Washington state rail advocacy organization All Aboard Washington (I'm a member, but don't speak for the group) held its monthly meeting in Ellensburg last weekend. We had lunch at a local restaurant, then toured the restored Ellensburg NP Depot.
Ellensburg has not seen passenger rail service since 1979 (I believe; some sources say 1981), when the North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued, and the Empire Builder was rerouted from the ex-NP line over Stampede Pass through Auburn to the ex-GN route over Stevens Pass through Everett.
Ellensburg is home of Central Washington University, and has significant ridership potential. The state of Washington has had daylight service between Seattle and Spokane in its rail plan for some time, but there has been no funding.
The All Aboard Washington meeting was well-attended, and it appears that interest in train service is high. The long-dormant county rail district has been revived, and The Ellensburg Daily Record covered the depot renovation (gallery) and the meeting, and has now editorialized:
Together with the interest in adding a Cascades stop in Auburn (PDF) and restoring the Blaine depot, Washington state is showing signs of significant official and grassroots support for better train service.
Ellensburg has not seen passenger rail service since 1979 (I believe; some sources say 1981), when the North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued, and the Empire Builder was rerouted from the ex-NP line over Stampede Pass through Auburn to the ex-GN route over Stevens Pass through Everett.
Ellensburg is home of Central Washington University, and has significant ridership potential. The state of Washington has had daylight service between Seattle and Spokane in its rail plan for some time, but there has been no funding.
The All Aboard Washington meeting was well-attended, and it appears that interest in train service is high. The long-dormant county rail district has been revived, and The Ellensburg Daily Record covered the depot renovation (gallery) and the meeting, and has now editorialized:
Talk to any local historian and he or she will tell you that rail — both passenger and freight — played a critical role in the development of Kittitas County. There is far less certainty about the role passenger rail could play in the county’s future.
Regular passenger rail service to Kittitas County stopped in 1981. As testimony to the romance and allure of passenger rail, there have always been people advocating for the return of passenger rail.
That effort remains alive today and was demonstrated this past weekend when the All Aboard Washington association held its monthly meeting at the historic Ellensburg depot. The All Aboard Washington association is a nonprofit, consumer oriented, rail advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the improvement of passenger and freight rail transportation in the state of Washington. The group was in Ellensburg to help celebrate the progress being made in the depot restoration project.
It would take a statewide effort to restore passenger rail service to the county (and this region), but that effort should be bolstered by a strong base of local support. Last week the Daily Record posted a question on its Facebook page asking readers if they would use passenger rail service if it were available. As of Monday, 197 commenters had responded, all in the affirmative.
Facebook is not a scientific polling system, but 197 responses is about triple the traffic generated by a high-volume response question on the Daily Record page.
The bottom line is there are many people out there who have thought about passenger rail and would welcome its return.
Sometimes a question can tap into a nerve — people just waiting for someone to ask — and the rail question is a classic example.
Kittitas County does not control whether passenger rail returns. The decision would rest with the railroad and state officials, and would be driven by regional needs. Nothing looks eminent but there are factors that may be favorable to the idea being considered more seriously.
The steady rise in fuel prices creates a market of people looking for alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles. Gas at $3.50 to $4 a gallon may not detour the occasional trip to the West Side, but it is a concern for commuters — daily or weekly.
It is still hard to envision the day that passenger rail returns, but one certainty is there is no chance unless people, locally and statewide, continue to advocate for its return.
It is wrong to write rail off as a remnant of our history. In Kittitas County, the passion of rail supporters led to the restoration of the South Cle Elum depot, the continued progress on the Ellensburg depot and can now be seen in Kittitas, where residents are taking up the cause of restoring that city’s depot.
The depots elicit emotion because of their connection to passenger rail. While the South Cle Elum depot is now adjacent to the John Wayne Trail, the Ellensburg depot is next to in-service tracks. A restored depot could resume its original intended use. That just adds another level of excitement and energy to the project.
Coincidentally, this Thursday a privately funded passenger train is coming through town.
Passenger rail continues to stir passion and interest. As long as that is the case, it is impossible to rule out the possibility of its return.
Together with the interest in adding a Cascades stop in Auburn (PDF) and restoring the Blaine depot, Washington state is showing signs of significant official and grassroots support for better train service.
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