, the improvements will enhance passenger service over the long term.

“This is an extremely complex arrangement,” Witt said.

He said the DOT’s long-term goal is to shave an hour from the 3½ hour trip between Seattle and Portland, which would make rail travel more competitive with driving. Ultimately, he said, the state envisions 16 round-trip passenger trains operating between Portland and Seattle.

“You would expect certain trains, our higher-speed express, would go from Seattle to Portland nonstop,” Witt said. “There will be other trains that may be able to stop at all 12 stations, and some that stop at six.”

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