02:19 PM PST on Sunday, January 4, 2004

Associated Press

ALBANY, Ore. -- Amtrak trains that ferry passengers between Portland and Eugene could again be on the chopping block in 2004, if voters reject a tax package and lawmakers start looking for programs to cut.

The state pays Amtrak to make four train runs a day between Eugene and Portland, two in each direction, plus a connecting bus service. The subsidy amounts to about $9 million for this two-year budget period.

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Officials are concerned about the financial picture, according to Claudia Howells, administrator of the Rail Division in the Oregon Department of Transportation.

"Our operating funds continue to be at risk," she said last week. "They're solid at the moment, but if the Legislature hunts for money we're on the cut list again."

Lawmakers may have to go into a special budget-cutting session after the referendum on a tax package approved by the 2003 session. The vote-by-mail election will end Feb. 3.

Part of the train subsidy comes from the state's general fund. The rest is backfilled from proceeds from custom license plates, Howells said.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Department of Transportation plans to award contracts to the Union Pacific early in 2004 for about $15 million in improvements on the Union Pacific main line used by Amtrak trains.

Three main projects are planned -- near Millersburg, in Portland and in the Eugene yard.

Howells said the transportation department will pay for the projects with federal funds that have been reallocated within its budget. The change will slightly delay one highway project, she said, a Highway 99 bypass near Dundee and Newberg.

Ridership on the Cascades trains was up this past fall, Howells said. She called the trend "incredibly good" but said she had not yet seen specific numbers, which will be reported by Amtrak in the next couple of weeks.

Typically, about 95,000 people ride the Cascade line between Portland and Eugene annually.