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Annual ridership on Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon's (TriMet) WES commuter-rail line increased 15 percent to more than 340,000 total trips in 2010, the service’s second year of operation. TriMet marked WES' second anniversary on Feb. 2.

Weekday trips rose 14 percent last year to 1,325 and weekly trips jumped 14 percent to 6,625 compared with 2009.

WES is Oregon's first commuter-rail line, and also the nation’s first suburb-to-suburb commuter-rail service, according to TriMet. The Portland-area 14.7-mile service runs between Beaverton and Wilsonville. WES operates on active freight tracks owned by Portland & Western Railroad, which operates WES trains.
 
"While the ongoing recession and significant job loss in the region has impacted ridership, we are encouraged that WES ridership has been increasing throughout the year, with most months seeing double-digit increases," TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane said in a prepared statement.