Rail News February/March 2012

www.AllAboardWashington.org

Publication of All Aboard Washington A Not-for-profit Consumer Organization “Moving forward...On Rail."

gram Manager, started off his interview Northwest Rail Corridor update: Service and with AAWA by pulling out a large three- Infrastructure Improvements ring binder. WSDOT has already exe- cuted nearly 25 agreements concerning (This article is based on a presentation by age the two companies to perform better. the Northwest Corridor infrastructure Washington State Department of Transporta- For example, on the mudslide issue, projects between the Canadian border tion’s Rail Director John Sibold at the AAWA De- WSDOT has engaged BNSF to explain cember 10 meeting and an interview with David and the Columbia River funded by the science behind its 48 hour morato- Smelser, WSDOT’s Cascades HSR Program $791.6 million in federal high speed rail rium on passenger train operations every Manager, on January 13.) grants. Smelser figures he will eventually time even a small amount of mud comes John Sibold, at our December 10 have two more like binders with agree- down on or near the tracks. Sibold noted meeting at Centennial Station in Lacey, ments. Parties involved in the agree- it was huge on BNSF’s part to even start began his presentation by asking what do ments to get these projects built include talking about the mudslide moratorium people want from transportation. People the Federal Railroad Administration issue. The two are exploring options to want alternatives and choices in travel (FRA), WSDOT, BNSF, , Sound reduce the amount of time passenger mode. He named several of the ad- Transit and Tacoma Rail. He noted we trains are restricted after a mudslide, vantages of passenger rail – avoiding are the first state to complete all its which minimizes the need to bus pas- congestion and stress, making better use agreements with FRA, allowing work to sengers. of your time, greener and more fuel effi- start. cient, scenery. WSDOT received a $16 million fed- He said we need eral grant to begin environmental and better on time perfor- preliminary engineering work to mitigate mance and reliability to the mudslides. Secretary Paula Ham- bring more travelers to mond has directed Sibold to expedite this rail. Increased ridership work where possible. And she has dis- means less state sup- cussed the issue directly with BNSF CEO port is needed for op- Matt Rose. WSDOT will look at using eration of the Amtrak state funding to provide at least tempo- John Sibold Cascades. Meeting rary fixes at some of the most problem- train 516 crosses the passenger expectations is critical to get- atic areas while awaiting construction of Coweeman River near Longview Jct. in ting a person to ride the first time and permanent solutions. Feb. 2011. The Kelso to Martins Bluff then to continue riding. Trains running on WSDOT will consider working with project will build another bridge over the time is at the top of passenger expecta- Amtrak to minimize the distance passen- river as part of the construction of a tions and high on the his priority list. gers are bused when there is a service third main track in this area. Sibold noted that he meets with Ron disruption. For example, if there is a slide Photo by Zack Willhoite Pate, Cascades Operations Manager, near Mukilteo, once it’s cleared and the Below is an update on many of the and Rail Office staff each morning to re- train equipment can deadhead through infrastructure projects that will lead to im- view the Cascades operations and delay the area, passengers could be bused proved operations, better on time perfor- report from the previous day. When there only between Seattle and Everett instead mance and reducing running times on the are problems, the Rail Office goes to its of all the way to Vancouver, BC. Northwest Corridor. service providers Amtrak and BNSF for Sibold reports that the Rail Office is explanations. now working closer than ever with its Advanced Wayside Signal Sys- Also high on Sibold’s list is great counterparts at Oregon DOT to develop a tem – This is part of the Positive Train customer service and clean, well main- unified approach in operation of the Control (PTC) system Congress has tained trains. Amtrak crews are expected Northwest Rail Corridor. WSDOT has mandated be installed by 2015 for most to be pleasant and accommodating to also approached the British Columbia rail lines that have passenger service or passengers and provide passengers government on this issue, exploring a carry toxic inhalants. The state’s invest- complete information on events affecting more unified perspective on things such ment pays for the backbone of the sys- their trip, such as delays. He is consid- as pricing and schedules. tem on the ground. This includes wayside ering putting WSDOT staff on trains to He closed with two thoughts: signal components at control points, sid- help evaluate operations and service  Passenger Rail is ready to ings and turnouts, and installation of an standards. reemerge in the Northwest. integrated command, control, communi- Amtrak and BNSF are great partners  The Rail Office wants a solid rela- cations and information system for man- in the operation of the Cascades. But that tionship with AAWA. aging train movements. The design is doesn’t mean WSDOT doesn’t encour- David Smelser, Cascades HSR Pro- mostly complete but BNSF and WSDOT (See Rail, page 4) page 2 frequencies and reliable on-time including from Eastern Washington leg- From the desk of performance. islators who understand the improve- the Executive While California’s HSR is currently the ments in the Northwest Corridor aid Director national model for negative public pro- movement of freight to and from their nouncements, Illinois has proceeded with areas as well as Western Washington by Federal HSR funding for highER speed passengers. These Dryside legislators Lloyd H. Flem 110 mph trains between Chicago and St have been very patient, in my view, but Louis. (OK, the cynics can say, “Natu- are fully justified in asking that someday Our Rail Corridor Progresses as rally, both the President and Transporta- they will have passenger trains beyond HSR Support Fades Nationally; tion Secretary LaHood are from Illinois,” the daily Empire Builder, good as it is, Yes, Rail for Dryside, Too; Blaine, but that state, like Washington, had good which serves Spokane only in the middle Eastside Line and Kelso passenger rail investment programs in of night and the Yakima Valley not at all. place before the Obama Administration So, the excitement over high speed High Speed Rail (HSR), which had funding.) rail has decreased nationally among both been a feature of President Obama’s Would I like to see top speeds of 90, the general public and the political class. past State of the Union and other major even 110, between Seattle and Portland? But we in the Northwest corner are doing policy addresses, was not present in his Sure, but the costs and hassles associ- quite well, both in support and in passen- Tuesday evening speech. Even though ated with the new rights-of-way required ger rail’s moving forward. But we don’t the ubiquitous “roads and bridges” were make it politically near-impossible to con- have, and with the current funding, are mentioned, as well as other in- not going to soon have high frastructure investments, HSR My personal view is in agreement speed rail, as defined by the did not make the cut. This may with those fellow rail advocates who Popular Science covers! And I’m reflect an apparent decline in not that concerned. More and vocal interest among some tra- were a bit uncomfortable with the better rail service has always ditional supporters (mostly “high speed” emphasis in reference been our mission and THAT is urban-based Democrats and happening. big-city media), coupled with to this first-time strong Federal The Amtrak Cascades rid- relentless criticism from the financial support for the rail mode ership data are out: Despite the usual “think tank” suspects and th many train cancellations, mostly the (substantially freshmen) since the 19 century land grants! due to the BNSF-mandated 48- Congressional Republicans who sider any “true” HSR for our corridor in hour suspension of passenger seem to get their ideological basis from the reasonable future. But decreasing train service (including Sounder) follow- them. In addition, the highly-publicized total travel time, being 95% on time, and ing mudslides, total 2011 ridership ex- California HSR project has undergone a adding daily frequencies, even at the cur- ceeded that of 2010, another new record. barrage of bad attention, some of it rent FRA-mandated 79 MPH, will surely  justified. get more people on the trains and some While advocacy for more and better My personal view is in agreement with off I-5 and out of short-hop commercial intercity passenger trains in the North- those fellow rail advocates who were a planes. west Corridor remains our top priority, bit uncomfortable with the “high speed” And the above is just what is being AAWA surely has other interests as well. emphasis in reference to this first-time done with our state’s very significant Here are three: strong Federal financial support for the th share of the original Federal $8 billion: People in Blaine have two related lo- rail mode since the 19 century land decreased total travel time, increased on- cal concerns. One is to physically pre- grants! With the connotation of Mag-Lev time reliability, and more frequencies. I serve their near-century old Great North- shown on the cover of the venerable remain very impressed with the leader- ern passenger train station. The second Popular Science magazine, or tales of ship and staff of our WSDOT Rail Office is to have passenger rail service to their the super-quick trains of western Europe, and am reporting that impression to leg- city. AAWA members support both Japan and China, much of the general islators with whom I am meeting during causes. In the latter case, rail passenger public seemed to conclude, with a na- this 2012 Legislative session. service could be regional rail, Sounder- tional investment of $8 billion, the US We in Washington have not had to type trains (or DMUs) connecting south would have our own “bullet trains” next endure the level of anti-passenger-rail to Everett. A future Blaine Amtrak stop year! noise heard elsewhere. Rail advocates might come from a “two-tier” service, with While there are differences of opinion here can be pleased our state passenger the “locals” serving existing and maybe among even the members of AAWA, I rail program, past and present, has a jus- additional small communities like Blaine take the view that “high-speed,” anything tified reputation as an efficient and pro- as well as large cities, as well as “ex- over 150 mph, even 125 mph, is NOT ductive public enterprise which is part of presses” which have faster total trip times essential for dramatic increases in the an affirmative partnership with BNSF, as they serve only the major metropolitan role of intercity passenger trains in our al- Amtrak, Sound Transit, Talgo, rail labor, stops. A potential market for a Blaine ready modestly successful Northwest businesses, the communities, the grow- station is the very large underserved Corridor. Questionnaires given to at- th ing numbers of passengers, and the rail population just north of the 49 parallel in tendees at the 2010 Train Day at Amtrak advocate community. (Oops, that last British Columbia but south of the City of stations in Olympia, Centralia and Bel- mention is substantially AAWA!) Vancouver. lingham reinforced my opinion. “Top This is now my 27th year working in For years AAWA has supported speed” of future trains was seen as least behalf of passenger train service in our physical preservation of the “Eastside important among several choices. How- Washington. What I have found is good Line,” the now mostly unused and cut-in- ever, decreased overall travel time was bi-partisan support for our rail programs, (See Flem, page 4) seen as important, as were increased page 3 Found, of course, on eBay at Scary The start of tolling on SR 520 is Larry’s Pawn and Junk. showing that up to 40% of drivers are with Okay, so it’s a vintage oil burning one, avoiding the toll. SR 520 is regularly re- Jim but it shows that anything is possible (for ported as being wide open. $39.99 or best offer). I-90 and the local arterials are seeing Cusick What will run on I-5? a higher level of congestion. Well, if cars weren’t using I-5 north of Drivers are choosing a congested Seattle, I’m sure trains will be. commute over one that has at least some Why? Good question. One I’ve been semblance of “farebox recovery” to it. asking myself after Sound Transit re- Transit riders are expected to pay; why Snow-pocalypse leased their preferred alternative for the not single occupant vehicles? In fact, on Boy, did winter hit with a vengeance Link North Corridor. The alignment they the bus routes over 520, transit ridership this year, and I don’t think this time it was chose is the one along I-5. is up. That’s a good thing. an issue of us here in the Pacific North- Don’t they take me seriously? I We pay taxes for transit and the riders west being the perennial snow wimps. thought they treated my column as gos- pay a fare when they use it. Depending The kicker this time was the ice storm pel…I’m shocked. on its popularity, the fare box recovery on top of the double-digit snow accumu- We know it isn’t really a good long percentage can vary. lations. term solution because it doesn’t ade- Spread thin, transit (mainly buses) Nobody was out on the roads, believe quately answer the issue of Transit Ori- can have a low 20% ratio, or up to a high me. How do I know? I was out on the ented Development. After all, that was 60% ratio for mature rail systems. roads, of course! However, mine is a the argument against the “Freeway Mon- The toll on SR 520 is only covering short, five minute commute in my All orail,” wasn’t it? The problem is no one one-quarter of the project cost. The state Wheel Drive Imperium Condescender. wants to live next to the freeway. DOT has one-quarter of the money in No Problemo! Did they pick it for expediency’s sake, hand and is still determining where the Others I saw were in four wheel drive just to get it up and running? other half will come from to finish this vehicles too, braving the elements to The only way to save that decision, project. connect with those conveyances that besides deleting the station stops be- Just think, Florida’s governor turned were still running. Trains, in my neck of tween Northgate and the Mountlake Ter- down high speed rail money because he the woods. race Park & Ride to save even more didn’t want to be “burdened” with the op- In this case, the areas north of Seattle money, is to figure out how to get the erating costs afterwards. We seem to weren’t hit quite as hard, so there were track far enough off the freeway right-of- have no problem constructing roads that delays, but not the cancellations of ser- way to where a suitable type of develop- don’t even have a funding stream in vice that the south end suffered. With the ment can occur. place to complete them. ice storm bringing trees down onto the Now hold that snout still, so I can get I’m glad we have an enlightened mainline tracks between Tacoma and this lipstick on just right… group of people at WSDOT and in the Legislature who support rail. They have Olympia, and other points south, there Who should pay their fair share? came the time to say “wait until things are smartly taken the monies turned away by I once heard Seattle derisively re- safer.” other states for high speed rail and saw ferred to by someone as “Wet LA.” Well, Along with trees down on the tracks, fit to invest it properly in our state’s rail in the realm of transportation choices, we the biggest struggle for rail transit in the infrastructure. are. area was staying ahead of the ice. But I do wonder if we are still in denial We seem to make decisions that at- For Central Link, keeping the ice off about how we view our road system. The tempt to convince me that the car-centric the overhead wire was a challenge. message is clear by how the public is nature of the LA area is what we want Sound Transit kept things running as behaving. here. long as they could. If there was another “Roads” portion Our wet, windy weather that scours Tacoma Link shut down simply be- of a Roads and Transit ballot proposal, out the air pollution is what keeps us from cause they just don’t have the equipment then we would know exactly what the looking exactly like LA. to run as frequently as Central Link. public thinks. Who needs to see Mount Rainier Sounder and Amtrak were plagued by What do they want to see? anyway? Besides, most people who ha- frozen switches that had to be manually ven’t been here think it’s just airbrushed Rail and the Eastside cleared. onto the postcards. This Is there anything we can do? So how do we rate? Are we the LA means I What about switch heaters, anyway? Wannabes, doing everything we can to have to ask Well, they certainly would have helped, keep ourselves on the road? the next ob- but with the normally above-freezing I do have a theory, though. What we vious ques- temperatures on the wet-side, it probably are is Rain Wimps, not Snow Wimps. tion: is this isn’t worth the investment. Really, we might act all outdoorsy, but what they We know they run trains in the cold really we don’t want our REI North Face want to wintery climates of the upper Midwest, Limited Edition clothing to get all wet, do see? but that’s for a winter season that lasts we? Are we months, instead of days. I am convinced that without an honest serious about building a rail infrastruc- I’d be happier with a healthy invest- public vote on a comprehensive roads ture? ment in mudslide control. package, that the public is announcing Why is this End-of-Track Red Flag But if we could, we would need that congestion really isn’t a problem. here, along with the derails? something like a temporary heater. How do I come to this conclusion? (See Cusick, page 4) page 4 This is the part I don’t understand. Why Corridor Reliability Upgrades – Flem, from page 2 rip up the tracks and remove the railroad There are two projects: the Canadian bor- two north-south ex-BNSF line running east crossing hardware if you are planning this der to Everett and Nisqually to the Colum- of Lake Washington. While keeping the line type of development? The hardware is still bia River. The projects are currently in de- “in public use” and intact is better than on display in the “future trail” area. What sign. Upgrades will include drainage im- having it revert to the adjacent property are their intentions? To keep it in storage? provements; remediation of soft spots in the owners, ripping up the tracks for trails-only Is that what the region has to look for- roadbed; replacement of thousands of ties, is but marginally better. Trails virtually ward to: elected officials who totally ignore rail and ballast; and resurfacing of the NEVER return to rail use, even when eco- the public’s wishes? tracks. These projects will eliminate many nomic, social and environmental justifica- I’m not exercising any “railfan hyper- permanent slow orders and reduce in- tions are many, once that trail is in place. bole” here; I’m stating what the I-405 Corri- stances of temporary slow orders allowing AAWA has advocated rail AND trail, an dor Program found out from their survey in faster speeds, more reliable on time per- idea that has found success elsewhere in 2000. As many people showed strong formance and improved passenger ride the US and in Western Europe. (75%) support of rail in the corridor as those comfort. Federal funds: $149 million. Finally, and without any potential con- who thought more lanes were part of the Everett Storage Tracks – This pro- troversy, I urge your attendance at the solution. In fact, analyzing the results re- ject constructs two new departure/receiving Kelso Depot Centennial celebration on Sat- veals that at least 40% think both should tracks at Delta Yard, eliminating a major urday February 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. have been part of the solution. This not a source of conflict between freight and pas- Many of the fine old Northern Pacific sta- Road vs. Rail issue. senger trains and improving reliability. Pro- tions were built around 1912. Join us in Using the Woodinville Subdivision as ject design is complete and construction is Kelso. Amtrak trains from the north work part of a regional rail solution has not been imminent. WSDOT and BNSF are waiting fine for transportation to Kelso. through a full vetting. for an FRA Buy America waiver on a con- The life of this rail line will suffer a crete tie component. Federal funds: $3.5 “death of a thousand cuts” by the parochial Cusick, from page 3 million. I know how they got there. BNSF put practices of the municipalities in the them there when they sold the line to the corridor. restoration – Port of Seattle, and the Port said not to I also don’t think WSDOT should be let This project is managed by the City of Se- bother removing them. off the hook on this one either. After all, I attle. The new Amtrak ticketing and bag- What I want to know is why are they still haven’t heard of their plan to reconnect the gage facilities on the north side of the there? Woodinville Sub at the Wilburton Tunnel building will soon be open. This area will I understand GNP Railway has sought location. also have a temporary waiting room while potential customers south of this junction in I fully understand the issues neighbors the main waiting room is restored. Bids for Woodinville (next to McRory’s On The of the rail line have. I’ve lived 50 feet away the next phase of the restoration will be Slough). from an active commuter line, and currently opened in early February. In addition to re- Why they can’t entertain them and have live only five minutes away from a very ac- turning the waiting room to its original gran- this removed is a question that needs to be tive mainline railroad. deur, this phase will complete seismic up- asked. Many of their issues can be addressed grades, electrical and mechanical up- Quite publicly, in my opinion. and mitigated, and some are just part of grades, and restoration of historic architec- Then there are other questions, such as living next to an active rail line. tural details, inside and out. Project com- what is Kirkland proposing to do with their But to allow a few landowners, who are pletion is anticipated in spring 2013. Total plan to purchase five miles of the right-of- willing to sacrifice a perfectly good rail cor- funding from local, state and federal way in their town. ridor because they are offended by the sources: $47.3 million. If you look at the picture the Kirkland sound of trains in their backyard, to control King Street Station Track Im- Reporter ran with the story “Kirkland City the regional planning process is quite provements – This project will complete Council unanimously approves purchase of frankly extremely embarrassing. the upgrade and reconfiguration of the Eastside Rail Corridor for $5 million” – Who are we kidding? westerly tracks used by Amtrak. Design and tinyurl.com/kirklandrail – showing citizens At one of the Puget Sound Regional a maintenance agreement have been com- swarming over the railroad right of way, one Council meetings analyzing this corridor, pleted. Ownership issues are still being re- wonders. where members of All Aboard, myself in- solved. Federal funds: $50.4 million. Do cluded, testified, I did ask them one thing: Point Defiance Bypass – This pro- their plans “Would you be willing to have your names ject, the most controversial of the Northwest resemble on a billboard next to I-405, that states ‘This Corridor improvements, proposes to move what rail line, as a commute option, is no longer Amtrak service from the BNSF Point Defi- Redmond in service, courtesy of…’ and have each ance line to a dedicated passenger line has de- one of your names, as elected officials, on through South Tacoma and Lakewood that cided to that sign?” is now owned by Sound Transit. It ties back do, as If you vote for a particular solution, you into the mainline at Nisqually. It includes demon- should be proud of that solution. upgraded tracks, signal systems and grade strated by I’ll be around to make sure the facts are crossings. A new Amtrak station being con- this pic- presented accurately. sidered at Freighthouse Square where ture? Sounder service ends (until the Lakewood This is extension opens late this year). The project only part of the story, if you look at the doc- Rail, from page 1 complements Sound Transit’s D St. to M St. umentation for Redmond’s Downtown Vi- must satisfy FRA that no construction will project and will allow additional Cascades sion Implementation, it shows a curious need to be rebuilt as other corridor projects frequencies, improve on time performance feature called “BNSF ROW Trail.” The doc- are built. A discussion on raising maximum and shorten running times. Federal funds: ument talks about Transit Oriented Devel- train speeds above the current 79 mph, $89.1 million. opment, and even claims to “encourage which PTC will allow, is down road. Federal light rail transit.” funds: $60.1 million. Kelso to Martins Bluff – Several page 5

All Aboard Washington Officers Important Addresses and Phone Numbers Loren Herrigstad, Centralia - President ...... 360 736-5783 .. [email protected] U. S. House of Representatives: Jim Hamre, Puyallup - Vice President ...... 253 848-2473 .. [email protected] Washington, DC 20515 Rocky Shay, Federal Way - Secretary...... 253 925-2085 .. [email protected] U. S. Senate: Washington, DC 20510 Harvey Bowen, Seattle - Treasurer...... 206 322-2729 .. [email protected] Capitol Switchboard (all members): 202 224-3121 Lloyd Flem, Olympia.. State Legislature: State Capitol, Olympia 98504 Executive Director ...... 360 943-8333 .. [email protected] Hotline for leaving messages: 800 562-6000 Address ...... 620 Boundary St SE, Olympia 98501 Amtrak Reservations/Information: 800 872-7245 Jim Hamre, Puyallup - Newsletter Editor .... 253 848-2473 .. [email protected] Warren Yee, Seattle - E-newsletter ...... 206 723-0259 .. [email protected] All Aboard Washington: AllAboardWashington.org Zack Willhoite, Puyallup - Membership Director ...... [email protected] NARP: www.narprail.org NARP Hotline: www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/hotline/ Amtrak: www.amtrak.com All are evening numbers, except Lloyd's, which is available 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily. Amtrak Cascades: www.amtrakcascades.com Sound Transit: www.soundtransit.org projects will be built between Kelso and Kalama. Included are a new third main Amtrak Station Data track from Kelso to Longview Junction (in- Six-Year Washington State On & Off Totals (calendar year) cluding a new bridge over the Coweeman Station 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 '10-’11 River), additional sidings in the Port of % Change Kalama area and a grade separation at Toteff Road. The projects will help separate Bellingham 52,356 51,315 70,990 72,033 62,562 58,283 -6.8 through passenger and freight trains from Bingen-White Salmon 1,924 2,307 2,959 2,835 3,253 2,505 -23.0 train entering and leaving the Ports of Centralia 18,816 21,060 23,663 24,279 23,270 22,122 -4.9 Longview and Kalama. The final scope of this project is still being developed by Edmonds 27,320 27,543 31,204 30,770 31,845 30,670 -3.7 BNSF and WSDOT. Federal funds: $194 Ephrata 3,469 3,923 4,365 4,020 3,574 2,981 -19.1 million. Everett 40,047 41,567 48,420 46,785 44,103 41,594 -5.7 Vancouver Rail Yard Bypass – Kelso-Longview 21,411 23,519 28,330 27,406 28,603 26,553 -7.2 This project adds a new 2.5 mile bypass Leavenworth 3,370 9,149 7,898 -13.7 track east of the rail yard for trains to and Mt. Vernon 20,206 19,328 24,280 24,935 18,662 18,805 +0.8 from the BNSF Columbia Gorge line. It, along with other rail yard improvements Olympia-Lacey 44,205 49,659 58,133 59,884 60,415 57,530 -4.8 and the closing of two grade crossings and Pasco 27,147 28,072 29,202 24,765 24,992 21,647 -13.4 upgrade of two other crossings, will Seattle 609,104 634,193 668,037 648,774 655,036 648,908 -0.9 eliminate a major choke point. This will Spokane 46,096 48,484 59,001 47,670 49,058 47,680 -2.8 increase on time performance and reliability. The project complements a large Stanwood 818 4,639 4,018 -13.4 array of rail improvements being done by Tacoma 102,703 110,869 124,351 122,763 124,451 119,383 -4.1 the Port of Vancouver. Federal funds: Tukwila 16,082 18,887 22,292 22,265 24,892 26,239 +5.4 $28.5 million. Vancouver 74,907 84,766 97,554 97,889 98,395 97,284 -1.1 WSDOT will have five of these projects Wenatchee under construction in 2012, worth $200 19,992 19,085 20,945 19,301 16,062 13,076 -18.6 million: Wishram 1,403 1,683 1,814 1,330 1,570 1,275 -18.8 • Advanced Wayside Signal System TOTALS 1,089,235 1,186,260 1,315,540 1,281,892 1,284,531 1,248,451 -2.8 • Everett Storage Tracks Station totals include Thruway bus ridership 2006-2009, but not 2010-2011. • Sound Transit’s Tacoma D St. to M Leavenworth service started Sept. 26, 2009; Stanwood service started Nov. 21, 2009. St. • King Street Station • Corridor Reliability South Trains Serving Washington State For more information on these projects: Six Year Totals tinyurl.com/nwrailcorridor (calendar year for Cascades; federal fiscal year for Builder and Starlight) For additional King St. Station information: 1000000 seattle.gov/transportation/kingstreet.htm 800000 Amtrak sets 2011 ridership record 2006

Amtrak carried nearly 30.2 million passengers in FY 2011, ending September 600000 2007 30, 2011, the highest ridership in the company’s 40-year history. Ridership was 2008 400000 up 5.1% over FY 2010 and revenue was up Ridership 2009 8.5%. These impressive gains came amid a spring and early summer that saw major 200000 2010 service disruptions on numerous routes in (See Record, page 6) 2011 0 Cascades Empire Builder All Aboard Washington NONPROFIT P. O. Box 70381 ORGANIZATION Seattle, WA 98127 U. S. POSTAGE PAID PUYALLUP WA 98371 Return Service Requested PERMIT NO. 468

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attle; Quentin King, Seattle; William Bruzas, during last winter’s All Aboard News Seattle; Stephen Grande, Vancouver, WA; La Niña weather and Andrew Sherry, Seattle. event. Nearly 200 February 11: Join AAWA at the Kelso runs were cancelled Station Centennial Celebration from All Aboard Washington members contrib- because of the 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the station. uting to this newsletter include Mark Meyer, hillsides falling onto Zack Willhoite, Lloyd Flem and Jim Cusick. BNSF tracks. (See March 17: Joint Northwest passenger rail advocates membership meeting in the April/May 2011 Record, from page 5 Washington Rail Whitefish, MT at The Lodge at White- News for more de- fish Lake. Meeting is timed between the Midwest because of months-long flooding of the Missouri and Mississippi tails.) This had a dramatic impact on Cas- the morning arrival of the eastbound Rivers and their tributaries. cades ridership. After years of healthy gains Empire Builder and the departure of the The Empire Builder had off and on ser- (except for the recession year of 2009) rid- westbound Empire Builder. For infor- vice disruptions from late December 2010 ership was up only 1.1% in calendar year mation and registration see the flyer through mid July 2011 because of freight 2011 from 2010. The total passenger count mailed separately or available on our derailments, blizzards, avalanches, wind was 847,709. All of the gain is attributable website. Online registration is also and flooding. The train was suspended or to stronger ridership between Portland and available via our website. only operating Seattle-Havre and St. Paul- Eugene. Passenger counts north of Port- Chicago for nearly a month in June and land were essentially flat. April 14: All Aboard Washington busi- July because of the North Dakota flooding. Coast Starlight ridership also dipped in ness meeting from noon-4 p.m. at Service to Minot, the 8th busiest stop for the 2011, being down 4.0% from 2010. A total Basil’s Kitchen, Embassy Suites Hotel, Builder, was suspended from late June to of 429,584 passenger boarded the Starlight 15920 W. Valley Hwy, Tukwila, adjacent just before Thanksgiving due to severe last year. In addition to the train seeing ser- to the Amtrak Station. Please RSVP to flood damage to the recently renovated sta- vice disruptions in the Northwest Corridor Harvey Bowen, if you can (contact info p. tion and platform. Despite all this, the there were also disruptions and a track 5). Put “April 14 RSVP” in Subject or Builder’s 2011 ridership dipped just 12.1% work reroute in California. Body of your email. to 469,167 passengers from 2010. The train For more ridership details go to the still remained Amtrak’s most popular long News and Media link on Amtrak’s website, All Aboard Washington welcomed the fol- distance train, staying ahead of number select 2011 Press Releases and find the lowing new members in December and two, the Coast Starlight. October 13 release. January: Jon Cox, Lacey; Gretchen Garth, The Cascades set another all time rid- To read about Amtrak’s plans for 2012, Kenmore; Benjamin Hart, Seattle; George ership record in 2011 despite suffering one see its January 11, 2011 press release at Werkema, Lynden; Maribeth Chadwell, Se- of the worse mudslide seasons on record the above News and Media link.