Bringing rail service back to Ritzville

A passenger train hasn't stopped regularly in Ritzville for nearly 50 years, but a committed group of citizens is looking to change that fact after recent movement at both the state and local level.

The newly found interest in bringing back passenger rail service to Ritzville began last year, when $250,000 was set aside in the state's $10 billion 2019-21 transportation budget to conduct a study of the feasibility of an east-west intercity passenger rail system. The proposed system would span from Seattle to Spokane and also include stops in Auburn, Cle Elum, Ellensburg, Yakima, Pasco and Ritzville along the way.

The study has been tasked to examine the following elements: Projections of potential ridership; development of a Stampede Pass corridor alignment to maximize ridership, revenue and rationale, considering service to population centers; assessment of current infrastructure conditions, including station stop locations; and identification of equipment needs and operator options.

The transportation budget states that a report of the study's findings and recommendations is due to the Washington state House and Senate transportation committees by June 30 of this year.

In light of that news, Mayor Gary Cook announced during last year's July 2 Ritzville City Council meeting the creation of an Amtrak Committee. He made five appointments to make up the committee: himself, councilmember Debbie Chapman, Lind-Ritzville High School teacher Thomas Pulliam, Adams County Prosecutor Randy Flyckt and train enthusiast Charles Jingling, who estimates he has logged nearly a million miles on the Amtrak system throughout his life.

It was Jingling who first alerted Cook about the state's feasibility study and got the city's interest. At the July 2 council meeting, Jingling commented that things were in the very early stages, and if an east-west passenger system was to actually come to fruition, the city would need to tackle several issues to be a viable stop along the rail system.

While the Amtrak Committee has yet to hold its first meeting since it was announced by Cook, the city has taken some action in the previous months that show it has interest in being a part of the proposed east-west system.

In September, the city partnered up with Washington State University as part of the university's Rural Communities Design Initiative. The RCDI is a joint effort between several WSU departments and rural community partners, and seeks to find new ways to revitalize communities, attract investors and promote economic prosperity in those communities.

Six RCDI members from WSU (two professors and four students) visited Ritzville on Sept. 25 for the first phase of the project, which was to hold an invitation-only brainstorming meeting downtown with community members and business owners. The meeting was initially focused on just the revitalization of Pioneer Plaza, but ended up centering around the revitalization of all of downtown Ritzville, which included discussing ways that the city can collaborate with Amtrak.

The city expects to hear back from the RCDI members this month or next month with possible renditions, plans and options for the next phase of the project, which will reveal more information about the scope and size of the project.

While there's been little movement from the city or state in the past several months, one Ritzville resident is making sure that focus on the issue doesn't wane in the minds of local officials.

On Jan. 2, Jingling hosted Mayor Cook and The Journal at the Railroad Depot Museum for a presentation about why bringing passenger rail service to Ritzville would be in the city's interests, as well as envisioning what a passenger train stopping in town would look like.

With the east-west passenger service currently being studied at the state level, someone boarding the train at Ritzville would be able to catch a ride to Spokane, Tri-Cities, Ellensburg or Seattle without the inconvenience of driving and dealing with traffic. Jingling estimates that a trip from Ritzville to the Spokane station would take about 70 minutes, not much longer than if the trip was being made via vehicle.

Although passengers probably wouldn't be able to check baggage, Jingling said, there would be room for carry-on luggage. There would also likely be snacks, beverages and food items for sale that passengers could purchase, but it all depends on which Amtrak model is being used.

Cook asked about the possible conflict between freight trains and passenger trains. Jingling said that Amtrak trains are supposed to take priority, but it's not always that way in practice. Passengers should be wary of that if they're making plans or connecting on a different train, but it's much the same way for airline passengers.

There was also a discussion about whether the Railroad Depot Museum could adequately serve as the station for the city. Jingling argued that it could. The building has undergone several renovations in recent years, including the refinishing of the floors in 2018 and a new furnace being installed a few years ago.

Some of the items in the west end of the depot museum would possibly need to be moved to another location--with the Burroughs Home being one suggestion--or put in storage. These decisions would need to be made by the Ritzville Museum Board. One museum board member said that the board has been trying to work with a local group to vacate the items to a "better place," which would then allow the room to be used if a train stop in Ritzville became a reality.

Speaking on the idea of the depot possibly being transformed into a working station, Cook said that visitors from places such as LaCrosse, Odessa, Sprague coming to Ritzville to board the train "have the rest of [the depot], culturally, to spend time and do."

Jingling added that other local organizations could also have some kind of presence in the station, such as the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce to promote local tourism. The goal and hope would be to make the station an invested piece of the community.

One idea that Jingling has had to try and gin up interest in the area is to invite city officials, committee members, Chamber members and other community members to take a bus ride to the Tri-Cities. If Amtrak agrees to it, the group could board an Amtrak train in Pasco and be dropped off in Ritzville in a trip that would take about 75 minutes.

"It would get people enthusiastic," Jingling said.

The process, Jingling reminded, is still in the very early phases. There's a lot of steps in order to make the dream of bringing passenger rail service back to Ritzville a reality, which would include negotiations with BNSF, the largest freight railroad network in North America. Cook said that negotiations with the railway company could include the issues of using BNSF tracks as well as possibly negotiating to make Ritzville a quiet zone in a single, larger deal.

In terms of the newly formed Amtrak Committee, Cook said that one of his hopes is for the committee to re-establish relationships with both BNSF and Amtrak. In 2016, Cook's first year as mayor, he attended a meeting with a BNSF representative who was "very interested" in working with Ritzville. Cook said he tried to reach out to the person several times following the meeting, but never heard back.

For now, it's a waiting game for the most part. The feasibility study funded by the state is due to be released this summer, which could then put the ball in motion or slam the door shut again.

For Jingling, at the end of the day, he'd just love to be able to catch a train in Ritzville.

"We're all getting older, and at some point we're not going to be driving anymore. We're going to be having appointments in Spokane, and hey, here's a golden opportunity," said Jingling. "And one thing I've found out about, is that everyone on a train? They're not in a hurry. You've flown places, and everybody's in a hurry. 'Hurry up and get there, hurry up and get there.' On the train, it's 'we're here, so let's enjoy the ride.'"