Due to less construction and congestion on the Seattle to Portland line, 10 minutes is being shaved off the running time on 6 of the 8 daily Cascades trips between SEA and PDX. The Coast Starlight and the midday trips on trains 506 and 513 will keep their current schedules. There also will be some changes in departure times from SEA. All changes will be effective July 11th.
It's nice to see a change in the Cascades run-times. My last few trips on the route have all arrived ahead of schedule and without any significant delay enroute. Reducing the run-times to 3:40 is still slower than the best-case scenario for driving between Seattle and Portland, but it does make the train trip appear more competitive with driving. In 2017, when all construction is complete, the run-time will be reduced to 3:20 and 2 additional roundtrips will be added.
quote:Amtrak Cascades passengers will enjoy quicker trips between Seattle and Portland this summer. From July 11 through Sept 13, 2015, daily trains numbered 500, 501, 507, 508, 509 and 516 will arrive at their final destinations ten minutes sooner. What has been a three hour and 50 minute trip will now be three hours and 40 minutes. Two of the trains will experience slight changes in their departure times, with the 501 train leaving at 7:25 a.m. and the 507 leaving at 2:10 p.m.
The announcement states that the changes are scheduled to run through Sept. 13 only, hopefully they will be extended longer.