All Things Cascades incl Vancouver

Concerning the recent discussion of "is it worth it?": KGW.com

Is commuting by Amtrak train a better option to avoid I-5 bottleneck between Vancouver and Portland?

Amtrak has added more trains to its daily schedule between Vancouver, Washington and Portland. The cost? $5 a ride. Is hopping on a train the better commute option?
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Amtrak’s Cascades service recently added two additional trains to the daily schedule, for a total of six round trips a day. It runs from Vancouver, British Columbia, all the way down to Eugene, Oregon.

The ride from the Amtrak station in Vancouver, Washington, near downtown Vancouver to Portland Union Station in Old Town costs $5 each way. If all goes well, it's a 26-minute ride.
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News Anchor Tim Gordon and KGW photographer John Helm bought tickets for the 8:51 a.m. southbound train from Vancouver to Portland. The train was ten minutes late getting to Vancouver, and then, river traffic kept them from crossing the bridge for trains across the Columbia River by another ten minutes.
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Vincent wrote: ↑Sat Feb 03, 2024 3:46 pm

And if you're a student of Western Oregon University, Linfield University, Pacific University, George Fox University, Reed College, University of Portland, Western University of Health Sciences? Yeah, Amtrak don't serve you, either.

What does this mean? U of Portland and Reed are within Portland's city limits and well-served by public transit. Most of the others are within 25 miles of an Amtrak station. I think college students have figured out how to use ride share apps.

Years ago when the HST came out, British Rail did a study. Train trips under three hours were well-received by potential travelers. Above three hours not so much.

If you spend an hour getting downtown on a local bus, that eats into your three hours. If you spend an hour on a local bus at your destination, that's two of your three hours. Now don't forget you have to wait for that 2x/day train as it doesn't run when you want. Now we start to see the folly of the Eugene trains. I could leave a building in suburban Portland and get to Eugene twice over before the Cascades even leaves Portland. That's useless.

So, Mr. Dunville, as far as BR was concerned, only London Euston-Birmingham or London KC-York were markets?

Wonder what the successor (ostensible) private sector operators hold today?

I have not set foot on "Mother Country's soil" since '86, so I totally defer to you.

No, I think there are a lot more 3 hour-ish rides in GB. From London alone you can do Manchester, Cardiff, Bristol, Reading, anywhere south or east, Liverpool, Coventry, etc... Basically anywhere but Scotland.

From the industrial MIdlands you could probably get anywhere but the South West and the Highlands.

And from EDB or Glasgow you could get to the Highlands and the Midlands.

This was all the product of upgrading the existing ECML and WCML plus introducing the HST. No dedicated mains, and a fairly low tech train.

Years ago when the HST came out, British Rail did a study. Train trips under three hours were well-received by potential travelers. Above three hours not so much.

What's the limit to a traveler's endurance on an intercity bus? BoltBus (Greyhound) found out that Wi-Fi and modern buses are nice-to-haves, but price was the only way to compete. Modern transportation studies show that frequency and journey time are the critical factors for most travelers. For intra-OR service, buses between Salem and Portland are fine; Eugene to Portland is a stretch.

And remember, about half the passengers who board in OR are continuing on to a destination in WA. It's less likely that an Olympia to Salem passenger would still choose a train+bus journey over a 1-seat train ride. Plus, the new schedule moves the 530am departure from EUG to a friendlier 730am departure time. And all trains to/from EUG are now providing a one-seat ride from/to Seattle. I don't think the historic ridership gains in November and December are outliers--they'll be a trend.

BNSF has already started working on a slope stabilization project between Kelso and Vancouver WA (near Felida) to mitigate the risk of landslides that have canceled Cascades service several times this winter. Unfortunately, the track work may delay some trains up to 30 minutes through March 17.

from ODOT:

From Feb. 2 to March 17, BNSF will be working to stabilize areas prone to slides between Vancouver, Wash. and Seattle. This may cause delays of up to 30 minutes for trains operating from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Amtrak will monitor trains to ensure passengers make connections to other trains.

Wonder if BNSF is receiving any state funds for the mitigation? Up to 30 minute delays? Better finish it ASAP with the delays now instead of cancellations later!