Amtrak trains between Vancouver and Seattle restart after over two years

First passengers on Amtrak Cascades in more than two years on September 26, 2022. (Amtrak Cascades)

Happy faces abound onboard the first Amtrak Cascades passenger trains between Vancouver and Seattle on Monday in about 30 months.

The service restarted after a prolonged pandemic hiatus since March 2020, initially due to health safety and travel restrictions, and then a severe labour shortage in specialized Amtrak workers.

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The Amtrak Cascades segment between Seattle and Portland restarted a year ago, but the northern segment between Seattle and Vancouver was delayed.

Amtrak originally stated it would not be able to restart services to Vancouver until December 2022, but it later determined it was able to address the minimum labour requirements for the service much earlier than originally anticipated.

amtrak cascades september 26 2022 restart

First passengers on Amtrak Cascades in more than two years on September 26, 2022. (Amtrak Cascades)

With that said, services are now limited to a single daily roundtrip service — down from the pre-pandemic service of two daily roundtrips.

The Canada-bound train leaves Seattle’s King Station at 7:45 am and arrives at Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station at 11:45 am. For return, the US-bound train leaves Pacific Central Station at 5:45 pm and arrives at Seattle’s King Street Station at 10:10 pm.

A second daily trip will be added in the future when Amtrak’s staffing and equipment allow for the return of full pre-pandemic service levels.

The route between Vancouver and Seattle entails five stops along the way, including Bellingham, Mt. Vernon, Stanwood, Everett, and Edmonds.

Trains are known to be delayed due to the prioritization of freight traffic.

Amtrak Cascades route segment from Vancouver, BC to Seattle, Washington. (Amtrak)

Fares each way between Vancouver to Seattle start at US$34 for economy class and US$83 for business class.

All pandemic-time health safety and travel restrictions imposed by the Canadian federal government on border and customs crossings that are still in effect as of the time of writing will end on October 1. Just like air travel and road crossings, Amtrak Cascades passengers traveling to Vancouver will no longer need to use the ArriveCan app to provide their proof of vaccination and travel information. As well, the mask requirement onboard trains and planes will end on the same day.

Earlier this year, economical coach bus service FlixBus launched a new service between the downtowns of Vancouver and Seattle, operating five days per week. Its fares are comparable to Amtrak Cascades.

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