From improving Amtrak Cascades reliability to restoring service to Eastern Oregon, regional rail plans face a common obstacle: funding.
The Pacific Northwest has several proposals to expand and improve passenger rail, from making Amtrak Cascades more reliable to building a high-speed rail line between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Oregon and Washington transportation officials are asking the public to weigh in on their plans for the future of passenger rail.
Oregon wants more reliable, frequent trains
Oregon’s draft State Rail Plan identifies a dozen projects intended to improve passenger rail service, including upgrades to help Amtrak Cascades avoid freight traffic, which is a common source of delays.
One proposed improvement would add a second track at Eugene Station.
Currently, a Cascades train finishing a trip in Eugene travels about 1.8 miles to a freight yard to prepare for its next departure. If it gets stuck behind a freight train on the way back, the delay can carry into its next trip.
Bob Melbo, state rail planner for the Oregon Department of Transportation said an additional track could eliminate that problem.
“If we had a layover track at the passenger station, we could just completely avoid having to go down to the freight yard,” Melbo said. “We would no longer be vulnerable to that kind of delay.”
Other proposed projects include a second track south of Portland and improvements near Salem.
Oregon also wants to increase service on the Eugene-to-Portland portion of the Cascades route. The line currently has two daily round trips, and the state hopes to eventually increase that to six.
But improving reliability and adding trains requires money for both infrastructure and operations.
Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation help pay to operate Amtrak Cascades service, alongside federal funding and passenger fares.
Any changes will come from a mix of state and federal dollars.
“We rely upon the federal government for the grants to build the infrastructure improvements that will allow us to improve service,” Melbo said.
Stacey Goldstein, a senior statewide transportation planner at ODOT, cautions that new projects are exciting but as costs for construction and fuel increases, “funding is needed to just sustain what we have today.”
The Eugene track project could be among the first upgrades to move forward. Oregon has applied for a federal grant that would cover 80% of its cost, with ODOT and Amtrak prepared to cover the remainder.
Faster trains would require more than new equipment
New Amtrak Airo trains are capable of reaching speeds of 125 mph. But on the Eugene-to-Seattle route, they’re limited to 79 mph.
Increasing those speeds would require infrastructure improvements, including better protection at railroad crossings. Melbo said significant speed increases on the existing route are unlikely in the near future.
Another study examines what it would take to get a high-speed rail system in the Pacific Northwest. High-speed rail trains can travel up to 220 miles per hour.
Ben Tripousis, program administrator for Washington’s Cascadia High-Speed Rail study, said the system could offer an alternative to driving on Interstate 5.
“While there are flights between Portland, Seattle, and Seattle and Vancouver, most folks drive that stretch. They don’t usually hop on a plane to make that trip,” Tripousis said.
The project study is funded by a 2024 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, meant to examine what it would take to get high-speed rail in a corridor expected to see substantial population and job growth over the coming decades.
The hope is a high-speed rail system would provide an attractive alternative to driving.
Tripousis said the biggest obstacle is straightforward: money.
“The hard and simple answer is funding, certainly,” he said.
Countries with extensive high-speed rail networks — such as Japan, Italy, Spain, Germany and England — have made major public investments to build them.
Tripousis pointed to China, which allocated $300 billion for high-speed rail as part of a $600 billion transportation investment budget. China has built nearly 30,000 miles of high-speed rail.
In the United States, passenger rail projects often rely on a patchwork of federal and state funding. They can also face years of litigation and environmental review.
California’s high-speed rail project, funded through a state ballot measure in 2008, has faced significant delays and missed its original completion target.
Tripousis said the Cascadia study, expected to wrap up in 2028, aims to engage stakeholders early and avoid some of those pitfalls.
He declined to offer a projected cost or completion date for the project, saying early estimates can become expectations even as plans change.
“The minute you put a number and a date out there, then it sadly gets set in stone,” he said.
A revived Pioneer Line could take years
Another proposed rail expansion would restore the Pioneer Line, which connected Portland with communities along the Columbia River Gorge and in Eastern Oregon, including Pendleton and Baker City, before continuing to Boise and points farther east.
The service ended in 1997.
Restoring the route could give rural communities in Northeast Oregon another transportation option, particularly for people who cannot or do not drive.
The Federal Railroad Administration shortlisted the route in 2025 as a potential Amtrak expansion. A study estimated that restoring the train could cost about $2 billion.
ODOT’s Melbo said the project would depend on Amtrak and federal funding.
“It’s really an Amtrak responsibility to reinstate that train,” he said. “Because Amtrak depends upon Congress for its funding, it kind of comes back down to Congress to provide the funding that would allow that train to be restored.”
Even with the necessary funding, restoring service would take time.
Melbo estimated it could take up to 10 years before the Pioneer Line returns.
Public feedback could shape the plans
The plans offer a chance to define what passenger rail in the Pacific Northwest could look like in the coming decades.
For now, state officials are asking residents to help determine which projects and priorities deserve attention.
ODOT’s Goldstein said public input can help identify issues that planners might miss.
“They provide local knowledge, their real-life experiences, stuff that we just can’t capture,” Goldstein said. “We’re asking for them to review the plan, catch anything that they feel are unintended consequences based on what’s in there. And of course, if there’s any technical errors.”
Both rail plan efforts face difficult funding decisions. More frequent Cascades service would require additional operating money and infrastructure, while restoring the Pioneer Line could cost billions. A high-speed rail system would require an even larger commitment.
Before travelers can board a train to Baker City or take a high-speed train to a Seahawks game, officials will need to determine which projects to pursue — and how to pay for them.
