Subject: WSDOT Rail Monthly Highlights
Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:11:53 -0500
To: guyperea@live.com
From: wsdot@service.govdelivery.com
In this issue:
- Amtrak Cascades partners with Pacific Science Center to promote King Tut exhibit
- WSDOT helps grain growers break ground on new train loading facility
- Project highlight – Several rail improvement projects underway in Vancouver
- State funds available for freight rail projects that keep economy chugging with jobs, trade
- WSDOT, FRA and Amtrak commit to identifiable, measurable intercity passenger rail benefits for the Cascades' Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. segment
- June on-time performance
- Customer Compliment
Through a new partnership, the King Tut Exhibit will get more visitors and Amtrak Cascades will get more passengers. It's a win-win... and a wrap! One Amtrak Cascades locomotive has been completely covered with a gold and brown wrap depicting King Tut's coffinette to help promote the exhibit. Seattle's Pacific Science Center is the last stop on the world tour of the King Tut Exhibit before it permanently returns to Egypt. Exhibit organizers are anticipating hundreds of thousands of visitors before the exhibit closes Jan. 6, 2013. Fortunately, Amtrak Cascades can bring passengers from population centers north and south of Seattle. Amtrak Cascades passengers will receive discounted tickets and nearly half-off the King Tut souvenir book while supplies last. The exhibit was very popular in 1979 when people stood in the cold for more than four hours to see the artifacts. This exhibit has twice as many artifacts and a new reservation system offering scheduled visit times for timely access. Visit www.AmtrakCascades.com for train tickets, then go to www.kingtut.org/amtrak to receive your special offers.
Amtrak Cascades King Tut train at King Street Station
WSDOT helps grain growers break ground on new train loading facility
WSDOT participated in a groundbreaking celebration for the McCoy shuttle train loading facility east of Rosalia in Eastern Washington. The $17 million project is a partnership between Cooperative Agricultural Producers, Inc. and Pacific Northwest Cooperative. The facility has the potential to triple grain shipments along the P & L Rail Line, one of three state-owned rail lines serving hundreds of eastern Washington farmers through grain cooperatives. WSDOT received $4 million from the Washington Department of Commerce to make speed and reliability improvements along the rail line network that will serve the facility.
Site of the future McCoy shuttle train loading facility
Project highlight – Several rail improvement projects underway in Vancouver
WSDOT recently took part in a celebration featuring Governor Chris Gregoire, dedicating a project that reconnects the city of Vancouver and its waterfront. The event also highlighted the network of projects now underway that are expanding railway mobility and access to the Vancouver waterfront. The projects are made possible by public and private partners, working across governmental jurisdictions, including the City of Vancouver, Port of Vancouver, WSDOT, and funding also brought to the table by BNSF Railway and private investors. WSDOT alone brings more than $200 million in state and federal funding for rail projects like the Vancouver Bypass project designed to reduce freight and passenger congestion and help improve on-time performance for Amtrak Cascades passenger rail service through Vancouver. The Waterfront Access Project is interwoven with the West Vancouver Freight Access project, a concerted effort by the Port of Vancouver and WSDOT to create jobs and generate revenue by investing in rail infrastructure.
WSDOT, FRA and Amtrak add Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. segment to on time performance agreement
Amtrak, BNSF Railway and WSDOT recently modified their agreement committing the partners to measureable on-time performance goals for Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Portland. The agreement was amended to add on-time performance goals for the segment between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. This change establishes measurable intercity passenger rail benefits for Washington's Amtrak Cascades service for the entire corridor between Portland and Vancouver, B.C., while recognizing the current and future needs of existing freight operations. The segment's on-time reliability goal is 88 percent and is consistent with the performance goal set in 2011 for the Seattle to Portland segment. On time reliability, defined as the train arriving within 10 minutes of its scheduled arrival time, is a critical performance benchmark on rail lines shared by freight and passenger rail, especially in the northern corridor with single track rail lines. WSDOT received nearly $800 million in federal passenger rail grant funding to accomplish a series of capital rail improvements to improve reliability along the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor. Washington and its partners must achieve these performance goals to meet the funding requirements. The improvements funded by the grants will boost rail line capacity and relieve main line congestion, allowing WSDOT to grow the Amtrak Cascades service and offer more frequent and reliable passenger rail service between Portland and Vancouver B.C.
State funds available for freight rail projects that keep economy chugging with jobs, trade
The Washington State Department of Transportation is accepting applications to receive state funding for freight rail projects in Washington that create family-wage jobs and demonstrate the economic and environmental advantages of freight rail. Railroads, port districts, rail districts, private companies and local governments are eligible to apply for part of nearly $8 million in project grants and loans available through two state programs – the Freight Rail Assistance Program and the Freight Rail Investment Bank.
Applications and additional information are available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Freight/Rail/GrantandLoanPrograms. Applications are due July 31.
Performance Measures
Amtrak Cascades on-time performance for June 2012 averaged approximately 85.8 percent, an improvement over May's average of 69 percent. Delays in May were mostly attributed to track maintenance work and freight train interference.
Customer Compliment
I traveled round-trip on Amtrak Cascades and had a nice trip. My seat was comfy, the trip was reasonably-priced and the crew was great. - Craig A.
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