Amtrak Cascades

Amtrak Cascades
A Cascades trainset in Vancouver, Washington, 2021
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
LocalePacific Northwest
PredecessorBN/UP/SP corridor trains
First serviceMay 1, 1971 (1971-05-01)
Current operatorsAmtrak, in partnership with Washington and Oregon Departments of Transportation
Annual ridership951,397 (FY 25)  1.4%
Websiteamtrakcascades.com
Route
TerminiVancouver, British Columbia
Eugene, Oregon
Stops18
Distance travelled460 miles (740 km)
Train number500–519
On-board services
ClassesCoach Class
Business Class
Disabled accessFully accessible
Seating arrangements4 across in coach class
3 across in business class
Catering facilitiesCafé car, lounge car
Baggage facilitiesOverhead racks, checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Rolling stockSiemens Charger
Talgo Series 8
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed79 mph (127 km/h)
Track ownersUP, BNSF, Sound Transit
Route map
0 mi
0 km
Vancouver, BC
61 mi
98 km
Bellingham
86 mi
138 km
Mount Vernon
99 mi
159 km
Stanwood
122 mi
196 km
Everett
138 mi
222 km
Edmonds
156 mi
251 km
Seattle
167 mi
269 km
Tukwila
Tacoma
195 mi
314 km
Tacoma Dome
Pre-2021 route
222 mi
357 km
Olympia–Lacey
244 mi
393 km
Centralia
288 mi
463 km
Kelso–Longview
327 mi
526 km
Vancouver, Washington
337 mi
542 km
Portland
Pioneer to Chicago
(discontinued 1997)
351 mi
565 km
Oregon City
389 mi
626 km
Salem
417 mi
671 km
Albany
460 mi
740 km
Eugene

All stations are accessible

The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train route in the Pacific Northwest, operated by Amtrak in partnership with the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. It is named after the Cascade mountain range that the route parallels. The 460-mile (740 km) corridor runs from Vancouver, British Columbia, through Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, to Eugene, Oregon.

As of December 2023, seven round trips operate along the corridor each day: one Vancouver–Seattle, one Vancouver–Seattle–Portland, three Seattle–Portland, and two Seattle–Portland–Eugene. No train travels the entire length of the corridor. For trains that do not travel directly to Vancouver or Eugene, connections are available on Amtrak Thruway bus services. Additionally, Amtrak Thruway services offer connections to other destinations in British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington not on the rail corridor.

In the fiscal year 2017, Cascades was Amtrak's eighth-busiest route with a total annual ridership of over 810,000. In fiscal year 2018, farebox recovery ratio for the train was 63%. On-time performance in FY2021 was 58.7%.