Federal High Speed Rail Grants Oregon has received a total of $19.7 million in federal funds from the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program to date.
In February 2010, the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 allocated $8 billion to jumpstart the development of improved high-speed intercity passenger rail service in the United States. The Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor received $598 million. Of that amount, Oregon was awarded $9.3 million ($8 million was announced in Feb and another $1.3 million in Dec) for three projects:
- Replace the roof on Portland's historic Union Station, built in 1896.
- Conduct preliminary engineering for two rail projects to improve mobility and reduce congestion in north Portland, one at Willbridge and the other at North Portland Jct.
On October 28, 2010, the Oregon Department of Transportation received another $8.9 million in federal grants to continue planning efforts aimed at improving passenger rail service between Eugene and Portland. The grant, from the FY 2010 appropriation, will fund three projects:
- A statewide freight and passenger rail plan.
- "Tier 1" Environmental Impact Statement, a process required for Oregon to compete for future construction funding for the high-speed rail corridor between Eugene and Portland. The "Tier 1" will include an Alternatives Analysis to determine the preferred rail route.
- Preliminary engineering to renovate Portland's historic Union Station.
On May 9, 2011, the Oregon Department of Transportation received $1.5 million of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds rejected by Florida. The grant will fund the preliminary engineering to construct overnight parking track at the downtown Eugene passenger station.