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Washington County
Commuter Rail Project



About the Project

* Background
* Proposed route
* Service frequency & travel time
* Ridership projections
* Cost & funding
* Project timeline


Background

In 1996, a feasibility study for a commuter rail line was initiated by Washington County, the cities of Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, Wilsonville and Sherwood, TriMet, Metro, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The project, which would establish a new 14.7-mile passenger rail line between Beaverton and Wilsonville, has received strong support from the public and business community. It is one of the few suburb-to-suburb commuter rail projects in the country.

Because the line uses existing freight tracks in a dedicated corridor, there would be minimal construction impacts.

Passengers would ride in self-propelled diesel train cars. TriMet is working with Colorado Railcar to design and build the vehicle.

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Proposed route

The proposed 14.7-mile line will share freight train tracks with the Portland & Western Railroad in eastern Washington County. The line will serve five stations in Beaverton, Washington Square, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville.

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Service frequency & travel time

Commuter Rail will operate weekdays every 30 minutes during morning and afternoon rush hours. The trip from Beaverton Transit Center to Wilsonville would take 27 minutes. Train speeds will average 37 mph, with a top speed of over 60 mph.

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Ridership projections

Average daily ridership is estimated between 3,000 and 4,000 trips by 2020, with half of the riders new to transit.

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Cost & funding

The $103.5 million project will be funded by:

*
$51.75 million in federal funding
*
$35 million from state lottery bond proceeds
*
$10.25 million from the Metro Transportation Improvement Program
*
$6.5 million from local cities and Washington County

TriMet and Washington County will contribute a total of $4.1 million toward annual operating costs.

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Project timeline
Winter 2005 Full Funding Grant Agreement
2006 Construction begins
2008 Service begins