All aboard! Oregon eligible for high-speed rail.

Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard

Oregon remains in the running for high-speed rail service that could one day whisk passengers from Eugene to Portland at speeds reaching 215 mph like the "bullet train" U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood rode last week in Spain.

Amtrak's Cascades run between Eugene and Portland is part of a corridor that extends to Vancouver, B.C., and is one of 10 identified by the federal government as "priority corridors" eligible for a piece of about $8 billion in stimulus money earmarked for high-speed rail projects in President Obama's $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"Everyone will be treated fairly, with the idea that if they put in a good proposal, they'll have a chance," LaHood said.

In addition to the $8 billion in stimulus money, Obama's budget also calls for another $1 billion a year for the next five years to go toward high-speed rail projects.

Whether there would be a demand for high-speed rail in the Northwest was unknown, LaHood told The Register-Guard Wednesday during an interview from Washington, D.C. LaHood had just met with Vice President Joe Biden and eight governors to share their visions and learned more about the stimulus money targeted for high-speed rail. Gov. Ted Kulongoski did not attend the roundtable discussion, but had a representative there, said Kulongoski spokesmen, Chris Warner.

Oregon and Washington have been working together, looking at options to apply for stimulus money in the coming months, said Kelly Taylor, administrator of the rail division for the Oregon Department of Transportation. There are two deadlines, one in August for stand-alone "shovel-ready" projects, and one in October for "corridor-wide" projects, she said. Amtrak Cascades trains now top out at 79 mph, and the next step would be to upgrade the rail lines and other infrastructure to allow trains to travel 90 mph, Taylor said.

President Obama has cited Spain's bullet-train network as a possible model for the United States, which now has only one train - Amtrak's Acela Express on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston - that could be considered truly high-speed with a 150 mph capacity.

"We're now in a position to put out some guidance," said LaHood of the meeting with the governors. "I think they realize this has to be a collaborative effort. I'm sure we'll receive some good proposals. We'll try and leverage our money with private dollars."

Although it sounds like a lot of money, "$8 billion isn't going to build a single corridor," Rep. Peter DeFazio said. A voter-approved high-speed rail project in the works from San Francisco to Los Angeles is estimated at $20 billion, he said.

A senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and chairman of the Highways and Transit subcommittee who also sits on the railroads subcommittee, DeFazio said he asked Congress last year for $400 billion to $500 billion for a national "build-out" for high-speed rail. "It's a huge amount of money," DeFazio said. "But it's just 70 percent of the money we borrowed in one day to bail out the banks" and would be money better spent for Americans, he said.

The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is now crafting a new $450 billion surface transportation bill for roads and highways to replace one that expires in September, DeFazio said. The bill, which is renewed every six years, normally does not include rail money but he hopes to get some in there this time, he said.

"I would hope that someday we'd have high-speed rail that goes everywhere in America," DeFazio said. It's more fuel- and taxpayer-efficient, not to mention the environmental benefits from having fewer cars on the road.

Kulongoski and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire wrote a letter to LaHood in April asking that his department consider several things as it develops a high-speed rail strategy, including rewarding the efforts of "states that have demonstrated prior support for high-speed rail programs on a state, regional and local level with a track record of positive growth."

A total of $1.1 billion has been invested in the Amtrak Cascades line, which has had an 82 percent increase in ridership since it launched in 1998, with a record 775,000 passengers using it last year, the letter said.