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Intercity Passenger Rail Scheduling Update

and Coordination Opportunities

KIRK FREDRICKSON, Cascades Passenger Services Manager

Rail, Freight, and Ports Division

September 27, 2017

Puget Sound Regional Council

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WSDOT and Intercity Passenger Rail

History and Role

• Washington State Legislature created WSDOT’s Intercity Passenger Rail Program in 1993

• WSDOT owns trainsets, locomotives, some train stations

• WSDOT supports planning activities, environmental documentation efforts, project design,

construction, operations oversight, service delivery coordination, contract management, performance

reporting, train scheduling, and many other activities

• Requires close coordination with many stakeholders, including the privately-owned and operated

railroads

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Amtrak Cascades Corridor

467-mile corridor

• 300 miles in Washington

• 134 miles in Oregon

• 33 miles in British Columbia

18 stations from Vancouver, B.C. to Eugene, Oregon

Current daily roundtrips

• Four between Seattle and Portland

• Two between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.

• Two between Portland and Eugene, Oregon

Starting on December 18, 2017

• Two additional roundtrips between Seattle and Portland

• Additional morning and evening trains in each direction

• Improved on-time reliability

• Shorter travel times

A service of the states of Washington and Oregon

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• Offering intercity passenger rail service is a public policy decision

• Public sector needs to fund the creation of sufficient rail line capacity

to allow passenger and freight trains to operate without conflicts and

delays

• Capacity projects identified through statistical analysis, traffic

modelling, constructability assessments, cost

• Projects put under a construction agreement and then built by the

railroad using public funds

• When the project or suite of projects are finished, operations can

commence

• WSDOT has been taking this incremental approach to rail line

capacity upgrades and operations since the mid-1990s

Operating a Public Transportation Service on a

Private Railroad: Guiding Principles

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New Shared Facility at TacomaAmtrak Cascades, Amtrak Coast Starlight ,and Sounder

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Key Outcomes of the December 2017 Schedules

• Increase daily transportation options

for intercity travelers

• Consistently high on-time

performance

• Make Amtrak Cascades more

attractive to business travelers

• Maximize the public utility of the

service

• Reduce operating subsidy through

operational efficiencies and

increased revenue

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2017 Schedule Development: Baseline Schedule

Requirements

• Operate daily service over a 467-mile corridor with seven trainsets –

no spare equipment

• Continue to offer 2 daily round trips between Seattle and Vancouver,

B.C.

• Continue to offer 2 daily round trips between Portland and Eugene

• Offer 6 daily round trips between Seattle and Portland with an even

distribution across the service day

• Continue to meet maintenance contract servicing requirements in

Seattle – locomotives and trainsets

• Travel time between Seattle and Portland no more than 3 hours 20

minutes

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Schedule Development Details

• Baseline schedules developed for 2009 High-Speed Rail

grant application

• Rail traffic simulations performed by WSDOT and BNSF in

2011

• WSDOT performed additional schedule modelling with Sound

Transit over past two years – iterative process

• Passenger train schedule modelling inputs included new track

structures and maintenance standards, turnout speeds,

grades, curves, equipment rates of acceleration, axle

resistance, Talgo capabilities, signal locations, double track

and single track segments, and other factors

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Rail Traffic Control, On-Time Performance, and the

90-day trial period

• BNSF dispatches trains from Fort Worth, Texas –

Portland to Fraser River

• Union Pacific dispatches trains from Omaha,

Nebraska – Portland to Eugene

• Requires experience and skill to manage rail traffic

(express freight trains, port traffic, unit and general

merchandise trains, commuter trains)

• Good on-time performance generates additional

revenue for the railroads

• BNSF is requiring ride study on their territory within

the first 90 days of the start of the new schedules

to determine if any adjustments will be needed

BNSF Operations Center, Fort Worth Texas

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Amtrak Cascades Schedules – Starting December 18, 2017

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Amtrak Cascades Schedules – Starting December 18, 2017

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Tukwila

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Go To Meeting Invite – Early October 2017

• WSDOT will be sending email invitations to all

Washington transit agencies along the Amtrak

Cascades corridor to discuss the new

schedules, answer questions, and discuss

better communication protocols and service

integration opportunities

• WSDOT would like to institute a new service

change communications plan similar to the

one developed by Sound Transit; we will be

seeking your assistance on how best to do

this.

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Questions?

For more information, please contact:

Kirk Fredrickson

Cascades Passenger Services Manager

WSDOT Rail, Freight, and Ports Division

Fredrik@wsdot.wa.gov

360-705-7939