AmtrakCascades

ACascades trainset inVancouver, Washington, 2021
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Pacific Northwest
Predecessor	BN/UP/SP corridor trains
First service	May 1, 1971 (1971-05-01)
Current operators	Amtrak, in partnership withWashington andOregon Departments of Transportation
Annual ridership	951,397 (FY 25)  1.4%[a][1]
Website	amtrakcascades.com
Route
Termini	Vancouver, British Columbia Eugene, Oregon
Stops	18
Distance travelled	460 miles (740 km)
Train number	500–519
On-board services
Classes	Coach Class Business Class
Disabled access	Fully accessible
Seating arrangements	4 across in coach class 3 across in business class
Catering facilities	Café car, lounge car
Baggage facilities	Overhead racks, checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Rolling stock	Siemens Charger Talgo Series 8
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
Operating speed	79 mph (127 km/h)
Track owners	UP,BNSF,Sound Transit[2]
Route map Show interactive map Legend 0 mi 0 km Vancouver, BC Fraser River Canadian toToronto BC,Canada WA,United States border 61 mi 98 km Bellingham 86 mi 138 km Mount Vernon 99 mi 159 km Stanwood Empire Builder toChicago 122 mi 196 km Everett 138 mi 222 km Edmonds 156 mi 251 km Seattle 167 mi 269 km Tukwila Point Defiance Bypass Tacoma 195 mi 314 km Tacoma Dome Pre-2021 route 222 mi 357 km Olympia–Lacey 244 mi 393 km Centralia 288 mi 463 km Kelso–Longview Empire Builder toChicago 327 mi 526 km Vancouver, Washington WA OR Swing span across Columbia River 337 mi 542 km Portland Pioneer toChicago (discontinued 1997) 351 mi 565 km Oregon City 389 mi 626 km Salem 417 mi 671 km Albany 460 mi 740 km Eugene Coast Starlight toLos Angeles All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram map

TheAmtrakCascades is apassenger train route in thePacific Northwest, operated byAmtrak in partnership with the U.S. states ofWashington andOregon. It is named after theCascade mountain range that the route parallels. The 460-mile (740 km) corridor runs fromVancouver, British Columbia, throughSeattle, Washington, andPortland, Oregon, toEugene, Oregon.

As of December 2023^[update], seven round trips operate along the corridor each day: one Vancouver–Seattle, one Vancouver–Seattle–Portland, three Seattle–Portland, and two Seattle–Portland–Eugene. No train travels the entire length of the corridor. For trains that do not travel directly to Vancouver or Eugene, connections are available onAmtrak Thruway bus services.^[3] Additionally, Amtrak Thruway services offer connections to other destinations inBritish Columbia,Idaho, Oregon, and Washington not on the rail corridor.

In the fiscal year 2017,Cascades was Amtrak's eighth-busiest route with a total annual ridership of over 810,000.^[4] In fiscal year 2018,farebox recovery ratio for the train was 63%.^[5] On-time performance in FY2021 was 58.7%.^[6]

Passenger train service between Seattle and Portland—the core of what became theCascades corridor—was operated as a joint partnership by theNorthern Pacific,Great Northern, andUnion Pacific 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 theBurlington Northern in 1970, the reconfigured partnership continued to operate the Seattle-Portland service until the creation of Amtrak in 1971.^[7] Service betweenVancouver, British Columbia, andSeattle was provided via the Great Northern / Burlington NorthernInternational, and betweenPortland andEugene bySouthern 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 toSan Diego, 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 theMount Rainier andPuget Sound and the long-distance train became theCoast Starlight.^[8]

Passenger rail service to Vancouver,British Columbia, was restarted on July 17, 1972, with the inauguration of the Seattle–VancouverPacific International, which operated with adome car (unusual for short runs).^[9][10] The train was Amtrak's first international service.^[10]

The next major change to service in the corridor came on June 7, 1977, when Amtrak introduced the long-distancePioneer between Seattle, Portland andSalt Lake City, Utah. To maintain the same level of service between Seattle and Portland, thePuget Sound was eliminated, and the schedule of theMount Rainier was shifted.^[11]: 59

The corridor expanded south of Portland to Eugene on August 3, 1980, with the addition of theWillamette Valley, which operated with two daily round trips, financially subsidized by the State of Oregon.^[8] ThePacific International andWillamette Valley struggled to attract riders and were discontinued in September 1981 and December 1981, respectively.^[12]

This left three trains on the Seattle–Portland corridor: the regionalMount Rainier and the long-distancePioneer andCoast Starlight. This level of service would remain unchanged for 13 years.

In 1994, Amtrak began a six-month trial run of modernTalgo equipment over the Seattle–Portland corridor. Amtrak named this serviceNorthwest Talgo, and announced that it would institute a second, conventional train on the corridor (supplementing theMount Rainier) once the trial concluded.^[13][14] Regular service began on April 1, 1994.^[15]

Looking toward the future, Amtrak did an exhibition trip from Vancouver through to Eugene. Amtrak replaced theNorthwest Talgo with theMount Adams on October 30.^[16][17] At the same time, the state of Oregon and Amtrak agreed to extend theMount Rainier to Eugene through June 1995, with Oregon paying two-thirds of the $1.5 million subsidy.^[18]

Service to Canada returned on May 26, 1995, when theMount Baker International began running between Vancouver and Seattle. The state of Washington leased Talgo equipment similar to the demonstrator from 1994.^[19][20] TheMount Rainier was renamed theCascadia in October 1995; the new name reflected the joint Oregon–Washington operations of the train.^[21] A temporary commuter rail service using Amtrak trains was deployed in September 1997 betweenUnion Station in Portland andVancouver station during a full closure of theInterstate Bridge for repairs.^[22] Thefree trains had ten round trips and drew an average of 1,335 passengers per day; the low ridership was attributed to the isolated location of Vancouver's station.^[23][24]

A third Seattle–Portland corridor train began in the spring of 1998 with leased Talgo equipment, replacing the discontinued long-distancePioneer. 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 temporaryPacific Northwest brand for all four trains, dropping individual names, effective with the spring 1998 timetable.

Amtrak announced the new AmtrakCascades brand in the fall 1998 timetable; the new equipment began operation in December.^[25][26] The fullCascades 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.^[27][28] 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'sKing Street Station to Vancouver. The southern trains to Portland briefly had full dining services until the May 16, 1999, system timetable.

In 2004, theRail Plus program began, allowing cross-ticketing betweenSound Transit'sSounder commuter rail and Amtrak between Seattle and Everett on someCascades trains.^[29]

The corridor continued to grow, with another Portland–Seattle train arriving in 2006, and the long-awaited through service between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Portland, eliminating the need to transfer in Seattle, beginning on August 19, 2009^[30] 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,^[31] which resulted in the Canadian government permanently waiving the fee.^[32]

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.^[33][34][35] On the first day of service of the new timetable, atrain derailed outside of DuPont, Washington, south ofTacoma.^[36] Service resumed using the old timetable without the additional round trips.

In March 2020,Amtrak Cascades service north of Seattle was suspended indefinitely after all non-essential travel across theCanada–United States border was restricted in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[37][38] Amtrak crews ran practice trips between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, in February 2022, and service between those two cities resumed on September 26, 2022.^[39] The round trip between Portland and Vancouver resumed on March 7, 2023, restoring the second Seattle–Vancouver trip that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[40] Seattle–Portland service expanded to six round trips on December 11, 2023, adding the two additional round trips between Seattle and Portland originally intended to start in 2017.^[41][42][43]

In 2025, the completion of a new customs inspection area at Vancouver's Pacific Central Station will allowCascades trains to eliminate a secondary inspection stop inBlaine that is performed byU.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.^[44] The modified customs procedure is expected to save 10 minutes on southbound trips.^[45] A new maintenance facility at the Seattle Yard is scheduled to open in late 2026.^[46]

AmtrakCascades stations

State/Province	City	Station	Connections
British Columbia	Vancouver	Pacific Central Station	Via Rail:The Canadian Amtrak Thruway Greyhound Lines : BC Ferries Connector,Ebus,FlixBus, Rider Express Transportation,YVR Skylynx Expo Line TransLink: 3, 8, 19, 22, 23
Washington	Bellingham	Fairhaven Station	Greyhound Lines Whatcom Transportation Authority
	Mount Vernon	Skagit Station	Greyhound Lines Local Bus:Skagit Transit,Whatcom Transportation Authority,Island Transit
	Stanwood	Stanwood	Local Bus:Community Transit,Island Transit
	Everett	Everett	Amtrak:Empire Builder Amtrak Thruway Sounder:N Line Greyhound Lines Northwestern Trailways ST Express Local Bus:Community Transit,Everett Transit,Skagit Transit,Island Transit
	Edmonds	Edmonds	Amtrak:Empire Builder Amtrak Thruway Sounder:N Line Edmonds-Kingston Ferry Northwestern Trailways,Travel Washington Community Transit
	Seattle	King Street Station	Amtrak:Coast Starlight,Empire Builder Amtrak Thruway Sounder:N Line,S Line Link Light Rail: First Hill Streetcar ST Express,Travel Washington Local Bus:Community Transit,King County Metro
	Tukwila	Tukwila	Sounder:S Line King County Metro
	Tacoma	Tacoma Dome Station	Amtrak:Coast Starlight Sounder:S Line Link Light Rail: Greyhound Lines ST Express Local bus:Intercity Transit,Pierce Transit
	Olympia/Lacey	Centennial Station	Amtrak:Coast Starlight Intercity Transit
	Centralia	Centralia	Amtrak:Coast Starlight Lewis County Transit
	Kelso/Longview	Kelso/Longview	Amtrak:Coast Starlight Greyhound Lines RiverCities Transit
	Vancouver, WA	Vancouver, WA	Amtrak:Coast Starlight,Empire Builder
Oregon	Portland	Portland Union Station	Amtrak:Coast Starlight,Empire Builder MAX Light Rail:Orange Line,Yellow Line,Green Line Portland Streetcar :The Bus, Central Oregon Breeze,FlixBus, Pacific Crest Lines,POINT, Shuttle Oregon,The Wave Trimet Bus
	Oregon City	Oregon City
	Salem	Salem	Amtrak:Coast Starlight Greyhound Lines :POINT, Shuttle Oregon,The Wave Cherriots
	Albany	Albany	Amtrak:Coast Starlight POINT Local Bus: Albany Transit System, Benton Area Transit, Linn-Benton Loop, Linn Shuttle
	Eugene	Eugene–Springfield	Amtrak:Coast Starlight :POINT, Pacific Crest Bus Lines Local Bus:Lane Transit District, Link Lane

TheCascades primarily uses freight tracks that are owned byBNSF Railway in Washington and British Columbia, and theUnion Pacific Railroad in Oregon.^[47] In British Columbia,Canadian National Railway operates the tracks between the Vancouver terminus and theNew Westminster Bridge for BNSF,^[48] and it operates the bridge itself for the Canadian federal government.^[49]Sound Transit owns a short section of tracks in Washington on the Point Defiance Bypass.^[47] In fiscal year 2023, the trains had an on-time percentage of 64 percent, among the worst rates for state-supported Amtrak routes.^[50]

Total ridership for 2008 was 774,421, the highest annual ridership since inception of the service in 1993.^[51] Ridership declined in 2009 to 740,154^[52] but rose 13% infiscal year 2010 to 836,499 riders,^[52] and to 847,709 riders in 2011.

Ridership declined steadily between 2011 and 2015, attributed in part to competition from low-cost bus carrierBoltBus, which opened a non-stop Seattle–Portland route in May 2012.^[53][54][55] 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.^[56] However, ridership declined again following the2017 Washington train derailment, and theCOVID-19 pandemic drastically reduced ridership numbers throughout the entire Amtrak network in 2020.

Ridership on theCascades corridor reached a record high of over 941,000 passengers in 2024, a 41 percent increase from 2023.^[47][57] The record was broken in 2025 with 951,397 passengers, a 1.4% year-over-year increase.^[58]

Ridership by year

Year	Ridership	YoY Diff.	YoY Diff. %
2025[58]	951,397	+12 958	1.4%
2024[57]	941,727	+271,905	40.6%
2023[59]	669,820	+279,572	71.6%
2022[60]	390,248	+208,748	115.0%
2021[6]	181,500	-161,997	47.2%
2020[61]	343,497	-459,398	57.2%
2019[62]	802,895	-3,226	0.4%
2018[63]	806,121	-3,929	0.5%
2017[64]	810,050	+17,569	2.2%
2016[65]	792,481	+41,333	5.5%
2015[5][66]	751,148	-31,371	4.0%
2014	782,519	-29,443	3.6%
2013[67]	811,962	-33,137	3.9%
2012	845,099	-7,170	0.8%
2011[68][69]	852,269	+15,970	1.9%
2010[70]	836,299	+74,689	9.8%
2009[71]	761,610	-12,921	1.7%
2008	774,531	+97,766	14.4%
2007	676,765	+46,769	7.4%
2006	629,996	-6,096	1.0%
2005	636,092	+33,033	5.5%
2004	603,059	+13,316	2.3%
2003	589,743	+5,397	0.1%
2002	584,346	+23,965	4.3%
2001	560,381	+30,163	5.7%
2000	530,218	+77,884	17.2%
1999	452,334	+27,196	6.4%
1998	425,138	+75,377	21.6%
1997	349,761	+45,195	14.8%
1996	304,566	+17,910	6.2%
1995	286,656	+106,447	59.1%
1994	180,209	+86,148	91.6%
1993	94,061	—	—

Service on theCascades route is currently provided using equipment from Amtrak's national fleet, along with two articulated trainsets manufactured byTalgo. These cars are designed to passivelytilt 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.^[72] Current track and safety requirements limit the train's speed to 79 miles per hour (127 km/h), although the trainsets are designed for a maximum design speed of 124 miles per hour (200 km/h).^[72]

A typical Talgo trainset consists of 13 cars:onebaggage car;two "business class"coaches;onelounge car (also known as the Diner car);onecafe car (also known as the Bistro car);seven "coach class" coaches; andone combination cab/power car (which houses a driver's cab, ahead-end power generator and other equipment).^[73] Trainsets are typically paired with aSiemens Charger locomotive painted in a matching paint scheme. Additionally, trainsets without acab car are paired with aNon-Powered Control Unit (NPCU), an older locomotive with no engine, that is also painted in a matching paint scheme and is used as acab car.^[74]: 140

The fleet consists of twoTalgo 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 7-foot-tall (2.1 m) tail fins at both ends of the train that serve as an aesthetic transition from the low-profile trainsets and the larger locomotives.^[72] 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.

TheCascades service started in Fall 1998 with four Series VI trainsets; two were owned by theWashington State Department of Transportation (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.^[73] 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, theOregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) purchased the two Series 8 trainsets to enable further expansion of services.^[75] Each trainset was equipped with 13 cars.

TheCascades equipment is painted in a specialpaint scheme consisting of colors the agency callsEvergreen (dark green),Castilian Copper (brown),Nugget (tan) andDouble Latte (cream).^[72][76][77] The trainsets are named after mountain peaks in the Pacific Northwest (many in the Cascade Range). The four original Series VI trainsets were named afterMount Baker,Mount Hood,Mount Olympus, andMount Rainier. The Series VI trainset built to operate between Las Vegas and Los Angeles (painted inSurfliner colors) was renamed theMount Adams when it was purchased by the state of Washington. This trainset was subsequently destroyed in theDecember 18, 2017, derailment on the Point Defiance Cutoff. The two Series 8 trainsets are namedMount Bachelor andMount Jefferson.

In early 2014, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), awarded a contract toSiemens USA to manufacture 8 newSiemens Charger locomotives for theCascades. 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.^[78][79] The additional locomotives were to have enabled two additional runs to be added as part of thePoint Defiance Bypass project (the additional service was suspended and its recommencement has not been announced) and will replace the sixEMD F59PHI locomotives leased from Amtrak; these were sold toMetra 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 originallybought for use in Wisconsin but never operated.^[80]

In August 2019, theFederal Railroad Administration awarded WSDOT up to $37.5 million to purchase three new trainsets for the route, allowing the replacement of the older Talgo VI trainsets.^[81] The Talgo VI trainsets were withdrawn in June 2020.^[82] As a temporary replacement,Horizon cars are being used alongside the existing Talgo Series 8 sets, until new cars are introduced.^[83] The last two remaining Talgo VI trainsets were hauled to a scrapper on February 28, 2021.^[84] One Series VI Bistro car, No. 7304, was later acquired by theNorthwest Railway Museum in 2023.^[85][86]

Amtrak and Siemens Mobility announced a $7.3 billion national railcar order in July 2021, which includes funding for 48 newSiemens Venture coaches and 2 additional Charger locomotives forCascades service.^[87] Deliveries had been expected to begin in 2024, with the cars in service by 2026 after funding was 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.^[88] The eight new trainsets will use a new livery that includes imagery of Mount Rainier and Mount Hood; it is primarily green with brown and white as accent colors.^[89]

Amtrak's entire Horizon fleet was removed from service on March 26, 2025, due to corrosion issues, leaving only a single Talgo trainset left to serve theCascades route.^[90] A second Talgo trainset had been damaged by a tree during anextratropical cyclone in November 2024.^[91] Most scheduledCascades trains were temporarily replaced with shuttle buses, including all service to Canada.^[92] Some rail trips began to be restored in April 2025, with reduced capacity, afterAmfleet cars arrived to replace the Horizons.^[93] All trips were restored on April 6.^[94][95]

Funding for the route is provided separately by the states of Oregon andWashington, withUnion Station in Portland serving as the dividing point between the two.^[96] As of December 2023^[update], the Washington state government funds six daily round trips between Seattle and Portland and two daily round trips between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia.^[96] Oregon funds two daily round trips between Eugene and Portland.^[97] The seven trainsets are organized into semi-regular operating cycles, but no particular train always has one route.^{[citation needed]}

As a result ofCascades 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 andUniversity of Washington UPass holders receive a 15% discount (discount code varies) on all regularCascades travel. Employers participating in these programs may also receive a limited number of free companion ticket coupons for distribution to employees.^[98]
• TheSound Transit RailPlus program allows riders to use weekdayCascades trains between Everett and Seattle with theSounder commuter rail fare structure.^[99]
• Starting in 2024, trips within Washington state are free for kids under the age of 18 if they are accompanied by an adult.^[100]

TheCascades service also benefits from Sound Transit's track upgrades forSounder service, notably thePoint Defiance Bypass project.

TheCascades corridor is also served byAmtrak Thruway buses that are partially funded by the Washington state government and contracted out toMTRWestern. Amtrak introduced its firstbattery electric bus on theCascades service in August 2023.^[101]

According to its long-range plan published in 2006, 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, British Columbia.^[102] 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.^[103]

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); 3:25 (after completion ofPoint Defiance Bypass);^[103] 2:30 (planned)
• Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia – 3:55 (2006); 2:45 (planned)
• Vancouver, British Columbia, 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. The existingColumbia River Railroad Bridge between Vancouver, Washington and Portland would have to be modified, and an additional railroad bridge would have to be built next to the existing bridge.^{[102]: 5-22–5-23}

Building upon previous studies, the long-range plan also proposed relocating the northern terminus from Vancouver'sPacific Central Station southeast to a "Greater Vancouver Terminal" nearSkyTrain's existingScott Road station inSurrey, British Columbia. In this scenario, northbound passengers would then ride the SkyTrain rapid transit system for about a half-hour to complete a trip to downtown Vancouver.^{[102]: E-1–E-10 [104][105]} The plan cited several motivations for terminus relocation, including: congestion at and near the New Westminster Bridge, which is asingle-track railway subject to very low train speed limits and numerous bridge openings for marine traffic; lower-than-desired speed limits due to poor geological soil conditions underneath the BNSF track between the bridge and Pacific Central Station; bottlenecks at Canadian National Railway'sSecond Narrows Rail Bridge andThornton Tunnel that cause northbound freight trains headed to theNorth Shore of the Burrard Inlet to back up onto and obstruct the BNSFmain line; and repeated opposition to passenger service expansion from Canadian National Railway.^[106]

In order to extend the second daily Seattle to Bellingham round trip to Vancouver,BNSF was required to make track improvements in Canada, to which thegovernment of British Columbia was asked to contribute financially. On March 1, 2007, an agreement between the province, Amtrak, andBNSF was reached, allowing a second daily train to and from Vancouver.^[107] The project involved building an 11,000-foot (3.4 km) siding inDelta, British Columbia, 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.^[108]

In 2009, Oregon applied for a $2.1 billion Federal grant to redevelop the unusedOregon Electric Railway tracks, parallel to the Cascades' route between Eugene and Portland.^[109] 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.^[110] 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.^[111]

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.^[112][113] 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.^[114] 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.^[115] Then if funds can be found, design and engineering must be done before any construction can begin.

In October 2023, WSDOT made public a summary of its preliminary service development plan, which offered five conceptual options for future rail service. Three of the options kept the top train speed at 79 mph (127 km/h), while the other two options increased the top speed to 90 mph (145 km/h). The most aggressive frequency option increased the number of round trips between Seattle and Portland to 16 and the number between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Seattle to 6. Four of the options included a rail/bus combination for some round trips between Vancouver and Seattle; the section between Seattle and Bellingham would be served by rail, while the section between Bellingham and Vancouver would be handled by bus.^[116][117] The assumed maximum top speed was reduced from 110 mph (177 km/h) in the 2006 long range plan to 90 mph (145 km/h) in the 2024 preliminary service development plan based on BNSF restrictions.^[118]

Various jurisdictions have made attempts to add a stop within the approximately 60-mile (97 km) gap between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Bellingham. The intent was to better serve the growing population in the southern part of theGreater Vancouver region without requiring a backtrack todowntown Vancouver.Infill stations have been proposed on separate occasions at the international border towns ofBlaine, Washington,^[119] andWhite Rock, British Columbia,^[120] which both had stops on Amtrak's predecessorPacific International service.^[121]

In 2024, a Canadian passenger rail advocacy group recommended that the Canadian government make 10 infrastructure improvements between White Rock and Vancouver at a total estimated cost ofCA$127.6 million. These improvements would increase operational performance and reliability, and the resulting reduction in travel time would permit Amtrak to add a Blaine stop.^[122]

On July 2, 2017, northbound train 506 derailed while approaching the Chambers Bay drawbridge southwest ofTacoma, Washington. The train was traveling above the speed limit of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) 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.^[123]

On December 18, 2017, while making the inaugural run on thePoint Defiance Bypass, southbound train 501derailed near DuPont, Washington.^[124][125] Three passengers were killed, and 65 people in total were injured. The crash occurred on an overpass overI-5, on a sharp curve with a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h); train 501 was traveling at 80 mph (130 km/h).^[126][127]Positive train control (PTC), a system that would have prevented the train from speeding, was not yet enabled on the Point Defiance Bypass at the time of the crash. An investigation by theNational Transportation Safety Board also found that the train's engineer was not properly trained on either the tracks or the train's Siemens Charger locomotive, both of which were new at the time.^[128]

WSDOT announced that it would not resume service until PTC was fully implemented. Service was then scheduled to restart in early 2019.^[129] PTC was activated on the Point Defiance Bypass in March 2019, resulting in full PTC implementation on the US portion of the corridor between Blaine and Eugene.^[130] However,Cascades service on the bypass did not resume until November 18, 2021, almost four years after the derailment.^[131] Service resumption was not contingent on PTC being used on the British Columbia portion of the corridor, as PTC was not permanently implemented anywhere in Canada until October 2025, when BNSF started running PTC-protected trains along a 17-mile (27 km) stretch of theCascades corridor between the US border andBrownsville^[132][133] (near the New Westminster Bridge).

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• Amtrak Cascades – Amtrak
• Official website
• AmtrakCascades Train Equipment (Washington State Department of Transportation)
• 1972 first draft of "Cascades" concept (Oregon Department of Transportation)

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• Passenger rail transport in British Columbia
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• Passenger rail transportation in Washington (state)
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• Talgo

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