Count on much more buses on Portland roads and freeways as Amtrak grapples with an surprising service disruption. The operator of the Amtrak Cascades line between Oregon and Washington introduced Wednesday they’ve eliminated all however certainly one of their trainsets as a result of a routine inspection revealed a excessive degree of corrosion.
The corrosion is expounded to the age of the Horizon trainsets and has resulted in a complete of 70 vehicles throughout the nation being taken out of service. 26 of these are on the Amtrak Cascades line. “This leaves only one non-Horizon trainset in service on Amtrak Cascades,” reads a press release posted by Amtrak. “This impacts almost all journeys on Amtrak Cascades each day service to 18 stations between Vancouver, British Columbia and Eugene, Oregon.”
Buses shall be used within the short-term by way of March thirtieth for all journeys besides these served by prepare numbers 503 and 508 between Seattle and Eugene (offering just one remaining each day roundtrip). Amtrak is working with bus suppliers for longer-term service however that’s nonetheless up within the air.
The growing old Horizon trains will should be changed and Amtrak says they’ll attempt to redistribute trains from its nationwide fleet to fill the hole till new trains come on-line. They’ve already obtained an order for a brand new fleet of trains, however these are anticipated to reach till 2026. In accordance with the most recent replace supplied by ODOT, 4 new “Amfleet” vehicles (two coaches and two dinette vehicles) are on the best way to Seattle and are anticipated to start operations on the Cascade line the primary week of April.
That is actually dangerous information for Amtrak’s service alongside the I-5 hall. And it comes because the Cascades line has proven a powerful improve in ridership and amid rising political momentum in Oregon for rail journey. Amtrak set an all-time ridership file final 12 months and launched two new each day journeys on the Cascades line, bringing the variety of each day roundtrips between Seattle and Portland to seven.
The Oregon Legislature handed a invoice in 2024 calling on Metro to check the usage of current heavy rail property for passenger rail within the Portland metro space. A invoice within the legislature this session (SB 753/HB 3233) directs the Oregon Division of Transportation to work with transportation companies in Washington and British Columbia to develop plans to function and enjoyable rail transportation. A invoice within the Oregon Senate (SB 689) seeks to create a brand new company, the Oregon Rail Division, to take over rail operations from ODOT. Different payments search to broaden TriMet’s WES service and create a activity power on excessive pace rail.
However now all palms are on deck to resolve this present service disaster. Amtrak says they’re assembly with ODOT and WSDOT officers twice a day as they work to revive service and absolutely perceive the price and operational impacts of this disruption.
