Washington resident Mary Paterson loves taking the Amtrak to visit her family, but she wishes it ran more on time.
“This will be something that hopefully I get to experience in my lifetime, and certainly my children and grandchildren,” said Paterson, who’s been an active member of Solutionary Rail, a passenger rail advocacy group.
Passage of House Bill 1837 in both chambers of the Legislature this session means that Paterson’s wish might finally come true. HB 1837 sets targets to boost Amtrak Cascades frequencies, reliability, and speed. Meanwhile, Amtrak’s soon-to-be upgraded SoDo rail yard built will host new and improved Amtrak Airo trains to one day accommodate that vision.
In 2024, only 48% of Amtrak Cascades trains arrived within the defined on-time performance window of 10 minutes. The bill lays out a long-range vision to bring that number up to 88% – and keep it there while expanding service.
HB 1837 sets a service target of at least 14 round trips per day between Seattle and Portland and a minimum of five round trips per day between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. This would more than double service, as Cascades schedule currently tabs six daily round trips to Portland and two daily round trips between Seattle and Vancouver.
The bill does not allocate funding to guarantee these upgrades are achievable. Instead, it establishes planning and coordination priorities for the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) as it manages existing intercity passenger rail investments.
According to the bill, WSDOT must integrate performance targets like speed, reliability, and emissions into all ongoing and future planning for the Amtrak Cascades line, which runs from Vancouver, British Columbia to Eugene Oregon via Western Washington’s I-5 corridor.
While in the Senate, the bill was amended to remove speed benchmarks originally set on the bill. Instead the bill calls for an independent study by the Joint Transportation Committee to review WSDOT’s service development plan to guide that benchmark setting.
Laws like these are nothing new.
In 1993, the state Legislature passed legislation setting high-speed rail goals, such as 2.5-hour trips between Seattle and Portland by the year 2000 and 150 miles-per-hour service (241 kilometers per hour) across the state by 2030.
However, the current top speed on Amtrak Cascades is 79 mph, trip times between Seattle and Portland continue to exceed three hours, and ultra-high-speed rail dreams remain in the planning phase. The 1993 targets ended up being aspirational rather than galvanizing the state to action.
For advocates like Paterson, the passage of HB 1837 signals that long-awaited upgrades may finally be on track.
Rep. Julia Reed (D-36th, Seattle), sponsor of the bill, said the measure provides clear guidance to WSDOT while enabling the state to stay competitive for federal funding.
“The bill basically sets target goals for the Cascades service development plan, which is a federally required plan that WSDOT puts together that lays out how they plan to develop the service for the Cascades in the coming years.”
Republican obstruction could imperil plans
The Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development Program and other fund matching programs would be the likely source of grants to states to make improvements on their rail system. However, the Trump Administration has been much more hesitant to make transit investments, particularly in Democratic-run states.
In fact, Amtrak has already laid off roughly 20% of its top-level managers and executives in a cost-cutting move in the early days of the second Trump Administration. While the feds hope to save about $100 million in annual costs with the layoffs, it could hinder Amtrak’s expansion plans.
Local Republicans share Trump’s hesitancy to invest in transit upgrades. Sen. Curtis King (R-14th, Yakima), who voted against the bill, said he’s skeptical of the practicality and affordability of the bill, saying that it will only result in more funding needs.
“We don’t know anything about it, and to wait 10 years to find out, I have a real concern with that,” King said.
However, for Reed and supporters of the bill, this passage is an essential part of taking steps into improving the train system.
“I’m not under any illusion that we’ll just snap our fingers and this service will automatically appear,” Reed said. “It’s going to be expensive. It’s going to require state investment, but we can’t even start making those investment decisions until we hear from WSDOT what it would take to meet those goals.”
The bill also mandates a new annual reporting requirement. By December 1 of each year, WSDOT must submit a detailed update to the Legislature on implementation progress, project performance, and any barriers encountered, such as right-of-way constraints or scheduling conflicts with freight railroads.
For Bill Moyer, executive director of Solutionary Rail, that level of accountability is key.
“We finally have a vision bill,” Moyer said. “This is not just about trains, it’s about climate, it’s about housing, it’s about mobility justice. And it’s about connecting communities throughout the corridor, not just Seattle and Portland.”
Moyer’s group helped lead the charge in advocating for HB 1837, pushing lawmakers to recognize the value of improving existing rail service as a climate-friendly and socially equitable mode of travel.
Overcoming freight obstacles
One of the issues for intercity passenger rail is that Amtrak doesn’t own most of the tracks it runs on. In Washington, that means coordination with freight rail giants like BNSF Railway. Federal law gives freight operators incredible leverage over the tracks in shares with Amtrak and other transit agencies. That means passenger trains are frequently stuck behind freight trains, throwing off Amtrak’s schedules and meaning unexpected delays for riders.
Back in 2003, BNSF agreed to work with Amtrak and WSDOT to improve the system by 2023 with a master agreement. In 2006, WSDOT released a long-range plan that outlines their plans of improving Amtrak Cascade. Yet hitting the 2003 targets has remained elusive without greater investment and coordination.
“We feel that WSDOT has not tried hard enough to work with BNSF to achieve the goals of the long-range plan,” Paterson said.
However, Paterson feels confident that growing support for a more robust interstate transit system will allow WSDOT and Amtrak to achieve the goals laid out on the bill.
HB 1837 doesn’t solve the entire freight rail issue, but it does task WSDOT with improving scheduling coordination with freight rail to reduce passenger delays.
Complement or competition for high-speed rail plans?
For supporters of the bill, this isn’t just a technical planning measure, it’s about restoring a public good.
Sen. Marko Liias (D-21st, Edmonds), chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said during final passage that HB 1837 lays the groundwork for restoring the Amtrak Cascades to its former glory.
Some critics argue that Washington should be focusing instead on a more ambitious ultra-high-speed rail project linking Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, B.C. That proposal, backed in part by Microsoft and Amazon, would build entirely new rail infrastructure aspiring to hit top speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour.
Meanwhile, other rail advocates argue more incremental Cascades improvements are more quickly attainable, economical, and practical and that a brand new high-speed rail line could turn into a boondoggle.
But Reed says HB 1837 doesn’t compete with the ultra-high-speed vision, but rather complements it.
“I think it’s a false choice to say we’re either going to have intercity rail or high-speed rail,” Reed said. “I think the truth is that intercity rail is already here and needs to be improved and high-speed rail is something we have to build in the future.”
HB 1837 is now awaiting a signature by the governor. It will become law by default on May 20, unless it is vetoed.
SoDo rail yard overhaul lays groundwork for service upgrades
In a hard-hat tour earlier this month, Amtrak unveiled progress on its SoDo rail yard expansion, which was funded by Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Amtrak President Roger Harris led the tour and stressed the importance of the Seattle hub.
“The Pacific Northwest is a key priority for Amtrak, with the popular Amtrak Cascades line between Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, B.C. and points in between, as well as our Long Distance Coast Starlight and Empire Builder trains connecting the region,” Harris said in a statement. “This critical investment will help us meet growing customer demand for a new era of rail with brand new trains that will upgrade safety, reliability, and comfort.”
The nearly $300 million project will create maintenance bays to service the Amtrak Airo train sets and provide capacity for future service expansions, which will be needed to hit frequency goals. Amtrak expects to open the new facility in 2027. Airo trains are set to begin entering service on the Cascades in 2026.
Those Airo trains will be faster, bigger, and more accessible – plus they will also address a service pinch created by the deterioration of aging Horizon train cars across Amtrak’s fleet, which has hit the Cascades particularly hard. This spring, Amtrak scrambled to replace Cascade’s 26 shelved Horizon train cars with alternate Amfleet I train cars. However, those replacement cars have less passenger capacity than Horizon had offered. The new Airo sets will be a reprieve, especially at peak demand times when train capacity will be stretched.
Beyond serving the Cascades line, the SoDo facility will also maintain other Amtrak and Sounder services that go through King Street Station, which is just north of the facility.
Juan Jocom is a Filipino multimedia journalist based in Seattle. A University of Washington graduate, his work has appeared on Seattle Met, South Seattle Emerald, Real Change, The Ticket of Seattle Times, International Examiner, The UW Daily, The Nudge.