Date:
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Contact:
Theresa Gren, WSDOT Rail Communications, 360-705-7904
Vernae Graham, Amtrak Communications, 510-238-4360
More Choices Arriving July 1, 2006
Seattle – The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Amtrak are proud to announce the launch of a fourth round-trip train added to the Amtrak Cascades schedule, effective Saturday, July 1, 2006. This mid-day service between Seattle and Portland provides passengers with more choices and convenience.
To accommodate the additional round trip, some Amtrak Cascades schedules will change. Passengers traveling between communities north and south of Seattle—such as from Bellingham to Portland—will have a shorter layover at King Street Station. This layover time for southbound passengers will be reduced from 60 to 25 minutes, and from 90 to 20 minutes for northbound travelers.
Also, day-trippers from the North Sound region will gain three more hours in Seattle. They will have nearly eight hours to shop, conduct business, or visit family and friends before their return trip. For tickets and reservations, visit www.AmtrakCascades.com.
To introduce the new service, inaugural celebrations are scheduled on July 1 along the route in Bellingham, Seattle, Centralia, and Portland. WSDOT, Amtrak and local elected officials will take part in station celebrations. Special activities will also be held onboard the inaugural trains. The southbound train will depart Seattle’s King Street Station at 11:20 a.m. and arrive in Portland at 3 p.m. The northbound train will depart from Portland’s Union Station at 2:50 p.m. and arrive in Seattle at 6:20 p.m.
The new Seattle-Portland round trip is funded by WSDOT. Since service began in 1994, Amtrak Cascades has experienced 11 consecutive years of record ridership. Amtrak Cascades trains are supported and funded by ticket-buying passengers, the states of Washington and Oregon, and Amtrak. For more information, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Rail/Passenger/SeattleToPortland/.
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