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Amtrak study reviews Oregon, Idaho routes
(The following appeared on The East Oregonian website on September 20, 2009.)
PORTLAND, Ore. — The four options in a long-awaited preliminary report on restoring the Amtrak Pioneer route include restarting rail passenger service to Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho.
Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mike Crapo of Idaho said Friday the report is an important step toward bringing back a passenger rail line that should never have been closed in the first place.
The cities of Hermiston and Stanfield and the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce support restoring the service.
The senators obtained a congressional mandate forcing Amtrak to study restoring the former Pioneer line that ran from Portland, along the Columbia River Gorge and on to Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City, Ontario, Boise, Shoshone and Pocatello to Utah. It was discontinued in 1997.
Wyden has been working more than a decade to restore the rail service, which also stopped at Hinkle.
"It is important to remember that this preliminary report by no means guarantees the return of the Pioneer Route," Wyden said. "There are some significant cost, ridership and service level issues that still need to be worked out. Nevertheless, this report moves things a little further down the line toward giving Eastern Oregon residents the type of rail passenger service available in other parts of the United States."
Crapo worked to include a requirement for a one-time evaluation of the former Pioneer Route to determine whether a level of passenger demand exists that would warrant considering of reinstating the entire Pioneer Route service or segments of it.
He's posted Amtrak's draft Pioneer restoration feasibility study on his Website: http://crapo.senate.gov/.
"The next step in this process is for ... Congress and others to comment on the report as soon as possible," he said.
The preliminary study contains four scenarios about restoring passenger service in Idaho and Oregon. It says "Restoration of the Pioneer would enhance Amtrak's route network and produce public benefits, but would require significant expenditures for initial capital costs and ongoing operation costs not covered by farebox revenues."
A private consultant has estimated annual operating costs for the Pioneer could run from $30 million-$40 million annually, with a third of those costs paid by passengers. Capital and startup costs, including those for locomotives, passenger cars, sleeping and food service cars could exceed $400 million.
Amtrak officials say interested stakeholders have until Oct. 1 to offer comment on the preliminary study. The final report must be presented to Congress by Oct. 15. Congress may have the final say in restoring Pioneer service.
Monday, September 21, 2009
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