Amtrak service between Vancouver and Seattle has been reduced to bus only as the rail giant deals with the sudden loss of 25 passenger cars on its Cascades route. Read More
The U.S. rail giant pulled 70 passenger cars out of service last week, including 26 on the Amtrak Cascades route
The U.S. rail giant pulled 70 passenger cars out of service last week, including 26 on the Amtrak Cascades route
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Amtrak service between Vancouver and Seattle has been reduced to bus only as the rail giant deals with the sudden loss of 25 passenger cars on its Cascades route.
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The U.S. Government-owned Amtrak reported last Wednesday it had pulled 70 Horizon passenger cars out of service across its Hiawatha, Borealis and Cascade routes.
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The company said a routine federal inspection of railcars and locomotives had identified corrosion in several railcars. Followup inspections “showed additional areas of concern, resulting in removal of cars from service on most of (the three) routes.”
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The Hiawatha and Borealis routes are out of Chicago, while the Cascade route goes from Vancouver to Seattle, Portland and Eugene — with two transfers along the way.
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Sunrise
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There is now one return service per day across the whole Cascades line, where normally there are six from Seattle to Portland and two from Portland to Eugene and Vancouver to Seattle.
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The Coast Starlight route between Seattle and Los Angeles and the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago are not impacted.
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Amtrak’s Vancouver to Seattle service was shut down for more than two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to full service in March 2023. The Horizon railcars were built by Canadian company Bombardier in the late 1980s, so are around 35 years old.
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On March 19, Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner resigned suddenly from the company. Amtrak board members are generally appointed by the U.S. president, with the transportation secretary (Sean Duffy) taking one seat.
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In a statement, Gardner said he was stepping down “to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration.”
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Amtrak has signed a $7.3 billion deal with German company Siemens that includes replacement locomotives and rolling stock on the Cascades route in 2026.
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Travel from Canada into the U.S. has fallen since February, with a 23 per cent drop in cross-border road trips by Canadian residents over the previous year.
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Canadian website FlightHub.com reports bookings made from Canada to the U.S. fell by 13 per cent in February and March compared to a year ago.
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With file from National Post and Bloomberg
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