After more than two years off the rails, Amtrak Cascades passenger train service between Vancouver and Seattle, Washington, is set to return in September.
The popular international service is expected to resume two months early.
Officials at the US State Railroad Company had said in May trains will not return to the route until December at the earliest.
No passenger trains have crossed the BC-Washington border since the first major outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, although land and air travel allowed between the two jurisdictions, with few restrictions.
Amtrak blamed staff shortages for the long delay, saying it did not have enough conductors, mechanics and service personnel on board to operate the trains.
SERVICE TO CANADA RESUMES IN SEPTEMBER:
WSDOT & ODOT is pleased to share that train service to all cities north of Seattle, including Vancouver, BC, is now resuming in September 2022. Earlier plans called for a return to Canada in December, but Amtrak was able to advance the schedule . pic.twitter.com/nKmvCfJZoj
—@Amtrak_Cascades
Janet Matkin of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) said the railroad was able to be creative with personnel and equipment that allowed service to resume.
“WSDOT … is really excited that we can bring service back in September,” she said in an interview. “Initially Amtrak told us it wouldn’t be until December 2022, which we were very unhappy about.”
Before the pandemic, approximately 159,000 people traveled by train between Seattle and Vancouver each year. And almost double that number of passengers got on or off at the stops between the two cities.
The railroad’s Cascades route has been running on a limited schedule between Seattle and Portland for several months.
When it expands service north to Canada again this fall, Matkin said Amtrak plans to run one round trip each day. If demand increases, there will eventually be two round trips on the schedule.
Both WSDOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation are responsible for Cascades route service, with Washington overseeing service that runs to B.C.
Matkin said ridership on the US portions of the Cascades route has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but is increasing “a lot.”
In the absence of a train to Vancouver, Amtrak offered bus service between Vancouver and Seattle. Matkin said the service has seen significant growth, carrying more than 350 passengers a day.
“The demand is definitely there,” she said. “Not just from Vancouver, but the stations in between, from Bellingham to Everett.”
Washington state lawmakers this year approved $150 million to study and plan for a high-speed rail between British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, with a view to potentially replacing Amtrak someday. But if that happens, it will cost at least $42 billion and decades to build.
The British Columbia government backed the idea, with Premier John Horgan saying in 2019 that a high-speed, one-hour commute between Seattle and Vancouver would “strengthen the connection” between Washington state and British Columbia and “create a ‘countless number of opportunities'” on both sides of the border .
Add Comment