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ODOT has decided that the best path for expanding passenger service in the Portland to Eugene corridor is to incrementally improve the existing Union Pacific rail lines rather than build a new HSR line that would mostly remove the Cascades trains from UP property. Building a new HSR right-of-way would cost about $4 billion and would only save about 18 minutes on a PDX>EUG trip. ODOT doesn't expect that there will enough population growth in the corridor over the next 50 years to justify the expense of building HSR. The cost of incrementally improving the UP corridor to achieve a 2:20 run time with 6 daily round trips is estimated at $660-775 million.
How to fund this expansion plan hasn't been determined yet and given the difficulty experienced last spring in the OR legislature regarding funds for current operations, it seems that these new plans aren't anything more than wishing and hoping. But if the federal government does decide to dedicate more money to passenger rail improvements, the Portland to Eugene corridor will be ready to move.
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I think the ODOT is making a wise decision. A saving of only 18 min. for Eugene to Portland doesn't warrant the cost, in my opinion.
A few years ago, consideration was being made for a HSR corridor from Eugene to Vancouver, BC. It would be nice, about a 4 hour trip, but I imagine the cost of such a project would be overwhelming..
The Calif. High Speed Rail was touted to cost 68 billion but many think the real figure would be 100 billion plus, once the project is completed. Yet, our roads in Calif are crumbling due to lack of repair.
Just for fun, I contact the WSDOT about a possible Cascade train from Vancouver, WA to Spokane, WA. They said that such a project could be possible but the people of Washington state would have to agree to provide the funding.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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