![Amtrak will restore a bunch of curtailed service in the Pacific Northwest on May 24, 2021. CREDIT: pxhere.com](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Amtrak-train.jpg)
Pandemic-Curtailed Amtrak Service To Be Partially Restored Next Month For Northwest Routes
READ ON
In another sign of the rebound in travel, Amtrak and the state transportation departments of Oregon and Washington announced plans to restore a good chunk of the passenger train service that was curtailed due to low ridership in the pandemic.
Beginning May 24th, Amtrak will restore daily service on its long distance routes through the Pacific Northwest, meaning the Empire Builder (Chicago to Seattle/Portland) and Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles) routes. Those had been cut to thrice weekly service since last year. Members of Congress demanded the resumption of daily service as a condition for Amtrak to receive $1.7 billion in COVID relief funds.
Also on May 24, the state-supported Amtrak Cascades service partially bounces back from its nadir of one lonely roundtrip per day between Seattle and Eugene. As of late May, there will be a second daily roundtrip between Seattle and Eugene and a third roundtrip just serving the Seattle-Portland segment.
WSDOT and ODOT said they are closely monitoring ridership and seeing a resurgence this spring. WSDOT rail spokesperson Janet Matkin said many Amtrak Cascades trains in April have operated at capacity, currently set at a maximum of 50% of seats filled to comply with state health protocols.
After the late May service restoration, frequencies in the Eugene-Portland corridor will be back to pre-COVID levels. Passenger train service north to Vancouver, Canada, remains suspended because the northern border is still closed to nonessential crossings. It is unclear when the Portland-to-Seattle segment will be fully restored to the four daily Amtrak Cascades roundtrips it had before the pandemic hit.
“The addition of more trips will depend on demand and ongoing COVID restrictions,” Matkin said on Monday. “We’ll be watching these additional trips closely to determine if more trips are needed. Ultimately, we plan to return to the four daily roundtrips, but the timing is uncertain at this time.”
Further service enhancements — specifically, an aspired to fifth and sixth Seattle-Portland roundtrip — would require reopening an alternate rail line that parallels Interstate 5 between Tacoma and Lacey, Washington. This trackway — the Point Defiance Bypass — has not been used by Amtrak since a catastrophic derailment in December 2017.
Sound Transit owns the Point Defiance Bypass and controls its use in partnership with Amtrak and WSDOT. Sound Transit safety managers are being extremely deliberate in reviewing plans to resume Amtrak Cascades service on this faster bypass route. A presentation posted in advance of a Washington State Transportation Commission briefing on Tuesday said “no date has been identified” at this time to return Amtrak trains to the bypass.
Related Stories:
![Amtrak's proposed enhanced services map](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/proposed_amtrak_routes_april_2_2021_v4_custom-720fe00d7655d42e2a1aa70542d832af3aaade68-500x500.jpg)
As President Biden Pushes Major Rail Investments, Amtrak’s Proposed 2035 Map Has People Talking
When President Biden unveiled his major new infrastructure plan last week, the proposal included much more than fixing crumbling bridges. And for those who wish America had a more robust passenger train network, it gave them something new: hope.
![Donor Kaitlan Vasquez giving blood in Olympia on the third anniversary of the Amtrak 501 train wreck in December 2017. CREDIT: Tom Banse/N3](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Blood-Donor-Kaitlan-Vasquez-Olympia-121820-CREDIT-Tom-Banse-N3-500x500.jpg)
‘I Knew I Needed To Go Out,’ Says Blood Donor Marking 3rd Anniversary Of Deadly I-5 Amtrak Crash
Three years ago on December 18, a speeding Amtrak Cascades train bound for Portland derailed near DuPont, Washington, and tumbled onto Interstate 5. The crash killed three passengers and injured scores of others. An Olympia woman marked the anniversary Friday by going back to her local blood donation center to achieve a related, but happier milestone.
![Acela II passes through Halethorpe, MD on its way to Washington DC for the first Amtrak has full rights to this image. New Acela 21 in Testing](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Amtrak-Acela-train-CREDIT-Amtrak-500x500.jpg)
Cascadia High-Speed Rail: Will It Finally Happen Or Is It ‘Time To Kill This Thing’?
A new government report on high speed rail in the Pacific Northwest recommends that Oregon, Washington and British Columbia formalize their interest in a Cascadia bullet train by creating an independent body to plan and eventually build it. But a critic associated with a conservative think tank responded that the region should take heed of California’s high speed rail woes and put a spike in the Cascadia bullet train ambitions.