AAWA Testifies Before the Oregon Legislature in Favor of Improved Rail

Testimony on Oregon House Bill 3233

February 4, 2025

Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of HB 3233. I am Luis Moscoso, Government Affairs Director of All Aboard Washington, a passenger rail advocacy organization. We focus on Washington state, but we work closely with the Association of Rail and Transit Advocates (AORTA) in Oregon, and All Aboard Northwest, serving the Greater Northwest.

Passenger train service in our region serves travelers in multiple states. By Federal statute, train routes less than 750 miles in length must be funded by the states, so the Amtrak Cascades is funded by Oregon and Washington, and are operated cooperatively by the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation. Longer routes, including the Coast Starlight and the Empire Builder, are funded as part of Amtrak’s national network. 

The Federal Railroad Administration has recently completed a study that recommended expanding the national network by re-starting services to communities along fifteen routes not currently served, including a Denver-Salt Lake City-Boise-Portland-Seattle route, and a Chicago-St. Paul-Billings-Pasco-Vancouver (WA)-Portland route.

This expansion will make regional cooperation more important than ever. Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Washington, British Columbia and the other states and provinces of the Greater Northwest must lay the groundwork for a regional rail compact, as called for under the Interstate Rail Compacts Grant Program.

HB 3233 will be central to regional efforts to use passenger and freight rail to bring significant economic, environmental and equity benefits to citizens and communities of all sizes.

Let’s build a rail system serving the entire region.

Thank you for your consideration.