Washington Rail News August/September 2011 www.AllAboardWashington.org Publication of All Aboard Washington A Not-for-profit Consumer Organization “Moving forward...On Rail." Sounder update from Sound WSDOT and BNSF ink final agreement to Transit’s Martin Young allow construction to start on projects that Our featured speaker at the June 11 All Aboard Washington meeting was will improve Amtrak Cascades service Martin Young, Sound Transit‟s operations An agreement signed on July 28, worth nearly $400 million that are ex- manager for Sounder commuter rail, a 2011 by the Washington State Depart- pected to generate 1,000 jobs through position he has held for 13 years. ment of Transportation (WSDOT) and 2017. The first project will occur in Ever- Young pointed out that Sounder ser- BNSF Railway clears the way for work to ett, where two new tracks will be built for vice is a partnership with BNSF and begin on rail projects that ultimately will freight trains entering Delta Yard, taking Amtrak. BNSF provides it‟s infrastructure improve Amtrak Cascades service be- them off the mainline and out of the way (greatly upgraded with tax monies) to op- tween Seattle and Portland. of passenger trains. These added tracks erate the trains on, as well operating The agreement means the state can will eliminate a substantial bottleneck. crews and dispatching. Amtrak provides begin initial work this fall using part of the Though this project is not between Seat- storage for the trains in Seattle and $781 million in federal grants awarded to tle and Portland, it will improve reliability maintenance of the equipment. our state in the past two years. This of Portland-Vancouver, BC trains 513 Sound Transit is participating in the money is part of the 2009 American Re- and 516, which currently seem to suffer installation of Positive Train Control be- covery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA – the most delays of any of the Cascades tween Everett and Tacoma, and extend- stimulus) high speed rail grants adminis- trains. ing to the ST-owned line between Ta- tered by the Federal Railroad Admin- “The immediate benefit of this agree- coma Dome Station and Lakewood. PTC istration. ment is jobs – from engineers to site su- will provide a higher level of rail opera- Building bypass tracks and making pervisors to construction workers,” said tions safety, including prevention of train upgrades to existing tracks shared by Transportation Secretary Paula Ham- collisions, over speed events and work Amtrak and BNSF will result in additional mond. “The longer-term benefit is that zone incursions by trains. Sound Transit frequencies on the Cascades and the improvements in the rail corridor will re- will pay a proportionate share of the fed- duce travel times and improve the erally mandated PTC installation. ST‟s on-time performance of passenger cost should be between $35 and $45 mil- rail, which provides a viable trans- lion. Amtrak, WSDOT and BNSF are also portation alternative along the participating in the project. West Coast.” The PTC request for proposals is go- The agreement sets up a clear ing out soon. Installation in the Northwest contractual relationship between Corridor is to be completed by July 2014, WSDOT and BNSF. It outlines with testing complete by January 2015. mutually agreed upon require- Full regular use of PTC is projected to ments and performance measures, start in May 2015. including project schedules and Sound Transit will be ordering addi- Amtrak Cascades 501 at Sunnyside Beach in budgets, contracting methods, pro- tional cars and locomotives to support Steilacoom on June 26, 2011. The scenic run curement and purchasing pro- gradual expansion of Seattle-Tacoma along the Tacoma Narrows will be no more when cesses, and budget and billing Sounder service over the next several the Pt. Defiance Bypass project is implemented procedures, among other things. years. Three MPXpress locomotives from in about 2016. The reroute is required by BNSF "We're pleased with this pro- as a condition to increase the number of daily MotivePower of Boise will soon be or- gress and our long standing rela- Seattle-Portland round-trips beyond the current dered in conjunction with an order from tionship with WSDOT,” said BNSF four. The bypass project will also provide more Altamont Commuter Express, which runs reliable and faster Cascades service. Chairman and CEO Matt Rose. between San Jose and Stockton, CA. Photo by Jim Hamre "This is an important step towards Additional coaches will be ordered in improving the trackage infrastruc- 2013 in conjunction with an order from service will be faster and more reliable. ture to help meet current and future de- Utah Transit Authority‟s FrontRunner The improvements allow BNSF to con- mands for both passenger and freight rail service. The tenth south line round-trip tinue providing its excellent freight ser- service.” will start in October 2013. vice. The funds will also be used to pur- BNSF has been working with the state Mudslides! It was a bad winter for chase eight new locomotives and one of Washington for two decades in a pub- Sounder (and Amtrak) service. Mudslide additional trainset. lic-private partnership that has expanded events cancelled 70 Sounder trips be- The agreement means BNSF can passenger services while maintaining the tween October and March. There were begin construction this fall on projects (See Agreement, page 4) (See Sounder, page 4) page 2 cific Northwest Economic Region‟s rope (in this case, Southwest Germany), From the desk of (PNWER) late June conference in Port- but contrary to another myth, Europeans the Executive land held a very well attended workshop – SW Germans most certainly – are very Director on passenger rail. (PNWER includes prosperous with high private car owner- public and private sector representatives ship and top air service. The contrast by from the American Northwest, Alaska with SW Germany is its dramatically Lloyd H. Flem and Western Canada.) Cascadia‟s Bruce greater number of passenger trains, in- Agnew (also an active AAWA member) is cluding high speed trains, and that trains Amtrak Cascades: Looking Good, very involved in PNWER and organized have replaced short hop fights (SeaTac- Looking Forward; Thanks UW and the rail session, chaired by Ralph Munro. Portland types) in full cooperation with UP; Best Wishes Andrew, Jeff and Leading legislators from Oregon and Lufthansa, the excellent German airline. Vickie Washington, BNSF, UP, Amtrak, While Bruce Agnew focused on the eco- WSDOT, ODOT, and freight and pas- nomic development aspects, I did men- Washington State‟s passenger rail senger train user groups commented. tion Centralia‟s very strong interest in program and our successful and popular Among others, representatives of AAWA bringing people to their city by train. Amtrak Cascades trains have substan- and AORTA (our Oregon counterpart) I was approached afterwards by sev- tially escaped being the whipping boy briefly addressed those assembled. I had eral guests and LCEDIR members, with that high speed rail and rail generally the August TRAINS article duplicated good questions and interest in my “les- have become elsewhere as a result of and distributed as an adjunct to my son.” Thanks to Loren Herrigstad, who the increasingly ideological divisions that “praise and push” remarks. prepared the “PowerPoint” for my have infected American politics in recent Under the direction of Washington Lt. presentation and that of Bruce Agnew. years. If one ignores the anonymous un- Governor Brad Owen, and his most-able One speaker felt we in Washington pleasantries that have emerged as a re- staff man, Antonio Sanchez, the biparti- ought to be bragging a bit more about our sult of the proliferation of In- passenger trains. I totally ternet blogs, a reasonable While it can be lamented that the state’s agree. While still modest in level of bipartisanship re- scope and speed, as TRAINS mains here in our state in this Amtrak Cascades program hasn’t says, we are “doing it right.” era of economic tough times. moved forward as fast as was originally The entire hearing, over The state Legislature‟s trans- three hours in length, is portation committees con- planned… our trains and rail program available at http://tinyurl.com/ tinue to demonstrate a coop- continue to get national praise. JuneLCEDIR . I‟ve also been erative attitude in moving our asked to make our case at a state‟s transportation systems forward. san LCEDIR met on July 27 at the ele- future AAWA meeting. (No fear: It‟s only And the Legislative Committee on Eco- gant Rainier Club in the heart of down- eight minutes!) nomic Development and International town Seattle. (AAWA‟s four-person dele- The broad based affirmations for pas- Relations (LCEDIR) seems equally able gation arrived by Sounder train and senger trains in the Northwest at the to work together, as was evident on July Metro bus.) The singular topic was high PNWER conference and the LCEDIR 27. speed rail in the Northwest and its eco- hearing were heartening at a time when While it can be lamented that the nomic development potential. Leading off the news from the hot, humid Washing- state‟s Amtrak Cascades program hasn‟t was WSDOT‟s Scott Witt, who summa- ton (DeeCee) is much more troubling. moved forward as fast as was originally rized the State‟s current and near-future planned (the passage of I-695 gutted passenger rail program. Important pre- In 1960 American passenger trains funding for passenger rail and other state sentations were made by representatives were dropping in numbers and quality; transportation programs), through no from Spain, where the largest invest- private motor vehicles were becoming fault of the Legislature or State Execu- ments in high speed rail outside China the overwhelming choice for land trans- tive, our trains and rail program continue are well underway.