...(T)he port must first convince city residents to vote down an August ballot measure that would kill a port tax hike meant to pay for the property purchase.
...
Northwest ports and train companies say all of the region’s train traffic would benefit from the project. Highway traffic would also eventually decrease, they say, as more cargo moves off of trucks and onto trains as the rail system capacity grows.

Even then, I'll bet they'll still say it's too jammed up to seriously think about commuter rail. Other than this, I don't know anything about the tax increase or the push for/against the ballot measure (think I saw those folks at Van Mall once, I think the idea was more along the lines of letting the voters have a say in the matter), but I wonder if they were to throw that idea into the mix so it would benefit both businesses and commuters if that would create more local support for the project.

Here's another good quote from the article:
Oregon rail support pales next to Washington’s
...
It’s unlikely that any of the remaining projects, which would cost about $115 million combined, will begin any time soon – mostly because they’re on the wrong side of the border.

Overall, the Willamette Valley is lucky to have local Amtrak (Cascades) service and it's mostly on the coat tails of Washington state.

The interesting question is, do the railroads themselves have to apply for the ConnectOregon funds, or can somebody apply in the railroad's name? (This is very similar to the problem they had getting the state to consider using open source software. The state asked companies to submit bids, and the open source community didn't submit one, so the state wouldn't consider it. But if someone just submitted a bid, (even for $0,) then the state could actually evaluate the stuff, and decide if it actually met their needs.)

My understanding is that a company could apply for ConnectOregon funds, if they wanted to build a reload (truck to rail or vice-versa) facility; but if a shipper wanted the state to improve the railroad tracks, no, the railroad would have to apply.

As for the value of Portland-Eugene rail service, the ridership potential (based upon travel patterns) pales compared to Portland-Seattle. The demand just isn't there. The ridership on those trains averages out to fill up one or two busses; yet requires three or four crew members and a 3,200 horsepower diesel locomotive.

As for the value of Portland-Eugene rail service, the ridership potential (based upon travel patterns) pales compared to Portland-Seattle. The demand just isn't there. The ridership on those trains averages out to fill up one or two busses; yet requires three or four crew members and a 3,200 horsepower diesel locomotive.

Why assume we have to use the same equipment in the Willamette Valley that we use for PDX-SEA? That's just what we do now. In the future I envision a fleet of smaller, lighter rail cars throughout the valley, possibly self-propelled, possibly DMUs (although I understand there are specfic objections to the Colorado Railcar DMUs). These could have lower operating costs in fuel and labor, allowing right-sized vehicles to travel more frequently.

I however wouldn't assume that because there are currently 2 trains daily, leaving EUG at 5:45 and 9 in the morning and arriving at 8:50 and 11:45 at night, that there simply is no demand for service. Maybe Eugeniuses don't like those times so much (I didn't as a UO student).

In the meantime though a well-connected network of motorcoaches would be an improvement over the patchwork of systems that exists today. This is a governance issue. There is no transportation authority for the entire Willamette Valley other than the state. Such an authority, with its own revenue, could make improvements to rails in the valley, improving freight and passenger service.

Perhaps if we connected the other major public university - OSU - not to mention the 60,000 residents of Corvallis - it might help boost rail ridership a bit, too. Lots of college students don't have cars, and providing alternative transportation to 50,000+ college students in Oregon might help boost ridership overall.

Not to mention there already is a rail line that runs right through downtown Corvallis and (almost?) connects Eugene to Albany...

Actually OSU not only has access to the CTS - Corvallis Transit System (which is free to OSU students) but also the Linn-Benton Loop, which connects Corvallis, LBCC, Albany, and the Amtrak station in Albany.

http://www.ci.albany.or.us/ecodev/ats/lb_loop.php

http://www.ci.corvallis.or.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1786&Itemid=2059

^^^ There's that argument over transfers again...

Yea, and for the average person, it would save far more time to wait for someone to drive down to Portland and pick you up than to wait for a bus, then wait while waiting for your train in Albany. I suspect noone does that now, seeing as very few people board the train in Albany.

Why does a smaller town like Albany even have rail access in the first place?

Albany has 0 attractions, and Corvallis has a huge student population who would be likely to ride it - particularly during Beavers games, which, besides population, are two things that Albany completely lacks.

Q. Why does a smaller town like Albany even have rail access in the first place?

A. To move freight.

If there is such a market for Oregon intercity travel other than by car why hasn't a private bus company provided a level of service/price in order to serve that demand and make a ton of money? Or does providing that service require the construction of a hundred-million dollar rail line?

Have you read the most recent I-5 rail report from ODOT Rail which categorically states that commuter rail is a complete waste of money at this time and in the foreseeable future?

Well we might as well argue the virtues of Highway 99W versus Highway 99E, an argument that was virtually settled in the 1960s when I-5 was completed, more closely following the route of 99E (from Woodburn south to Eugene).

Albany has a population of 46,610, making it Oregon's 10th largest city. That puts it larger than Tigard (by less than 300 residents), Tualatin (by nearly 20,000 residents) or Wilsonville (by nearly 30,000 residents) - so if Albany is unworthy of passenger rail service, then should Washington County's Commuter Rail system become the Beaverton-Tigard Commuter Rail System?

Further, there is a movement to bring Amtrak service east of Portland along the I-84 corridor, where the Pioneer ran until 1997. No town east of Portland comes close to Albany's population; the largest town on the route (within Oregon's boundaries) is Pendleton at 17,310 population. (Boise is the next town of any substantial population.)

Finally, the biggest answer is that the Oregon & California Railroad built their line through Albany. They eventually purchased what would become the "Westside Line" through Corvallis, with the intent of building an interurban line to compete with James J. Hill's Oregon Electric Railroad (which also ran through Salem and Albany to reach Eugene). Needless to say by 1929 the Red Electrics stopped running, and the OE trains a few years later. The railroad south of Monroe was removed years later, and today the line south of Corvallis is endangered. The line between Gaston and McMinnville was removed some 20 years ago, and from Newberg to Sherwood is "embargoed" (not in use).

Today, Corvallis has bus service to Albany and is also a Greyhound stop (Greyhound actually cancelled Albany as a stop, but reinstated it later on.) Corvallis has greatly benefitted from having direct freeway access via Highway 34, which bypasses Albany and provides a safe, fast way to reach I-5.

Polk County has Highway 22, which dumps into downtown Salem.

McMinnville? Uh...despite being the second largest city in the western valley, has only a two lane road to Portland, and a two lane road to Salem. The shortest route is by way of a nine car river ferry. McMinnville's only "high tech" industry left town about a decade ago, when HP moved its McMinnville Division to the east coast.