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Oregon State Rail Plans and Studies

Rail Planning & Studies

The Oregon State Rail Plan establishes a Vision Statement that is forward-looking to shape the future of the freight and passenger rail system in Oregon and ensure the beneficial outcomes of rail are realized. Planning for passenger rail operations in Oregon is part of the larger Oregon State Rail Plan and Oregon State Rail Plan Implementation Plan. The Oregon State Rail Plan is updated every four years as required by the Federal Railroad Administration and explores issues affecting the state's rail freight and passenger system. It assesses both public and private transportation at the state, regional and local level.  
The plan to improve and grow passenger rail in Oregon is located in the FRA-required documents provided below. Specifically, the Service Development Plan and Service Development Implementation Plan address key corridor improvements that would allow for improved performance and higher ridership on the service. 
 The 2015 Oregon Transportation Options Plan is one of several statewide transportation mode and topic plans that further refine and implement the Oregon Transportation Plan's, or OTP,  goals, policies, strategies, and key initiatives. 
ODOT has begun work to develop a new Oregon Public Transportation Plan, or OPTP . The OPTP is one of several statewide transportation mode and topic plans that refine, apply, and implement the OTP.



Through the Oregon Transportation Plan  (OTP), the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) established a policy foundation to guide statewide transportation system development and investment. The OTP is augmented by mode and topic plans, including the Oregon State Rail Plan (OSRP). The OSRP explores the issues affecting the state's rail freight and passenger system and describes existing conditions and forecasts, and provides a comprehensive inventory of rail infrastructure needs. 

Unlike highway or transit systems, the rail network is predominantly owned by private industry, requiring a unique public- and private-sector collaboration to proactively plan and explore the best mix of transportation investments to ensure a safe, efficient, and reliable rail network for the benefit of Oregon’s residents and businesses.

Given the comprehensive list of passenger and freight rail needs, limited state funding, and growing political, business and public interest in rail, a standardized approach is needed to catalog and update projects and to streamline and methodize their tracking and prioritization.

The list of passenger and freight needs was used to develop the Rail Needs Inventory

(RNI), a project database and an overarching decision framework to guide investment and programming decisions. The RNI is a key component and action item described in the Oregon State Rail Plan - Implementation Plan (OSRP-IP).

The user-friendly online map of the current RNI projects is located here.​

​​The Oregon State Rail Plan explores issues affecting the state's rail freight and passenger system. It assesses both public and private transportation at the state, regional and local level. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) requires state rail plans to be updated every four years.​ODOT is currently updating the 2024 Oregon State Rail Plan   Information on the work being done to update the Oregon State Rail Plan can be found here. The State Rail Plan looks at ways to improve both freight and passenger rail services, including infrastructure improvements.​​


​​​ODOT has studied ways to improve the frequency, convenience, speed and reliability of intercity passenger rail service between the Portland urban area and the Eugene-Springfield urban area. Over several years, ODOT worked with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), through a grant under its High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program, to analyze and select a route, station locations and service characteristics for these improvements. After extensive analysis and public outreach, FRA selected Alternative 1 for the Oregon Passenger Rail alignment. This alignment follows the existing Amtrak Cascades passenger rail route and will accommodate increased passenger rail services by improving track, signal and communication infrastructure.

 FRA's Tier 1 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) were signed on April 14, 2021. The FEIS describes the potential social, economic, and environmental impacts of the alternatives studied in the FEIS and describes proposed mitigation plans. The ROD marks the end of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental review process. 

The Amtrak Cascades Corridor was admitted into the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor Identification and Development Program (CID) in 2023. CID is a comprehensive intercity passenger rail planning and development program authorized under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).  Through a three-step process its purpose is to help guide intercity passenger rail development nationwide and create a pipeline of intercity passenger rail projects ready for implementation. Step 1 is preparing a scope, schedule and cost estimate for producing a Service Development Plan, and Step 2 is the actual creation of the plan.  Oregon's SDP FRA approved in 2021 meets CID program criteria for Step 1 and Step 2, and in early 2026 Oregon completed a Service Development Plan Implementation Plan for entry into Step 3, which will advance Cascades Corridor expansion projects into an expedited pipeline for federal funding. ​


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ODOT has studied ways to improve the frequency, convenience, speed and reliability of intercity passenger rail service between the Portland urban area and the Eugene-Springfield urban area. Over several years, ODOT worked with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), through a grant under its High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program, to analyze and select a route, station locations and service characteristics for these improvements. After extensive analysis and public outreach, FRA selected Alternative 1 for the Oregon Passenger Rail alignment. This alignment follows the existing Amtrak Cascades passenger rail route and will accommodate increased passenger rail services by improving track, signal and communication infrastructure.

 FRA's Tier 1 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision (ROD) were signed on April 14, 2021. The FEIS describes the potential social, economic, and environmental impacts of the alternatives studied in the FEIS and describes proposed mitigation plans. The ROD marks the end of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental review process. 

 What's Next for Oregon Passenger Rail?

Moving forward, Oregon is now eligible to compete for significant infrastructure grants to improve passenger rail service between Eugene and Portland. Because the Selected Alternative follows the existing Union Pacific (UPRR) rail line between Eugene and Portland and would be constructed mostly within existing rail right-of-way, infrastructure investments may be separated into relatively small, lower-cost elements so that ODOT could implement the Selected Alternative incrementally as funding becomes available. Additional environmental review and permitting may be required for these individual projects.  

Final Environment Impact Statement and Record of Decision

Final Oregon Passenger Rail Service Development Plan​