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The Amtrak ''Cascades'' is a
passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...
corridor in the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
, operated by
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
in partnership with the U.S. states of
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. It is named after the Cascade mountain range that the route parallels. The corridor runs from
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
, through
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
, Washington and Portland, Oregon to Eugene, Oregon. Service to Vancouver was paused, before resuming on September 26, 2022. In the fiscal year 2017, ''Cascades'' was Amtrak's eighth-busiest route with a total annual ridership of over 810,000. In fiscal year 2018,
farebox recovery ratio The farebox recovery ratio (also called fare recovery ratio, fare recovery rate or other terms) of a passenger transportation system is the fraction of operating expenses which are met by the fares paid by passengers. It is computed by dividing ...
for the train was 63%. On-time performance in FY2021 was 58.7%. , eight trains operate along the corridor each day – one round trip between Vancouver, BC and Seattle, one round trip between Seattle and Portland, and two round trips between Seattle and Eugene. , no train traveled directly through the entire length of the corridor. For trains that do not travel directly to Vancouver or Eugene, connections are available on
Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, trans ...
services. Additionally, Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach services offer connections to other destinations in British Columbia,
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...
, Oregon, and Washington not on the rail corridor.


History

Passenger train service between Seattle and Portland–the core of what became the ''Cascades'' corridor–was operated as a joint partnership by the Northern Pacific,
Great Northern Great Northern may refer to: Transport * One of a number of railways; see Great Northern Railway (disambiguation). * Great Northern Railway (U.S.), a defunct American transcontinental railroad and major predecessor of the BNSF Railway. * Great ...
, and
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
from 1925 to 1970, with the three railroads cross-honoring tickets on their Seattle-Portland routes. When Great Northern and Northern Pacific were folded into the
Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...
in 1970, the reconfigured partnership continued to operate the Seattle-Portland service until the creation of Amtrak in 1971. Service between Vancouver, BC and Seattle was provided via the Great Northern/Burlington Northern '' International,'' and between Portland and Eugene by Southern Pacific. Amtrak took over intercity passenger rail operations from the private railroads on May 1, 1971. Initial service on the Seattle–Portland portion of the corridor consisted of three daily round trips–one long-distance train running all the way to
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, along with two corridor trains inherited from Burlington Northern. There was no corridor service south to Eugene, and no service to the Canadian border at all. The trains were unnamed until November 1971, when the two corridor trains were named the ''Mount Rainier'' and ''Puget Sound'' and the long-distance train became the ''
Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's format ...
''.Schafer, Mike, Bob Johnston and Kevin McKinney. ''All Aboard Amtrak''. Piscataway, NJ: Railpace Co., 1991 Passenger rail service to Vancouver, BC was restarted on July 17, 1972, with the inauguration of the Seattle–Vancouver '' Pacific International'', which operated with a dome car (unusual for short runs). The train was Amtrak's first international service. The next major change to service in the corridor came on June 7, 1977, when Amtrak introduced the long-distance '' Pioneer'' between Seattle, Portland and
Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, t ...
. To maintain the same level of service between Seattle and Portland, the ''Puget Sound'' was eliminated, and the schedule of the ''Mount Rainier'' was shifted. The corridor expanded south of Portland to Eugene on August 3, 1980 with the addition of the ''
Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...
'', which operated with two daily round trips, financially subsidized by the State of Oregon. The ''Pacific International'' and ''Willamette Valley'' struggled to attract riders and were discontinued in September 1981 and December 1981, respectively. This left three trains on the Seattle–Portland corridor: the regional ''Mount Rainier'' and the long-distance ''Pioneer'' and ''Coast Starlight.'' This level of service would remain unchanged for 13 years.


Expansion in the 1990s and 2000s

In 1994, Amtrak began a six-month trial run of modern ''
Talgo Talgo (officially Patentes Talgo, SAU) is a Spanish manufacturer of intercity, standard, and high-speed passenger trains. Corporate history TALGO, an abbreviation of Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol (English: ''Lightweight articulated tr ...
'' equipment over the Seattle–Portland corridor. Amtrak named this service ''Northwest Talgo'', and announced that it would institute a second, conventional train on the corridor (supplementing the ''Mount Rainier'') once the trial concluded. Regular service began on April 1, 1994. Looking toward the future, Amtrak did an exhibition trip from Vancouver through to Eugene. Amtrak replaced the ''Northwest Talgo'' with the ''Mount Adams'' on October 30. At the same time, the state of Oregon and Amtrak agreed to extend the ''Mount Rainier'' to Eugene through June 1995, with Oregon paying two-thirds of the $1.5 million subsidy. Service to Vancouver, BC returned on May 26, 1995, when the ''Mount Baker International'' began running between Vancouver and Seattle. The state of Washington leased Talgo equipment similar to the demonstrator from 1994. The ''Mount Rainier'' was renamed the ''Cascadia'' in October 1995; the new name reflected the joint Oregon–Washington operations of the train. A third Seattle–Portland corridor train began in the spring of 1998 with leased Talgo equipment, replacing the discontinued long-distance ''Pioneer''. The other Seattle–Portland/Eugene trains began using Talgo trainsets as well, while the Seattle-Vancouver train used conventional equipment. In preparation for the Vancouver route receiving Talgo equipment as well, Amtrak introduced the temporary ''Pacific Northwest'' brand for all four trains, dropping individual names, effective with the spring 1998 timetable. Amtrak announced the new ''Amtrak Cascades'' brand in the fall 1998 timetable; the new equipment began operation in December. The full ''Cascades'' brand was rolled out on January 12, 1999, following a six-week delay due to an issue with the seat designs on the Talgo trainsets. Amtrak extended a second train to Eugene in late 2000. From the mid-1990s to the May 12, 2008 Amtrak system timetable, full service dining was available on trains going north out of Seattle's
King Street Station King Street Station is a train station in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is served by Amtrak's '' Cascades'', ''Coast Starlight'', and ''Empire Builder'', as well as Sounder commuter trains run by Sound Transit. The station also anc ...
to Vancouver. The southern trains to Portland briefly had full dining services until the May 16, 1999 system timetable. In 2004, the ''Rail Plus'' program began, allowing cross-ticketing between
Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It operates the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, ...
's Sounder commuter rail and Amtrak between Seattle and Everett on some ''Cascades'' trains. The corridor has continued to grow in recent years, with another Portland–Seattle train arriving in 2006, and the long-awaited through service between Vancouver, BC and Portland, eliminating the need to transfer in Seattle, beginning on August 19, 2009 as a pilot project to determine whether a train permanently operating on the route would be feasible. With the Canadian federal government requesting Amtrak to pay for border control costs for the second daily train, the train was scheduled to be discontinued on October 31, 2010. However, Washington State and Canadian officials held discussions in an attempt to continue the service, which resulted in the Canadian government permanently waiving the fee. Two additional round trips between Seattle and Portland were added on December 18, 2017; an early morning departure from each city and a late evening return, enabling same-day business travel between the two cities. On the first day of service, a train derailed outside of DuPont, Washington, south of Tacoma. In March 2020, ''Amtrak Cascades'' service north of Seattle was suspended indefinitely after all non-essential travel across the
Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: ...
was restricted in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. Amtrak crews ran practice trips between Seattle and Vancouver, BC, in February 2022, and service between those two cities resumed on September 26, 2022.


Route


Stations


Ridership

Total ridership for 2008 was 774,421, the highest annual ridership since inception of the service in 1993. Ridership declined in 2009 to 740,154 but rose 13% in
fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
2010 to 836,499 riders, and to 847,709 riders in 2011. Ridership declined steadily between 2011 and 2015, attributed in part to competition from low-cost bus carrier
BoltBus BoltBus was an intercity bus common carrier and a division of Greyhound Lines that operated from March 2008 until July 2021 in the northeast and western United States and British Columbia, Canada. As least one ticket on every bus was randomly ...
, which opened a non-stop Seattle–Portland route in May 2012. Low gasoline prices and schedule changes due to track construction also contributed to the decline. Ridership rose again in 2016, and was expected to continue rising in 2017 and beyond, after the completion of the Point Defiance Bypass construction project. The
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
drastically reduced ridership numbers throughout the entire Amtrak network.


Rolling stock

Service on the ''Cascades'' route is currently provided using two articulated trainsets manufactured by
Talgo Talgo (officially Patentes Talgo, SAU) is a Spanish manufacturer of intercity, standard, and high-speed passenger trains. Corporate history TALGO, an abbreviation of Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol (English: ''Lightweight articulated tr ...
, a Spanish company. These cars are designed to passively
tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...
into curves, allowing the train to pass through them at higher speeds than a conventional train. The tilting technology reduces travel time between Seattle and Portland by 25 minutes. Current track and safety requirements limit the train's speed to , although the trainsets are designed for a maximum design speed of . A typical trainset consists of 13 cars: one
baggage car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passeng ...
; two " business class" coaches; one
lounge car A lounge car (sometimes referred to as a buffet lounge, buffet car, club car or grill car) is a type of passenger car on a train, in which riders can purchase food and drinks. The car may feature large windows and comfortable seating to create a re ...
(also known as the Diner car); one cafe car (also known as the Bistro car); seven "coach class" coaches; and one combination cab/power car (which houses a driver's cab, a head-end power generator and other equipment). Trainsets are typically paired with a Siemens Charger locomotive painted in a matching paint scheme. Additionally, trainsets without a cab car are paired with a Non-Powered Control Unit (NPCU), an older locomotive with no engine, that is also painted in a matching paint scheme and is used as a cab car. The fleet consists of two Talgo Series 8 trainsets built in 2013. These trainsets operated alongside five older Talgo Series VI trainsets until their retirement in 2020. The service offered by the different trainset types is similar, but there are some minor differences between the two models. The most notable difference is the older Series VI trainsets have tail fins at both ends of the train that serve as an aesthetic transition from the low-profile trainsets and the larger locomotives. The Series 8 trainsets do not have the tail fins, but instead have a cab built into the power car allowing push-pull operation without a separate control unit. There are also minor differences in the interior appointments. The ''Cascades'' service started in Fall 1998 with four Series VI trainsets, two were owned by the
Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...
(WSDOT) and two were owned by Amtrak. Each trainset was built with 12 cars and a six-car spare set, including a baggage car, service car, lounge car, café car and two "coach class" coaches, was also built. The trainsets can hold 304 passengers in 12 cars. In 1998, Amtrak also purchased an additional Series VI trainset as a demonstrator for potential service between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. This trainset was built with two additional "coach class" coaches, for a total of 14 cars. The demonstration route was not funded and WSDOT purchased the trainset in 2004 to expand service. The purchase also allowed Amtrak and WSDOT to redistribute the "coach class" coaches. By using the two additional coaches from this new trainset and placing the two coaches from the spare set into regular service, the agencies were able to create four 13-car trains and one 12-car train. In 2013, the
Oregon Department of Transportation The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway Depart ...
(ODOT) purchased the two Series 8 trainsets to enable further expansion of services. Each trainset was equipped with 13 cars. The ''Cascades'' equipment is painted in a special paint scheme consisting of colors the agency calls evergreen (dark green), cappuccino (brown), and cream. The trainsets are named after mountain peaks in the Pacific Northwest (many in the Cascade Range). The four original Series VI trainsets were named after
Mount Baker Mount Baker ( Lummi: '; nok, Kw’eq Smaenit or '), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. ...
,
Mount Hood Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about east-southeast of Portl ...
,
Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
, and
Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a ...
. The Series VI trainset built to operate between Las Vegas and Los Angeles (painted in Surfliner colors) was renamed the Mount Adams when it was purchased by the state of Washington. This trainset was subsequently destroyed in the December 18, 2017, derailment on the Point Defiance Cutoff. The two Series 8 trainsets are named
Mount Bachelor Mount Bachelor, formerly named Bachelor Butte, is a dormant stratovolcano atop a shield volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range of central Oregon. Named Mount Bachelor because it stands apart from the nearby Three Sisters, ...
and Mount Jefferson. In early 2014, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), awarded a contract to
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...
USA to manufacture 8 new Siemens Charger locomotives for the ''Cascades''. The order was part of a larger joint purchase between Illinois, California, Michigan, and Missouri. These locomotives were delivered to WSDOT in Summer 2017 and went into service in late 2017. The additional locomotives were to have enabled two additional runs to be added as part of the Point Defiance Bypass project (the additional service was suspended and its recommencement has not been announced) and will replace the six
EMD F59PHI The EMD F59PH is a four-axle B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division from 1988 to 1994. A variant, the F59PHI, was produced from 1994 to 2001. The F59PH was originally built for GO Transit commuter opera ...
locomotives leased from Amtrak; these were sold to
Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines ...
in early 2018. One SC-44 locomotive was destroyed in the December 18, 2017, derailment on the Point Defiance Cutoff, but was soon replaced by a newly built Charger by Siemens (1408) in August 2020. In the wake of the accident, Amtrak proposed to lease or buy two Talgo trainsets which were originally bought for use in Wisconsin but never operated. In August 2019, the
Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail sa ...
awarded WSDOT up to $37.5 million to purchase three new trainsets for the route, allowing the replacement of the older Talgo VI trainsets. The Talgo VI trainsets were withdrawn in June 2020. As a temporary replacement,
Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...
cars are being used alongside the existing Talgo Series 8 sets, until new cars are introduced. The last two remaining Talgo VI trainsets were hauled to a scrapper on February 28, 2021. Amtrak and Siemens Mobility announced a $7.3 billion national railcar order in July 2021, which includes funding for 48 new Siemens Venture coaches and 2 additional Charger locomotives for ''Cascades'' service. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2024, with service expected to begin in 2026 after funding is approved by Congress. These trainsets will be used to replace the Talgo VI trainsets retired in 2020, as well as to expand service. The new coaches will be used in six-coach trainsets with a capacity of 300 passengers, far more than the capacity of the Talgo trainsets, and will be able to modify trainset lengths based on expected passenger demand. The new coaches are expected to cost WSDOT $150 million, of which $75 million has been secured as of July 2021. Additional funding is expected from the federal government, as well as potentially the governments of Oregon and British Columbia.


Funding

Funding for the route is provided separately by the states of Oregon and
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, with Union Station in Portland serving as the dividing point between the two. As of July 1, 2006, Washington state has funded four daily round trips between Seattle and Portland. Washington also funds two daily round trips between Seattle and Vancouver, BC. Oregon funds two daily round trips between Eugene and Portland. The seven trainsets are organized into semi-regular operating cycles, but no particular train always has one route.


Local partnerships

As a result of ''Cascades'' service being jointly funded by the Washington and Oregon departments of transportation, public transit agencies and local municipalities can offer a variety of discounts, including companion ticket coupons. * FlexPass and
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...
UPass holders receive a 15% discount (discount code varies) on all regular ''Cascades'' travel. Employers participating in these programs may also receive a limited number of free companion ticket coupons for distribution to employees. * The
Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It operates the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, ...
RailPlus program allows riders to use weekday ''Cascades'' trains between Everett and Seattle with the Sounder commuter rail fare structure. The ''Cascades'' service also benefits from Sound Transit's track upgrades for ''Sounder'' service, notably the Point Defiance Bypass project.


Proposed changes

According to its long-range plan, the WSDOT Rail Office plans eventual service of 13 daily round trips between Seattle and Portland and 4–6 round trips between Seattle and Bellingham, with four of those extending to Vancouver, BC. Amtrak Cascades travels along the entirety of the proposed Pacific Northwest High Speed Rail Corridor; the incremental improvements are designed to result in eventual higher-speed service. According to WSDOT, the "hundreds of curves" in the current route and "the cost of acquiring land and constructing a brand new route" make upgrades so cost-prohibitive that, at most, speeds of 110 mph (177 km/h) can be achieved. The eventual high-speed rail service according to the long-range plan should result in the following travel times: * Seattle to Portland – 3:30 (2006); 3:20 (after completion of Point Defiance Bypass); 2:30 (planned) * Seattle to Vancouver BC – 3:55 (2006); 2:45 (planned) * Vancouver BC to Portland – 7:55 (2009); 5:25 (planned) In order to increase train speeds and frequency to meet these goals, a number of incremental track improvement projects must be completed. Gates and signals must be improved, some grade crossings must be separated, track must be replaced or upgraded and station capacities must be increased. In order to extend the second daily Seattle to Bellingham round trip to Vancouver,
BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
was required to make track improvements in Canada, to which the government of
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
was asked to contribute financially. On March 1, 2007, an agreement between the province, Amtrak, and
BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
was reached, allowing a second daily train to and from Vancouver. The project involved building an siding in Delta, BC at a cost of US$7 million; construction started in 2007 and has been completed. In December 2008, WSDOT published a mid-range plan detailing projects needed to achieve the midpoint level of service proposed in the long-range plan. In 2009, Oregon applied for a $2.1 billion Federal grant to redevelop the unused
Oregon Electric Railway The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland to Eugene. Service from Portland to Salem began in January 1908. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway purchased the system in ...
tracks, parallel to the Cascades' route between Eugene and Portland. But it did not receive the grant. Instead, analysis of alternative routes to enable more passenger trains and higher speeds proceeded. In 2015, the current route, with numerous upgrades, was chosen by the Project Team as the Recommended Preferred Alternative. The Preferred Alternative, if built, would decrease the trip time by 15 minutes from 2 hours and 35 minutes to 2 hours and 20 minutes and increase the number of daily trains from 2 to 6 from Eugene to Portland. In 2013, travel times between Seattle and Portland remained the same as they had been in 1966, with the fastest trains making the journey in 3 hours 30 minutes. WSDOT received more than $800 million in high-speed rail stimulus funds for projects discussed in the mid-range plan, since the corridor is one of the approved high-speed corridors eligible for money from ARRA. The deadline for spending the stimulus funds is September 2017. The schedule was for the Leadership Council to vote on this in December 2015, then a Draft Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement was to be released in 2016 and hearings held on it, for the Leadership Council to finalize the Recommended Selected Alternative in 2017, then publish the Final Tier 1 EIS and receive the Record of Decision in 2018. Then if funds can be found, design and engineering must be done before any construction can begin.


Accidents and incidents


July 2017 derailment

On July 2, 2017, northbound train 506 derailed while approaching the Chambers Bay drawbridge southwest of
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...
. The train was traveling above the speed limit of after passing an "Approach" signal (indicating that it be prepared to stop short of the next signal) at the bridge. As the bridge was raised and open, a device known as a "de-rail" was engaged, used to prevent a train from proceeding and falling in to the water by derailing it beforehand. The incident root cause was human error due to the engineer losing situational awareness. Only minor injuries were sustained due to the low speed at time of event as the engineer did attempt to stop on seeing the bridge up. The train's consist, an Oregon DOT-owned Talgo VIII set, was returned to the Talgo plant in Milwaukee, Wis. for repairs and returned to service in April 2018.


December 2017 derailment

On December 18, 2017, while making the inaugural run on the Point Defiance Bypass, Amtrak Cascades passenger train 501 derailed near Dupont, Washington, killing three passengers. The
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
said in a news conference later that day that the
event data recorder An event data recorder (EDR), more specifically motor vehicle event data recorder (MVEDR), similar to an accident data recorder (ADR) sometimes referred to informally as an automotive black box (by analogy with the common nickname for flight re ...
showed the speed to be , while the speed limit in the area was .
Positive train control Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains a ...
(PTC), a technology meant to help regulate train speed and prevent operator error, was reported to have been installed on the line, but preliminary reports state it was not active. WSDOT announced that it would not resume service until the full implementation of PTC. (Sounder service to Lakewood continued to operate.) Service was then scheduled to restart in early 2019. PTC was activated on the Bypass in March 2019 and the NTSB report was released in May that year; ''Cascades'' service resumed on the bypass on November 18, 2021, almost four years after the derailment.


See also

*
United States border preclearance The United States Department of Homeland Security operates prescreening border control facilities at airports and other ports of departure located outside of the United States under agreement between it and the host country. Travelers are sub ...
* Rail transportation in the United States *
Rail transport in Canada Canada has a large and well-developed railway system that primarily transports freight. There are two major publicly traded transcontinental freight railway systems, Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP). Nationwide passenger servic ...


References


Notes


External links

* *
Amtrak ''Cascades'' Train Equipment
(Washington State Department of Transportation)
1972 first draft of "Cascades" concept
(Oregon Department of Transportation) {{Canadianmetros Amtrak routes Named passenger trains of Canada International named passenger trains Passenger rail transport in British Columbia Passenger rail transportation in Oregon Passenger rail transportation in Washington (state) Tilting trains Railway services introduced in 1971 Talgo