SEATTLE — The Amtrak Cascades service will add a round trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, from Portland, Ore., on March 7, restoring operations to Vancouver to their pre-pandemic levels.
Also, the Cascades service recently provided an advance look at how its equipment will look, inside and out, when it takes delivery of the Siemens equipment that will be branded as “Airo” trainsets elsewhere in the Amtrak system.
Second Vancouver train
Plans to add the additional round trip were announced Friday, Jan. 13, on the Cascades Facebook page. An exact schedule will be announced at a later date, but tentative plans call for train No. 517 to leave Vancouver about 6:45 a.m., arriving in Seattle about 11 a.m. and Portland about 3 p.m. The return trip, train No. 518, would leave Portland about 3 p.m., arriving in Seattle at 6:30 p.m. and Vancouver about 11 p.m.. (The pre-pandemic version of the schedule had the train departing Vancouver at 6:35 a.m. and arriving in Portland at 3 p.m., with train 518 following the projected times.)
Tickets for the additional train will on sale when an exact schedule is announced in February.
Currently, one train daily services Vancouver from Seattle, departing Seattle at 7:45 a.m. and arriving in Vancouver at 11:45 a.m., with the return trip departing Vancouver at 5:45 p.m. and arriving in Saettle at 10:10 p.m. That service resumed in September after being suspended in 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic [see “Amtrak set to resume service …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 31, 2022].
KOMO Radio also reports that Amtrak plans to increase the number of trips between Seattle and Portland from four to six this fall.
New Cascades equipment
The Cascades trainsets scheduled for delivery in 2026 will retain the current paint scheme — which features shades known as Evergreen, Castilian Copper, Double Latte, and Nugget, according to this Amtrak branding guide — but the design will be revised, as shown above. The interior, while basically the same as that of the other new Siemens trainsets, will also be unique in terms of its color palette.
“The branding of our new trains is unique to the Amtrak Cascades corridor, distinguishing them from others in the Amtrak fleet,” Ron Pate, director of WSDOT’s Rail, Freight and Ports Division, said in a press release. “Their arrival will herald a new generation of train travel in the Pacific Northwest.” The new design will include illustrations of Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier on each car.
Eight new trainsets and two new locomotives will be delivered for Cascades service. As with the other equipment in the fleet, amenities will include USB ports, onboard Wi-Fi, enhanced lighting, digital customer information systems, automated steps and touchless restroom controls.
— Updated at 7:15 a.m. CST with information on more Seattle-Portland trips.
If the Midwest equipment is the Venture coaches, the new stuff in the NW will be more comfortable. The Venture aisles are very wide, pushing the narrow seats too close to the wall (and the next passenger) and are like crowded airplane seats. Horizon and Amfleet, especially the ones with new seats, are much more comfortable.
But will they work in cold weather?
I’d be more worried about wet than cold….
I agree Hunter, current equipment is not comfortable other than the two series Talgo 8 sets that are still running. The Midwest fleet does not ride that well either. Looking forward to the new equipment.
Nice 🙂
Sad I’ll probably never get a chance to ride on the taligo sets, the interiors looked amazing for what they was made for, i don’t think nothing will compare to them even from Siemens, hopefully the seats are atleast more comfy than the Midwest sets