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Motor coaches take locals to Amtrak trains Daily service from Medford, Grants Pass By PETER WONG Sometime next year, travelers will have one more alternative to cars, buses and airplanes to get to and from the Rogue Valley. Daily motor coaches will link Medford and Grants Pass with Amtrak trains headed north from Eugene and south from Klamath Falls. They will not provide the full-fledged train service advocated by Jackson County Commissioner Ric Holt, a member of the Bring Back the Trains committee, which sponsored a visit by an Amtrak train to Medford and Ashland June 19. "But they are acceptable for the time being," Holt said. "For our citizens, they will offer a real choice of alternative forms of transportation." The Southern Oregon bus-rail link is part of a statewide transportation network proposed by Gov. John Kitzhaber and approved by the Legislature. Though details are not final, Oregon Department of Transportation planners envision daily service beginning in late June or early July next year, or perhaps sooner. A bus will stop in Medford, Grants Pass, Canyonville, Roseburg and Cottage Grove. The route will cover the gap between Amtrak stations in Eugene and Klamath Falls. The northbound bus will let passengers board a train in Eugene in midafternoon. The southbound bus will link up with Amtrak in Klamath Falls in the early evening. Another bus route will link Amtrak in Salem three times a week with passengers from Bend, Burns, Ontario and Boise, Idaho. A third bus will allow for an extra run between the coast and Amtrak in Albany. "It will provide a lot more transportation options for residents of the Rogue Valley," said Bob Krebs, ODOT's intercity passenger rail coordinator. Passenger service to and from the Rogue Valley declined after the opening of the Natron Cutoff in 1927, when rail traffic was rerouted across the Cascades between Klamath Falls and Eugene. The valley's passenger service stopped in 1955. Given the high cost of rail improvements required in Southern Oregon, officials say it is unlikely that Medford will get direct Amtrak service soon. "But the buses in the Willamette Valley are pretty much covering their costs, so we hope that it will be the same in a few years for the buses in Southern and Eastern Oregon," Krebs said. "As long as they connect with a train, people will ride a bus for a couple of hours to catch it. So we hope the buses will help us build up train ridership." The Legislature approved $10 million of the $14 million Kitzhaber asked for the statewide bus-rail network. But Greg Wolf, Kitzhaber's policy adviser for urban growth issues, said the state plans to save $4 million from Kitzhaber's original request by buying an older train for a second daily run between Eugene and Portland. "We are proceeding on the assumption that all the budget details will work out," said Monte Turner, an ODOT spokesman. "We want to link the motor coaches coming from Southern Oregon with the new train in Eugene." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA