Riding the rails.

Byline: The Register-Guard

People who ride trains love them. In the Eugene-to-Vancouver, B.C., rail corridor, more and more people are riding Amtrak's Cascades passenger system. Annual ridership has increased to 600,000 from 92,927 in 1993. If Congress can pry loose some funds to upgrade the system, ridership will continue to zoom. Congress should do just that.

The success of the Northwest corridor's Amtrak runs comes despite frequent delays - especially in the Eugene-to-Portland route, where track maintenance problems and freight train interruptions cause passenger trains to consistently run behind schedule. Improvements are on the horizon. Voters in Washington state will find a proposal on their November ballots for $170 million in track upgrades. Congress has before it a bill that would release $59 billion to improve passenger rail service nationwide. While there appears to be widespread bipartisan support for the bill, the issue is getting bogged down in a debate over Amtrak itself, which keeps reporting annual losses.

The Cascadia Project, a Seattle think tank, envisions faster and more frequent daily trains in the Northwest corridor. In Washington, an improved system is within reach because the state has a two-track main route, with plans for a third track in some areas. The Eugene-to-Portland segment has only one track that is owned by Union Pacific, whose top priority is freight. Too often, passenger trains between Eugene and Portland creep along at 20 mph to 40 mph. The Oregonian reported that in April and the first three weeks of May, there was only one day on which both Eugene-to-Portland trains arrived on time.

Oregon transportation officials identify about $80 million in rail projects needed to improve the passenger train service through the Willamette Valley. Proposed projects include lengthening the pullouts for slower freight trains, creating an express route through the Eugene rail yard and helping Union Pacific replace some of its deteriorating track between Eugene and Albany.

If such improvements were made - and they should be - transportation officials say not only would the trains be on schedule more often, but it would be possible to double or triple the number of daily train trips along the Eugene-to-Portland route.

Anyone who has ever ridden one of the new Spanish-designed Talgo trains already in use in the Northwest knows how comfortable and convenient train travel can be. With track improvements and longer pullouts for UP's freight trains, passenger train travel could be as fast as - and certainly more enjoyable than - car travel on Interstate 5.

Congress has consistently invested in highways and airlines. It's time to invest more in the less polluting, increasingly popular passenger rail. Amtrak's problems elsewhere in the country should not blind Congress to the current success, and even greater potential, of passenger rail travel in the Northwest.