Oregon Passenger Rail EIS Project Leadership Council
Hal Gard, Rail Administrator, ODOTJohn Sibold, Cascade Rail Corridor Director, WSDOT
Salem, ORJune 6, 2012
Pacific Northwest High Speed Rail CorridorPassenger Rail – Amtrak Cascades
•467 miles corridor • 300 miles in Washington• 134 in Oregon• 33 miles in British Columbia
Pacific Northwest High Speed Rail Corridor
Amtrak Cascades Passenger Rail
Eleven daily trains totaling 4,015 annually:•4 daily round trips between Seattle & Portland•2 round trips between Seattle & Vancouver, B.C.•2 round trips between Eugene & Portland
Five trainsets:•Washington owns three•Amtrak owns two
Website www.AmtrakCascades.com
Partnership
BNSF and UP own the tracks
Amtrak operates service• We pay Amtrak via a contract /
Amtrak pays the railroads
Talgo and Amtrak maintain equipment
• Washington pays Talgo via contract
Who pays: The states of Oregon and Washington,
Amtrak, and passengers pay for the service;
U.S. and Canada provide funds for border security
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Amtrak Cascades History
1993 – Amtrak began one Seattle-Portland daily round trip
1994 – Washington State expanded the service with an additional Seattle-Portland daily round trip
1994 – Oregon extended one Seattle-Portland round trip to Eugene
1995 – Washington expanded service to Vancouver, B.C.
1996 – Washington added another leased train
1999 – Amtrak Cascades brand debuted, Washington added a third Seattle-Portland daily round trip, and purchased custom-built trains
2000 – Oregon extended a second Seattle-Portland round trip to Eugene
2001 – Washington added a station stop in Tukwila, WA
2004 – Oregon added a station stop in Oregon City, OR
2006 – Washington added a fourth daily Seattle-Portland round trip
2009 – Washington added second daily round trip to Vancouver, B.C.
What is not High Speed Rail?
*U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Railroad Administration High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan - April 2009
Commuter rail scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis primarily for short-distance (local) travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs.
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic.
Light rail or light rail transit (LRT) is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems.
Conventional RailEmerging High
Speed Rail (HSR)HSR – Regional
HSR and Intercity Passenger Rail (IPR)
HSR – Express
• Traditional intercity
passenger rail services of
more than 100 miles.
• As little as one, to as many
as 7–12 daily frequencies.
• Top speeds of up to 79 mph
to as high as 90 mph.
• May or may not have strong potential for future high speed rail service.
• Generally shared track with
freight trains.
• Intended to provide travel
options and to develop the
passenger rail market for
further development in
the future.
• Developing corridors of 100–
500 miles.
• Top speeds of up to
90–110 mph.
• Strong potential for future
HSR Regional and/or
Express service.
• Primarily shared track with
freight trains.
• Advanced grade crossing
protection or separation.
• Intended to develop the
passenger rail market, and
provide some relief to
other modes.
• Relatively frequent service
between major and
moderate population centers
100–500 miles apart, with
some intermediate stops.
• Top speeds of
110–150 mph.
• Some dedicated and some
shared track with freight.
• Grade-separated.
• Intended to relieve highway
and, to some extent, air
capacity constraints.
• Frequent, express service
between major population
centers 200–600 miles apart,
with few intermediate stops.
• Top speeds of at least
150 mph.
• Completely grade-separated,
dedicated rights-of-way (with
the possible exception of
some shared track in
terminal areas).
• Intended to relieve air
and highway
capacity constraints.
What is High Speed Rail?
*U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Railroad Administration High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan - April 2009
Federally-funded Investment Outcomes
• Washington was successful in securing nearly $800 million in federal funds due to strategic state investments
• Supports overall program goal of more frequent and reliable Amtrak Cascades service
– Two additional round trips between Seattle and Portland; for a total of six
– Improved on-time performance to 88%
– 10-minute time savings
• 20 projects building additional rail line capacity and upgrading tracks, utilities, signals, passenger stations and advanced warning systems
• ODOT EIS to lead way for future federal investment in HSR corridor - $10 million ($4.2 million ARRA funds/$5.8 million Oregon funds)
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Annual Ridership Steadily Increasing
10
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
Amtrak Cascades Annual Ridership: 1994 - 2011By Funding Partners
Amtrak Trains Oregon Trains Washington Trains
Reliability and On-time Performance
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Q42011 - 74.8%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
100.0%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Amtrak Cascades on-time performancePercent of trains on-time, 2006-2011
Data source: WSDOT State Rail and Marine Office
Mudslide Dip
Increasing Revenues, Reducing State Subsidy
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The reduction of subsidy margin is translated into $12.1 million in savings a year for Washington State taxpayers.
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$30.3$28.6
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
$30
$35
$0
$500,000
$1,000,000
$1,500,000
$2,000,000
$2,500,000
$3,000,000
$3,500,000
$4,000,000
$4,500,000
$5,000,000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2011 2010
Mill
ions
Amtrak Cascades monthly & annual ticket revenue - 2011 vs. 2010Ticket revenue per month: calendar year 2009 through 2011
2009
2010
2011
Annual ticket revenue for 2011 was $30.3 million; up 5.8% from 2010 and a 39% increase over 2009.
Amtrak Cascades FFY2011 Ticket Revenue
Washington74.4%$22.25
Dollars in Millions
Oregon 7.1% $2.12 Amtrak
18.6%$5.55
Amtrak 23.7%$9.80
Washington47%
$19.43
Oregon29.3%$12.12
Projected Biennium Cost of the Amtrak Cascades
Funded by the States and Amtrak(Subsidy)Dollars in Millions
Funding Challenges• Economic Climate
– State revenue forecasts have been lower than anticipated
• New federal mandate, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA Section 209)– Federal bill shifts 100% of costs from Amtrak to states
– An additional $3 million - $5 million may be required in Washington in 2013 to maintain existing Amtrak Cascades rail service; Oregon’s costs will increase by an additional $500,000
• Track infrastructure maintenance - 20 years (2017 start)– Washington pays ~$3 million per year; Oregon pays $0
• Operating fees – Washington pays $9 million per year; Oregon pays $5.5 per year
• Equipment maintenance fees – Washington pays $4 million per year; Oregon pays $0
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Corridor Approach OR/WA/BC
Managing Principles:
• Deliver consistently on customer expectations for HSR (fast, reliable, safe, affordable)
• Build revenue to cover the cost of operations (yield maximum revenue per seat)
• Grow ridership in the largest business centers (provide service where demand exists)
• Provide a competitive transportation alternative (price, time, convenience)
• Pool resources for increased efficiencies (eliminate unnecessary expenses)
• Reduce costs (seek out alternative service providers)• Partners share in revenue and costs (OR, WA, BC)
WSDOT/ODOT Partnership
WSDOT/ODOT Memorandum of Understanding Signed April 2012
Corridor Management Plan implementationSeptember 2012
WA and OR State Rail Plans complete by end of 2013Fleet Management Plan – Draft approved, finalize in six monthsJoint Talgo Maintenance Agreement July 2013Joint Amtrak Service Contract September 2013Equipment added to corridor
2 OR trainsets – Fall 20121 WA trainset & Locomotives – Fall 2016
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New Station Decision ProcessConsiderations for new stops:• Alignment with goals and requirements of the
High-Speed Rail Program• Requirements of FRA Service Outcome
Agreements• Impact to corridor speeds, run times, and
schedule performance• Impact to overall corridor ridership• Impact to revenues and taxpayer subsidies
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Amtrak Cascades Marketing• New Revenue Marketing Campaign boosts
revenue• Performing research to better understand
market segments and honemarketing strategies
• Radio Ads
(The radio ad example is the Business/Family
Spot with a Seattle tag. Click on the speaker to play.)
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