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.

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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

Station On/Offs

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Reliability and On-time Performance

12

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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Cross-border Initiatives to Improve Corridor Performance

• Preclearance:– Eliminates train stop

at the Intl Border 10-minute savings

– Combines Immigrations and Customs prior to boarding at Pacific Central Station

– Preclearance protocols will be negotiated by the end of 2012

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