Oregon Passenger Rail Plan bill passes both house and senate votes

SALEM – Oregon House Bill 3233, Relating to rail; and prescribing an effective date, has officially passed a vote in both the Oregon House of Representatives and the Oregon State senate. The bill, if fully approved, would direct the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to develop a new passenger rail transportation plan, with long term goals of increasing rail ridership, boosting tourism, increasing rail capacity, and improving rail infrastructure. 

In addition, the bill would direct ODOT to collaborate with the Washington State Department of Transportation and British Columbia Ministry of Transportation, along with other bodies, in developing a shared long-term passenger rail plan in the Cascade Rail Corridor. The bill would further allow ODOT agency to enter into specific agreements with other bodies as needed. The enrolled text of the bill does not designate or provide any specific state funding for the plan upon passage but authorizes ODOT to propose and develop funding options in collaboration with the other mentioned agencies. As written in section 4 of the bill:

“The Department of Transportation may enter into agreements with the

Washington State Department of Transportation and other governmental entities in order

to collaborate on developing shared objectives for passenger and freight rail, developing regional approaches to rail infrastructure improvements and enabling joint proposals to federal

and other funding sources.”

The Bill passed the House of Representatives on April 16 with a vote 44 to 12 and passed the State Senate on April 29 with a vote of 16 to 12. The bill was officially signed by the Speaker of the House and President of the senate on Thursday, May 1. As of the time of writing, it is currently listed in the Legislative Counsel under enrollment. 

For more details, see the House Bill 3233 legislative information page here.

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