The Amtrak Cascades interregional passenger rail service, which links the Pacific Northwest, appears to be gaining new momentum, with record-breaking ridership and forthcoming service improvements.
The passenger rail service runs between British Columbia, Washington state, and Oregon, linking the major cities of Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and smaller communities along the way. The entire route between Pacific Central Station near downtown Vancouver and Eugene, Oregon spans 752 km, with most trips between Vancouver and Portland requiring a transfer in Seattle.
Currently, Amtrak Cascades operates two daily cross-border round-trip trains between Vancouver and Seattle with four trains, six daily roundtrip trains between Seattle and Portland with 12 trains, and two daily roundtrip trains between Portland and Eugene with four trains. Some trains travel direct between Vancouver and Portland.
Following a prolonged pandemic shutdown, the Seattle-Portland segment of the service restarted in May 2021, while the Vancouver-Seattle segment resumed service in September 2022, with full pre-pandemic service levels returning in March 2023.
Despite the initial pandemic impacts, ridership has not only quickly recovered, but it reached a new all-time record in 2024, continuing the pre-pandemic ridership growth trend.
Amtrak Cascades. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Janet Matkin, the railways spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), which funds and oversees Amtrak Cascades services in partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation, told Daily Hive Urbanized that preliminary figures indicate the service achieved an all-time record-breaking total ridership of over 985,000 passengers in 2024.
This is up from 746,000 passengers in 2023, 824,000 in 2019, 802,000 in 2018, 811,000 in 2017, 817,000 in 2016, 745,000 in 2015, and 781,000 in 2014.
Furthermore, the Vancouver-Seattle segment saw its own record ridership in 2024, with 205,000 passengers using Amtrak Cascades at Pacific Central Station — up from 161,000 in 2023 and 169,000 in 2019. Pacific Central Station is the third busiest station after King Street Station in downtown Seattle and Portland Union Station in downtown Portland.
A December 2024 report by WSDOT also noted that the addition of two more daily roundtrips for the Seattle-Portland segment contributed to the jump in ridership in 2024. Furthermore, trains for the segments between Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland were often sold out in Summer 2024.
The 2024 farebox recovery rate figures have yet to be made available, but the rate of fares covering operating costs for Amtrak Cascades in 2023 was 60% — the third highest in a decade, just behind 60.1% in 2016 and 63% in 2017.
A small proportion of the 2024 ridership growth was also attributed to a new free fare program for youth ages 18 and younger. This free ride program first launched in May 2024 only applies for trips within Washington state. According to WSDOT, between May and late September 2024, over 15,000 young riders took advantage of this program, which is the first of its kind in the United States.
US Customs southbound stop at the border to be eliminated
Construction began in January 2025 to modify the passenger inspection area shared by the Canada-US border agencies at Pacific Central Station, which is owned by VIA Rail.
“We can confirm that construction is currently underway for the development of a pre-clearance Facility at Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station. This project is being executed by Amtrak, in partnership with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), and the United States Customs and Border Patrol (USCBP),” a spokesperson for VIA Rail told Daily Hive Urbanized.
Pacific Central Station in Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Upon completion, this new pre-clearance facility will eliminate Amtrak Cascades’ train stop for southbound trips across the Canada-US border for secondary international border inspections by US Customs and Border Patrol officers. Currently, this involves officers boarding the train in Blaine to re-inspect passengers.
It is anticipated this border stop elimination just south of Peace Arch will reduce the train travel time between Vancouver and Seattle by 10 minutes.
Matkin notes they are targeting a Spring 2025 implementation of this new operating pattern without the train stoppage and secondary inspection, after the upgrades reach completion.
Currently, during optimal conditions, the entire Amtrak Cascades train journey between Pacific Central Station and Eugene, Oregon, is about 10 hours and 30 minutes, including just over three hours for the segment between Vancouver and Seattle.
Pacific Central Station in Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
Pacific Central Station platform needs upgrades for new Amtrak trains
Currently, at its manufacturing facility in Sacramento, California, Siemens is building a brand new fleet of 83 Amtrak Airo train sets for various Amtrak services across the United States, with Amtrak Cascades set to be the very first service to receive the new trains. These new trains will replace most of Amtrak’s existing fleet across the US.
The Amtrak Airo itself is a variation of the Siemens Venture trains in use on Brightline in Florida and VIA Rail in Eastern Canada.
From this nationwide order, Amtrak Cascades will receive eight new Airo train sets and two new locomotives.
These new trains offer increased capacity, drastically improved comfort and ergonomics, and a wide range of new and improved amenities, including new in-seat features, touchless washroom controls, and a new onboard cafe concept.
Artistic rendering of the new Airo train model for Amtrak Cascades. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Artistic rendering of the new Airo train model for Amtrak Cascades. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Matkin told Daily Hive Urbanized the first completed Amtrak Airo train sets will be sent to the Northeast Corridor of the US later in 2025 for testing on railroad tracks owned by Amtrak, before being delivered to Seattle over a period of several months in 2026.
The intent is to have some of these new trains operational on the Amtrak Cascades route in time for Vancouver and Seattle’s role as host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
But she notes that the current platform used by Amtrak Cascades trains at Pacific Central Station is in need of major upgrades to accommodate the new Airo trains. This platform needs to be replaced with a wider, raised platform, she says.
Without the upgrades, Amtrak Cascades services reaching Vancouver cannot see any further future improvements.
“Ideally, this new platform would expand the customs security fencing and include a rain canopy, enhanced lighting, and better access for wheelchairs and passenger movement. Until such improvements are made, the station cannot accommodate any additional daily service between Vancouver and Seattle,” Matkin told Daily Hive Urbanized.
The December 2024 report also noted that these platform upgrades require a Canadian funding source, as there are “US federal funding constraints for railroad-related capital projects in British Columbia.”
Artistic rendering of the new Airo train model for Amtrak Cascades. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Artistic rendering of the new Airo train model for Amtrak Cascades. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
In addition to funding the new Amtrak trains, the US federal government is also covering the US$300 million cost of upgrading Amtrak’s King Street Yard in Seattle to better handle the new fleet’s operations, maintenance, and storage requirements, including a new two-bay maintenance and inspection facility and a new service and cleaning bay.
Construction began in December 2024 for a targeted completion and opening by late 2026.
This Seattle train yard also handles the passenger trains of the Amtrak Coast Starlight (Seattle-Los Angeles service) and the Amtrak Empire Building (Seattle-Chicago) services, as well as Sound Transit’s Sounder commuter trains operating in the Seattle region. In addition to Amtrak Cascades, the trains of all three of these services are maintained by Amtrak crews.
Artistic rendering of Amtrak’s new King Street Yard expansion in Seattle. (Amtrak)
Railway corridor improvements needed on the BC side
In recent years, WSDOT, the US federal government, and BNSF Railway have set aside over US$18 million toward making railway corridor improvements within Washington state to reduce the risk of landslides onto the railway used by Amtrak Cascades trains, freight trains, and local commuter trains. This includes constructing walls to stop debris from reaching the tracks, enhancing slope stability, making drainage improvements, and adding slide warning fences.
According to WSDOT, no landslides have reached the tracks or disrupted service in the locations where work was completed.
The last landslide that disrupted Amtrak Cascades services occurred on December 18, 2024 on the Canadian side of the route. A landslide covered the railway in South Surrey between White Rock and Crescent Beach. As a result, Amtrak Cascades and freight train services were suspended until December 20, 2024.
Whenever a landslide reaches the tracks, BNSF Railway puts in place a 48-hour moratorium for passenger trains.
Amtrak Cascades. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Amtrak Cascades. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Later in 2025, construction will begin on a US$100 million upgrade of the 1914-built Salmon Bay Bridge located just north of Seattle. This vertical-lift bridge crossing is used by both Amtrak Cascades and freight trains, with funding for the project provided by both the BNSF Railway and the US federal government.
Additionally, about US$13 million, covered by WSDOT and the BNSF Railway, is being spent to replace several railroad switches and add switch heaters for the railway segment north and south of Seattle. The new switches will be easier and faster to maintain, reducing delays to passengers and freight trains, with the heaters eliminating the need to manually clear snow and ice off the switches. These improvements are expected to reach completion in 2028.
Matkin told Daily Hive Urbanized that WSDOT is working with Amtrak and the various railway companies to identify the causes of delays and determine ways that they can be decreased or eliminated, including identifying chokepoints along the corridor where infrastructure improvements would improve the movement of trains, such as new double tracks or sidings.
But she also notes that capital improvements on the railway within BC towards Pacific Central Station would also help. Currently, it takes over an hour to travel between Pacific Central Station and the Canada-US border, with the tracks on the north side of the border having a slow average speed of just 48 km/hr.
The December 2024 report noted that discussions will begin in early 2025 between Amtrak, WSDOT, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit, VIA Rail, BNSF Railway, Transport Canada, Canadian National Railway, and BC Business Council on exploring short-term and long-term railway upgrades within BC to improve Amtrak Cascades’ performance and potentially allow for future additional daily service serving Vancouver. This includes the Pacific Central Station platform upgrades, and other potential upgrades along the railway in Canada.
Canadian National Railway has long-term plans to double-track the existing four-km-long single-track railway segment in East Vancouver from Powell Street (near the port’s Centerm container terminal) then through the Grandview Cut to Nanaimo Street. This would increase the capacity and reliability of freight trains, which would also benefit Amtrak Cascades’ final approach into Pacific Central Station in the False Creek Flats.
Amtrak Cascades train in the Grandview Cut, with the downtown Vancouver skyline in the background. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
In December 2024, construction began on a C$200 million project to build a new Holdom Avenue road overpass above the Burrard Inlet Line railway in Burnaby’s Brentwood area, replacing the existing at-grade road crossing to improve capacity, reliability, safety, and speeds. It will reach completion in 2027, and it is jointly funded by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Canadian National Railway, and the Canadian federal government. Other grade separation projects are also being considered along the corridor.
In 2021, the Canadian federal government conducted a study exploring a long-term upgrade or replacement of the 1904-built New Westminster Bridge between New Westminster and Surrey. Owned by the federal government, this single-track, vertical-life bridge across the Fraser River is a growing congestion point for trains operated by Canadian National Railway, Southern Railway of British Columbia, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, BNSF Railway, VIA Rail, and Amtrak Cascades.
The on-time performance of Amtrak Cascades is very low. For the period between January and October 2024, only 48% of all trains arrived at their final destination within 10 minutes of their scheduled time — well below the target of 88%. This was mainly due to delays from freight train and passenger train interference, and new speed restrictions imposed by Union Pacific, BNSF Railway, and Canadian National Railway.
Over the long term, the Amtrak Cascades service could be replaced by a new high-speed rail service linking Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. In December 2024, the US federal government provided WSDOT with US$50 million toward advancing planning work on this potential high-speed rail project.
Previous preliminary studies for overhauling the Amtrak Cascades route into high-speed rail estimated ridership could reach 2.1 million per year upon opening. Using conventional train technology and much slower speeds, the existing Amtrak Cascades service is already approaching half of that ridership.