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Oregon Passenger Rail EIS Project Leadership Council Hal Gard, Rail Administrator, ODOT

Oregon Passenger Rail EIS Project Leadership Council Hal Gard, Rail Administrator, ODOT John Sibold, Cascade Rail Corridor Director, WSDOT Salem, OR June 6, 2012. Pacific Northwest High Speed Rail Corridor. Passenger Rail – Amtrak Cascades 467 miles corridor 300 miles in Washington

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Oregon Passenger Rail EIS Project Leadership Council Hal Gard, Rail Administrator, ODOT

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  1. Oregon Passenger Rail EIS Project Leadership Council • Hal Gard, Rail Administrator, ODOT • John Sibold, Cascade Rail Corridor Director, WSDOT Salem, OR June 6, 2012

  2. Pacific Northwest High Speed Rail Corridor Passenger Rail – Amtrak Cascades • 467 miles corridor • 300 miles in Washington • 134 in Oregon • 33 miles in British Columbia

  3. 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

  4. 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 4

  5. 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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  7. What is not High Speed Rail? Commuter railscheduled 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. *U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Railroad Administration High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan - April 2009

  8. What is High Speed Rail? *U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Railroad Administration High-Speed Rail Strategic Plan - April 2009

  9. 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) 9

  10. Annual Ridership Steadily Increasing 10

  11. Station On/Offs 11

  12. Reliability and On-time Performance 12

  13. Increasing Revenues, Reducing State Subsidy The reduction of subsidy margin is translated into $12.1 million in savings a year for Washington State taxpayers. 13

  14. Annual ticket revenue for 2011 was $30.3 million; up 5.8% from 2010 and a 39% increase over 2009. 14

  15. 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 17

  16. 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)

  17. WSDOT/ODOT Partnership WSDOT/ODOT Memorandum of Understanding Signed April 2012 Corridor Management Plan implementation September 2012 WA and OR State Rail Plans complete by end of 2013 Fleet Management Plan – Draft approved, finalize in six months Joint Talgo Maintenance Agreement July 2013 Joint Amtrak Service Contract September 2013 Equipment added to corridor 2 OR trainsets – Fall 2012 1 WA trainset & Locomotives – Fall 2016 19

  18. New Station Decision Process Considerations 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 20

  19. 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.) 21

  20. 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 22

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