Amtrak

One bill to make it out of the Washington State Legislature this session was House Bill 1837, which sets targets to boost Amtrak Cascades frequencies, reliability, and speed. Meanwhile, Amtrak’s soon-to-be upgraded SoDo rail yard will host new and improved Amtrak Airo trains to one day accommodate that vision.

Amtrak has sourced temporary rail cars to restore curtailed Cascades train service, following last week’s removal of 26 Horizon rail cars needing repair for corrosion issues. An additional run to Vancouver, BC will start April 1.

Citing corrosion, Amtrak suddenly recalled 70 Horizon rail cars for maintenance on March 25, heavily impacting several routes, including Amtrak Cascades between Eugene, Oregon and Vancouver, BC. Down to one operable trainset, Amtrak Cascades will be forced to rely on replacement bus service.

If the Washington legislature is serious about setting tangible goals for Amtrak Cascades this year, now is the time to also restart the conversation on advancing east-west passenger rail service and connecting Spokane, the Tri-Cities, Yakima, Ellensburg, Auburn, and Seattle. All Aboard Washington is pushing for an amended version of HB 1837 setting eastward expansion goals.

The Washington House of Representatives has passed legislation setting goals that could more than double service and significantly shrink travel times on Amtrak Cascades. The Washington State Senate still needs to sign off on the legislation.

Sound Transit continues to restore Sounder rail cars to service with some improvements for riders, but maintenance work by contractor Amtrak could take a while longer. That means reduce Sounder service could linger.

State lawmakers are signaling intent to improve Amtrak Cascades service with legislation setting a goal of cutting the trip time from Seattle to Portland to 2.5 hours and boosting service to 14 daily trips with 88% on-time performance by 2035. If lawmakers pass the bill, the goal for trip time service north to Vancouver would be 2.75 hours.

High-speed rail as in investment in Cascadia remains a popular policy idea, but Reece Martin of RMTransit makes the case for prioritizing higher-speed rail upgrades to Amtrak Cascades.