On-time performance of the Amtrak Cascades service between Portland and Eugene is frequently impacted by delays caused by freight trains and other Amtrak trains.
Amtrak/DougRiddell
2 min to read
On-time performance of the Amtrak Cascades service between Portland and Eugene is frequently impacted by delays caused by freight trains and other Amtrak trains.
Amtrak/DougRiddell
In support of an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) grant application, Amtrak announced a matching $750,000 contribution to reduce delays in the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor. ODOT’s grant application, if successful, will restore an out-of-service siding between Portland and Salem. Restoring this siding will improve on-time performance on a rail line segment where the largest cause of delay to Amtrak Cascades customers is freight train interference.
“Oregon’s Amtrak network operates on tracks owned, maintained, and dispatched by freight railroads. Because the freight railroads make all dispatching decisions, they have a tremendous amount of influence over schedule, often prioritizing their own trains over our customers,” said Amtrak President/CEO Richard Anderson.
The Oregon City Siding rehabilitation project was selected by ODOT to be one of three projects the agency will sponsor for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Discretionary Grants program. The BUILD program emphasizes improved access to reliable, safe, and affordable transportation for communities in urban and rural areas, such as projects that improve infrastructure conditions, address public health and safety, promote regional connectivity, or facilitate economic growth or competitiveness. BUILD is a highly competitive grant program for surface transportation infrastructure projects that have a significant local, regional, or national impact.
Plans for restoring the Oregon City Siding include laying new track, ties, and equipping both ends with power-operated switches and switch heaters to avoid snow delays in the winter. After the completion of the Oregon City Siding Project, ODOT will work to secure funding for an additional track on an adjacent three-mile section between Oregon City and an existing siding to the south. This two-phase project will result in five miles of a new double-track section between Portland and Salem, significantly reducing congestion and delays caused by freight trains and other Amtrak trains.
On-time performance of the Amtrak Cascades service between Portland and Eugene is frequently impacted by delays caused by freight trains and other Amtrak trains. This project will help reduce these delays so that Amtrak customers arrive at their destination on time.
Amtrak will open grant applications March 23 for community projects near the Frederick Douglass Tunnel alignment in Baltimore as part of a $50 million investment tied to the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program.
The Denmark Station $2.3 million construction investment project includes a new 280-foot concrete boarding platform, built eight inches above the top of rail, for improved accessibility for passengers with disabilities and families with small children and much more.
Caltrain and its partners have implemented safety improvements at specific locations in response to known risk conditions, operational needs, and available funding since the agency’s founding.
On a recent episode of METROspectives, METRO Magazine’s Executive Editor Alex Roman sat down with Ana-Maria Tomlinson, Director of Strategic & Cross-Sector Programs at the CSA Group, to explore a bold initiative aimed at addressing those challenges: the development of a National Code for Transit and Passenger Rail Systems in Canada.
Competitive FTA grants will support accessibility upgrades, family-friendly improvements, and cost-efficient capital projects at some of the nation’s oldest and busiest transit hubs.
The 3.92-mile addition will soon take riders west beyond its current Wilshire and Western station in Koreatown, continuing under Wilshire Boulevard through neighborhoods and communities including Hancock Park, Windsor Square, the Fairfax District, and Carthay Circle into Beverly Hills.
Under the plan, all long-distance routes will transition to a universal single-level fleet, replacing today’s mix of bi-level and single-level equipment.
