Lawmakers should intervene in rail dispute

TNT Editorial Board — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:45:08 +0000

This editorial will appear in Friday’s print edition.

A decision by the Federal Railroad Administration on the controversial Point Defiance Bypass is great for Amtrak. But it could be an economic blow to the future of several South Sound communities and add to the transportation nightmare thousands of commuters already face every day.

And it’s all to shave a few minutes off of Amtrak trains’ time between Seattle and Portland, and run a few more trains on that route. That’s an unacceptable tradeoff.

On Monday, the FRA gave the go-ahead to the $89 million bypass project that would reroute Amtrak …

Light-rail growing pains

Kim Bradford — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:32:27 +0000

No matter where Sound Transit points its trains, controversy seems to follow. I come to those discussions with the perspective of someone who was raised in Portland, where bellyaching about the mess caused by the latest MAX light rail project is a favorite pastime.

I grew up three blocks from the new North Portland line on Interstate Boulevard, which had become a sad strip of seedy motels and boarded-up stores by the time I moved away in the early 1990s. My mom still lives there and complained bitterly when she found out light rail was coming. But I think …

Inside Opinion » Portland

Lawmakers should intervene in rail dispute

Light-rail growing pains