-----Original Message-----
From: Washington State Department of Transportation
Sent: 4/6/2012 6:08:18 PM
To: guyperea@live.com
Subject: WSDOT Rail Office Monthly Highlights
In This Issue:
- Cascade Corridor - New Oregon and Washington partnership
- King Street Station kickoff celebration
- Bistro and lounge car upgrade - new photos
- New facility at McCoy expands grain shipping and capacity
- Amtrak Cascades performance - strong February ridership
- New WSDOT passenger rail website
- Customer compliment
WSDOT and ODOT work toward goal of integrated passenger rail corridor between Eugene and B.C.
Washington and Oregon are creating a new partnership and will develop a plan for managing passenger-rail service between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, B.C., as one continuous rail corridor rather than two separate state operations. Transportation officials for each state signed an agreement as another step toward offering faster, more frequent Amtrak Cascades service. The two states will create a corridor management plan to include governance, centralizing fleet management, scheduling, budgeting and capital planning, with a goal of improving passenger-rail performance that benefits riders and economies in both states.
Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond and Oregon Transportation Director Matt Garrett also announced the selection of John Sibold to fill a new position of Cascade Corridor director. Sibold has been the rail and marine director at WSDOT since August and will continue to focus on improving the reliability of passenger-rail service and managing the state’s freight lines.
Projects
Federal, state and local officials celebrate King Street Station renovation kickoff
Federal, state and local officials converged on Seattle’s historic King Street Station in March to commemorate the start of construction on the largest phase of an ongoing historical restoration of the 100+ year-old building. WSDOT is investing $16.7 million in federal high-speed rail funds, part of a $23 million project that will strengthen King Street Station and its clock tower to better withstand earthquakes. The project also restores the station’s main hall as originally built in 1906 with white marble walls, decorative lighting and other features removed during “modernization†of the station more than 50 years ago. Event photos are available on WSDOT’s Flickr page.
The King Street Station Seismic Upgrade project is one of five federally-funded capital rail projects under construction in 2012 and is an ongoing partnership between WSDOT, Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, Federal Transit Administration, 4Culture services agency and Seattle. Since 2008, nearly $30 million in federal, state and local funding has been invested to improve the station and restore its unique historic character.
Renovation photos of Amtrak Cascades Lounge and bistro cars
The first two of 11 Amtrak Cascades bistro and lounge cars have been stripped in preparation for interior upgrades. These upgrades will include new carpets, flooring wall treatments upholstery and paint. The updated decor will retain the popular northwest character and match the recently completed interior work in the Business and Coach Class cars. Take a look at recent renovation photos.
New facility at McCoy expands grain shipping and capacity
The McCoy Land Company will start construction of a new $17 million grain elevator along the P&L Line of the state-owned PCC Rail System. The execution of two access agreements will allow the McCoy Land Company to tie into and over the P&L Line to access the company’s new shuttle train loader facility.
The proposed McCoy shuttle train loading facility and loop track in the McCoy siding area creates the capacity to load 110-car shuttle trains in 10 hours versus 12 days to load the same amount of grain onto 373 semi-trucks. Having fewer trucks on roadways significantly reduces state and local roadway maintenance costs. Building this facility further ensures the economic viability of the P&L Line and is a great example of a successful public/private partnership.
Performance Measures
Ridership is up: During the past 10 years, Amtrak Cascades ridership has risen 51 percent to nearly 850,000 passengers in 2011. February 2012’s ridership is a 14.9 percent increase over February 2011; February 2011’s ridership was impacted by severe mudslides. View the latest performance charts.
On-time performance varies: WSDOT, Amtrak and BNSF closely examine daily operations reports to better understand causes of train delays and identify specific solutions to anticipate and/or prevent potential delays. February 2012’s on-time performance scores range from 30 to 91 percent. February 2012’s monthly average OTP reached 66 percent, two percent lower than January 2012’s monthly average OTP. On-time performance in Feb. 2012 was inconsistent and negatively impacted by track maintenance, mudslides, signal system problems and trespassers.
New passenger rail website aids understanding and information requests
The new rail website is designed to help policymakers, the public and other stakeholders transparently understand the programs and services the Rail Office delivers by providing an elegant mix of explanatory text and links to more detailed information about passenger rail operations and the high-speed rail program. New web pages link to high-speed rail projects and feature details on train performance and funding. The new site also explains the many complex partnerships required to run the Amtrak Cascades. There are also links to www.AmtrakCascades.com to plan a trip and buy train tickets.
Customer Compliment
When a young woman with a service dog missed getting onboard in time, the words of her grateful father were, “Amtrak personnel   went to great lengths to take care of her†and “...treated her with great kindness.†An Amtrak staff member (Heidi M.) gave her own money “to help her on her way. THANK YOU AMTRAK staff for excellent service!!!!!â€
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