Westside Express Service (WES) is a 14.7-mile (23.7 km) United States commuter rail line under construction between Beaverton and Wilsonville, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area, mostly following Oregon Route 217 and Interstate 5. The trains are planned to start operating in October or November 2008[1] on upgraded existing freight rail tracks operated by the Portland & Western Railroad (P&W).
After years of delays due to lack of funding, the line received an endorsement of the Federal Transit Administration, resulting in the funding of approximately 50 percent of the line's capital costs. Track work began October 23, 2006, in Wilsonville, and a ceremonial "ground-breaking" was held two days later in Tigard,[2] although the project had already started and no dirt was moved.
During planning and construction, the project was called the Washington County Commuter Rail,[3] or alternately the Wilsonville to Beaverton Commuter Rail[4][5] since much of Wilsonville is in Clackamas County. A contest was held to determine the final name of Westside Express Service.[6][7][8]
An extension of the line further south to Salem has been proposed.[9] Wilsonville's South Metro Area Rapid Transit (SMART) and Salem's Cherriots bus systems currently provide express bus service between the two cities and are planned to link to the rail line.[1]
History
Planning for the rail line began in 1996 when Washington County, the cities of Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Wilsonville and Sherwood, as well as government agencies concerned with transportation started an effort to introduce passenger rail service between Beaverton and Wilsonville on the existing P&W freight short line.[10] Commuter rail service was considered particularly attractive because of savings gained by using the existing rail line and because the short line runs parallel to the congested Interstate 5 and Highway 217 corridors.[10] Early in the planning process, it was recognized that passenger rail service using the P&W track would have to share it with existing freight services. Shippers along the line have statutory rights to freight service unless the line is abandoned.
An environmental impact assessment for the Beaverton-Wilsonville corridor was completed in January 2001 and chose a plan calling for a 14.7-mile (23.7 km) passenger rail system servicing five stations with 30-minute headways during peak periods. The vast majority of service would run on the existing P&W right-of-way and tracks, which would require improvements, and about 2,000 feet (610 m) of new track would be constructed at the northern terminus. Passenger rail service would operate six hours each weekday during commuting periods: three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening.
Maintenance building in Wilsonville at southern end of line
P&W’s freight line between Beaverton and Wilsonville was originally built by the Oregon Electric Railway (OE) Company. The 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 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 OE right-of-way when the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Tri-Met), which operates mass transportation systems in the region, began using it between downtown Hillsboro and Beaverton for the light rail line known as Westside MAX. Commuter rail trains using WES will connect to the Westside MAX system in Beaverton east of where MAX leaves the former OE line. Despite the need for a transfer, more than one fifth of all passengers on WES will use the system for travel to and from downtown Portland using MAX.
Presently, active freight service is operated between Beaverton and Wilsonville with a traffic density of less than one million gross ton-miles[11] per year. The Beaverton to Wilsonville line is part of the P&W’s 520-mile (840 km) regional system. The equipment currently used on MAX does not comply with Federal Railroad Administration crash-worthiness and other regulations and cannot inter-operate with the P&W freight trains in an unrestricted manner.
In late 2007, the name of the line was official changed to Westside Express Service (WES) after a naming contest.[12] Other names considered included T-REX (Tualatin Valley Regional Express), STAR (Southwest Transit Area Railway), WIRL (Westside Interurban Rail Express), SCOOTER (Suburban Communities Optimal Overland Transit Express Rail), and SWIFT (Southwest Inter-City Fast Train) among others.[12]
By December 2007, construction on the rail line was 75 percent complete.[12] Construction included five new bridges, new railroad ties, and improvements on road crossings.[12]
Current status
Wilsonville Station under construction
As of June 2008 the line was more than 90 percent complete, with all the track in place.[1] The first of the five Colorado Railcar Diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars ordered for the line has arrived;[1] a total of three powered DMU cars and two non-powered "trailer cars" have been ordered.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "WES rail car debuts in Wilsonville", Portland Tribune (2008-06-19). Retrieved on 2008-07-02.
- ^ "TriMet Breaks Ground for Commuter Rail Line". This Week in Passenger Transport. American Public Transportation Association (November 6, 2006).
- ^ Washington County Commuter Rail Project. City of Beaverton. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
- ^ "Smith Announces FTA Approval of Wilsonville to Beaverton Commuter Rail". Senator Gordon Smith news release (May 10, 2004).
- ^ Land Use & Transportation: Wilsonville to Beaverton Commuter Rail. Washington County. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
- ^ Name that train! contest. TriMet. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
- ^ WES: Westside Express Service. TriMet. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
- ^ "TriMet reveals new name for Washington County commuter rail". TriMet news release (November 19, 2007).
- ^ 2007 House Bill 2742. Oregon Legislative Assembly. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
- ^ a b "About the Commuter Rail Project". TriMet (May 2007). Retrieved on 2008-07-12.
- ^ Equivalent to a million short tons of engines, cars, and cargo moved through a distance of one mile or 1.46 million metric tons moved through a distance of one kilometer.
- ^ a b c d Jagernauth, David. MAX, say hi to WES. Wilsonville Spokesman, November 21, 2007.
External links
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