Portland, Oregon: TriMet Westside Express Service

With streetcar support lost in Lake Oswego, Portland Mayor Sam Adams says project is 'suspended' | OregonLive.com
This followed
Surprise shift on Lake Oswego council halts Portland streetcar project | OregonLive.com

<BUMP> for realigning.

The Portland Streetcar's Central Loop extension is now open. It runs from the northern part of the previously-built line across the Broadway Bridge to the east bank of the Willamette River, and then south past some arenas and convention centers to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

Portland Streetcar mechanical error causes short delay on opening day of eastside loop | OregonLive.com - from the description, apparently the pantograph.
Portland's new streetcar loop debuts | KING5.com Seattle - has some video.

Connecting OMSI and the Oregon Health and Science University will complete the loop, but that depends on Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project: Construction - Multi-Use Transit Bridge. Both streetcars and light-rail trains will use this bridge when it opens in 2015.

Construction of the Milwaukie extension continues. From Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project: Construction - BridgeCams, it is evident that its Willamette River bridge is largely done. West of that bridge, the construction is mostly done, while it continues east of that bridge. However, it seems to be in late stages there, like installation of the track and overhead cables.

The Columbia River Crossing project has been shut down, and that means that it's unlikely that Portland's light-rail system will be extended anytime soon across that river to Vancouver, WA. The main part of that crossing would have been for I-5, however.

Checking on Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project: Construction, I find "The west segment of the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project is now substantially complete." Its bridge also looks complete, at least from what I can see in the site's two bridgecam views. However, construction continues east of the bridge.

Last rails laid for Portland-Milwaukie LRT | Railway Age -- Nov 18.

Checking on the construction updates, about the eastern-Portland and Milwaukie parts, "This segment is substantially complete, with only intermittent, short-term construction activities continuing through the summer." Construction on the bridge, however, will continue through August.

They are still shooting for an opening date of Sept. 12 of this year.

Is there any word on when TriMet might receive their Nippon Sharyo DMUs?

No idea

Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project: Home no longer links to any construction updates, though it does continue to link to Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project: Construction - BridgeCams. It now links to Catch the Orange, a site about the impending opening of the Orange Line. That site in turn links to Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project | Flickr - Photo Sharing!.

They seem on track for opening on September 12, a little more than 2 months away.

In the pictures, one can find where the light-rail and streetcar lines merge for the Tilikum Bridge, the bridge over the Willamette River. It has two vehicle lanes for buses, each one having a track in it for the urban-rail vehicles. On each side is pedestrian and bike lanes.

Unfortunately, I failed to catch the opening of the Orange Line on September 12, but it is now open. Tri-Met's rail system has these lines:

• Light rail: MAX
  • Blue: Hillsboro - EW downtown loop - Gresham
  • Red: Beaverton - EW downtown loop - Portland Airport (PDX)
  • Yellow: NS downtown loop - N Portland Expo Center
  • Green: NS downtown loop - Clackamas
  • Orange: NS downtown loop - Milwaukie
• Streetcar
  • Green: South Waterfront - NW Portland
  • Red: Clockwise loop over WIllamette River
  • Blue: Counterclockwise loop over Willamette River
• Commuter rail
  • Westside Express (WES): Beaverton - Wilsonville

It seems to me that they may eventually turn the Orange Line into an extension of either the Yellow Line or the Green Line.

Possible extensions:

• Downtown Portland - Tualatin (> 2026)
• N Portland - Vancouver WA (canceled from cancellation of I-5 Columbia River Crossing)
• Orange Line (Milwaukie) or Green Line (Clackamas) - Oregon City
• Blue Line: Hillsboro - Forest Grove

Source: MAX Light Rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

dowlingm wrote:Is there any word on when TriMet might receive their Nippon Sharyo DMUs?

According to this presentation, sometime in 2016 (pg.14):
http://trimet.org/pdfs/meetings/board/2 ... 4-9-14.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

kaitoku wrote:According to this presentation, sometime in 2016

Thanks!