WES Commuter Rail
Template:Future usa public transportation
| Westside Express Service | |
|---|---|
| File:TriMet logos.png | |
| Overview | |
| Locale | Washington County, OR |
| Transit type | Regional commuter railroad |
| Number of lines | 1 |
| Number of stations | 5 |
| Daily ridership | (Under construction) |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | September, 2008 (estimated)[1] |
| Operator(s) | TriMet |
| Reporting marks | TMTC |
| Technical | |
| System length | 14.7 mi (23.6 km) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (standard gauge) |
|}
Westside Express Service is an under-construction 14.7 mile commuter rail line in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area in the USA along Oregon State Route 217 and Interstate 5. The trains are planned to start operating in Fall 2008 on upgraded existing freight rail tracks operated by the Portland & Western Railroad.
After years of delays due to struggles over funding, the line received an endorsement of the Federal Transit Administration, resulting in the funding of approximately 50% of the line's capital costs. Track work began October 23, 2006 in Wilsonville and a ceremonial "ground-breaking" was held two days later,[2] although the project had already started and no dirt was actually moved.
Five Colorado Railcar Diesel multiple unit cars have been ordered for use on the line (three powered, two un-powered "dummy cars").
Planning History
Introduction
Washington County, one of three Oregon Counties making up the Greater Portland Metropolitan area, is expected to absorb a significant share of the development in the rapidly growing Portland area. Forecasts project Washington County’s population to increase by 47% in the 20 years between 1997 and 2017 and employment to increase by 68% in the same period. The growth in population and employment that is occurring, and expected to continue, in Washington County has resulted in increased peak-hour traffic volumes within the Interstate 5 and Highway 217 corridor which connects Washington County town centers with the Portland central business district. These increases in peak hour traffic are more significant in light of the fact that the Highway 217 corridor was considered to be at peak capacity in 1989. In order to provide relief to the highway and parallel road systems as well as offer modal options, regional and local leaders began exploring lower cost, short-term implementation projects that would address the region’s future transportation objectives and needs. The Oregon State Transportation Plan, adopted in 1992, outlines a “Livability Approach” as a long-term strategy for ensuring continued statewide mobility. Implementation has been focused on constructing MAX (Metropolitan Area eXpress) light rail lines in the more urban parts of Portland. For southerly Washington County, no specific implementation planning had taken place before the planning began in 1996 for what became the Wilsonville-Beaverton Commuter Rail, now the Westside Express Project.
Planning Effort
At that time, Washington County spearheaded a planning effort to introduce passenger service between Beaverton and Wilsonville on the existing Portland & Western freight short line. Commuter rail service was considered particularly attractive because of the potential for cost and time-of-implementation savings gained from utilizing the existing rail line and because of the short line runs parallel to the congested Interstate 5 and Highway 217 corridors.
Key transportation issues considered in the Wilsonville to Beaverton planning included:
- Connectivity to the City of Portland from southeastern Washington County
- Connectivity to the major high-tech industries of northern Washington County from the southern portion of the county
- Dependable transit service along the I-5/Highway 217 corridor
The Portland & Western (P&W) Right-of-Way
Portland and Western’s freight line between Beaverton and Wilsonville was originally built by the Oregon Electric Railway Company. The Oregon Electric (OE) initially provided interurban passenger and freight service on electric rail lines connecting Portland with Salem and Eugene to the South. At the height of service, 33 trains ran between Portland and Wilsonville en route to and from Salem, each day. These electric interurban passenger trains concurrently shared the track with the OE freight operations until passenger service was abandoned in 1933. The system was de-electrified in 1945. Passenger service returned to a portion of the Oregon Electric right-of-way, however, as Tri-Met’s Westside MAX light rail runs on the historic right-of-way between Beaverton and downtown Hillsboro en route to downtown Portland. The Westside MAX light rail service connects the Portland CBD (Central Business District), Beaverton, and Hillsboro on the former OE line. The Washington County Commuter rail will connect to the Westside MAX system in Beaverton, re-establishing even more passenger service on the north-south Oregon Electric line.
Presently, active freight service is operated between Beaverton and Wilsonville with a traffic density of less than 1 million gross ton-miles per mile of track per year. The Beaverton to Wilsonville line is part of the P&W’s 520 mile regional system. The equipment currently used on the Portland MAX does not comply with FRA regulation and cannot inter-operate with the P&W freight trains in an unrestricted manner.
Use of Parallel Rights-of-Way
The parallel Highway 217/I-5 right-of-ways are unsuitable for heavy commuter rail trains. There is little or no median that could be used for light rail service. Although I-5 does have an adequate median along portions of the alignment, at that point the existing rail line is several miles away. Creating a new ROW for rail use alongside the highway alignments would have been prohibitively costly. The highway runs mostly through urban areas, but the alignment would not have been conducive to transit oriented development.
The Alternatives Analysis Process
Early in the planning process, it was recognized that passenger rail service using the Portland and Western must co-exist with the existing freight services. The on-line shippers have statutory rights to freight service unless the line is abandoned. Moreover the P&W maintains a commitment to their customers for “just-in–time” service. County transportation officials recognized that Washington County is mainly suburban in nature and that a completely new fixed guideway transit service in the county would take decades to mature. Therefore, initial local planning focused on providing peak-period rail capacity on the existing shortline that could relieve congestion on adjacent highways.
The Environmental Assessment for the Beaverton-Wilsonville corridor completed in January, 2001 identified three alternatives:
- No build alternative: Includes the existing transportation network plus highway and transit improvements consistent with the financially constrained Regional Transportation Plan.
- Commuter rail service alternative: A 14.7 mile passenger rail system servicing five stations with 30 minute headways during peak periods. The vast majority of service would run on the existing Portland and Western right-of-way and tracks, requiring some track improvements, and approximately 2,000 feet of new track would be constructed at the northern terminus. Passenger rail service would be operated six hours each weekday: three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening commuting period.
- Transportation Systems Management (TSM) alternative: A transit corridor using the existing road network with the addition of transit priority measures at key intersections. Under this alternative, a limited-stop bus line would run parallel to the proposed commuter rail alignment servicing the five commuter rail stations and 13 additional locations. 15 minute headways were assumed in order to provide capacity consistent with the commuter rail alternative.
Local decision-makers chose commuter rail as the locally preferred alternative since average daily ridership and travel time savings were forecast to be greater than for the other alternatives evaluated and because passenger rail was considered the option that would best support local transportation and land-use visions. However, during review and comment integral to the Environment Assessment process, numerous supporters of the transit investment expressed concern over the nature and quality of the commuter rail/light rail transfer. None were bold enough to suggest that the project should be shelved in favor of light rail extension. But many, if not most, supporters noted that the initial project was just a stepping stone toward further improvements in the quality and quantity of a fixed guideway transit system in the corridor.
Current Status
The system is currently in the Final Design phase of development and is anticipated to be in service in September 2008. The Washington County Commuter Rail will create a 14.7-mile compliant DMU “commuter rail” service between Wilsonville and Beaverton where passengers can transfer to the MAX light rail system.
The Commuter Rail to Light Rail Transfer
The largest single traffic flow on the planned new line makes a transfer at Beaverton to/from the light rail network. Despite the need for a transfer, more than one fifth of all passengers will use the system for travel to and from downtown Portland using the MAX system.
Because of the connection (and the possibility for through-running) with the Westside MAX at Beaverton, initial planning had briefly considered the use of a non-compliant vehicle on the short line. However, three factors discouraged planners from evaluating an extension of Westside MAX south into Washington County.
- Consultation with the Portland and Western found the railroad and its customers unwilling or unable to reschedule freight operations to the overnight period necessary to facilitate the temporal separation.
- Conflict with current federal railroad safety regulations prevented a plan for concurrent shared track operations with both freight trains and light rail vehicles from being considered.
- The region has a long-range light rail construction plan to which the P&W corridor would need to be added. Because the project would likely be added to the end of the plan, construction would not start for 20-30 years. A commuter rail alternative allowed the rail line to be used for passenger service much sooner.
Under these circumstances, the risk of trying to develop a light rail system was simply too great. Planners fell back on a plan that would provide commuter rail service and force some passengers to make an end-to-end transfer between the commuter and light rail systems at Beaverton, nine miles shy of their ultimate destination.
Summary
Responding to substantial population growth and highway congestion in Eastern Washington County local officials were searching for economic and short-term transportation initiatives to provide new mobility options for their constituencies. The existing Portland and Western short line was identified as right-of-way that would provide an economical and timely means for providing passenger rail between the Washington County suburbs and activity centers to the North.
The key alignment and technology decisions were made based on the 2001 Final Environmental Assessments which evaluated a no build option, the commuter rail alternative, and a transportation systems management option. Evaluation of a highway corridor alignment for the fixed guideway transit investment was rejected due to both high costs and weak ridership. A concurrent shared track system where light rail transit cars would share track with the short line freight operation could not be seriously evaluated, due to the current federal safety requirements. A commuter rail service was designated the locally preferred alternative.
See also
Future Extensions
An extension of the line further south to Salem has been proposed.[3]
References
- ^ "About the Commuter Rail Project". Trimet.
- ^ "TriMet Breaks Ground for Commuter Rail Line". American Public Transportation Association.
- ^ http://www.leg.state.or.us/07reg/measpdf/hb2400.dir/hb2472.intro.pdf
External links
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