91ÊÓƵ

The Oregon Department of Transportation’s goals for high-speed rail service between Portland and Eugene will get a public airing at open houses starting next month.

Oregon must spell out its goals and complete environmental analyses before it can qualify for federal funding.

The state did receive $8 million in high-speed rail stimulus money earlier this year. That was a tiny fraction of the $590 million Washington state received.

That disparity resulted, in part, from the work Washington officials had done to get projects ready for construction. Oregon’s $8 million will go toward replacing the roof on Portland’s Union Station and to do preliminary engineering work on north Portland rail sites.

Oregon’s draft goals, available in full , are:

• Increase average passenger train speeds (from 42 to65 miles per hour)
• Increase maximum passenger train speeds (from 79to 110 miles per hour)
• Reduce passenger rail trip time between Eugene and Portland (from 2 hours and 35 minutes to 1 hour and 55 minutes – the same time as it takes to drive between these cities along the freeway)
• Increase on-time performance of passenger trains (from 68 percent to 95 percent or higher)

More information on the hearings is .