Amtrak is getting ready to restart its route through Bellingham. Here are the details
Amtrak is planning to restart its Cascades train service between Seattle, Bellingham and Vancouver, B.C. on Monday, Sept. 26.
Tickets will go on sale starting Thursday, Sept. 1, said Janet Matkin, communications manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation’s rail division. The service will start with one daily round-trip, with an additional round-trip planned as staffing and equipment allow.
The first Cascades train to Vancouver will depart Seattle at 7:45 a.m. on Sept. 26, stopping at five cities along the way, including Bellingham. It will arrive in Vancouver at 11:45 a.m. Amtrak Cascades will also offer three daily trips between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, according to a news release from Amtrak.
Service between Vancouver, BC, and Seattle was suspended in March 2020 because of the pandemic. With its return, there are new guidelines in place for those traveling into Canada. All passengers must use the ArriveCAN app before travel and wear a mask in Canadian stations as well as on board trains while traveling through Canada. Non-Canadian citizens must be fully vaccinated and carry the vaccination record that was uploaded into ArriveCAN, according to a news release from Amtrak.
The route from Vancouver, B.C., to Eugene, Oregon, had an annual ridership of more than 800,000 in each of the four years before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019 the number of people who got on or off at the Bellingham station totaled 54,000, according to data from the Washington State Department of Transportation. The Bellingham station also generated $928,000 in ticket sales in 2019.
The north-of-Seattle portion is the second-most popular segment in the Amtrak Cascades system, Matkin said. Along with the trip being beautiful because it is often along the water, it’s particularly popular with those going on cruises out of Seattle and Vancouver.
