All Things Cascades incl Vancouver

Good news. How else are the stars going to get there when filming? Oh yeah, private jets...

Until we get the lines speeded up, then people would not utilize the Horizon shuttles.

When I was recently on Vancouver Island, I got some insight into some of the reasoning of the fees initially requested by CBSA by an retired RCMP constable.

He thinks its a combination of how CBSA does port of entry staffing (which is different from US CBP, which plans shifts 24 hours a day for most port of entry stations) and the fact that the CBSA crew that does the Cascades comes from White Rock. For comparison, US CBP sends a crew from pre-clearence operations at YVR in Richmond.

And the extra charges for CBSA isn't anything new; back in 2004 when the infamous Rochester Ferry was doing its first season; CBSA requested payment for its services at its Toronto terminal; however that is due to the fact that under Canadian law, any port of entry that is owned by private corporations must pay for services; which I am sure since Pac Central is owned by VIA Rail, its a non issue here.

An overnight Cascades? Amtrak Cascades is offering an overnight trip 11:59 pm to 4:14 am non-stop Seattle to Portland on Thanksgiving eve/morning.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/89 ... hedule.pdf

It is a repositioning move for the Amfleet set that they use for Thanksgiving specials. They have been doing the move for several years, but only started selling tickets for it last year. Making a virtue out of necessity or something like that.

Looks like full pre-clearance may be in sight:http://today.seattletimes.com/2011/12/a ... ouver-b-c/

[T]he administrations of U.S. President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper this week signed an international agreement called “Beyond the Border” that would cut several minutes off the southbound Cascade trip, and affect other crossings, by the end of 2012.

Right now, the U.S. conducts agriculture and immigration inspections in the Vancouver station, and then stops trains on the trackway near Blaine — causing a delay of 12 minutes to 20 minutes to check baggage and Customs declarations. Evening inspections often make passengers interrupt dinner to file forms while dogs sniff items in the train.

In the new protocol, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol will finish all the inspections in the Vancouver station and summon Royal Canadian Mounted Police if necessary — similar to what has been done in the Vancouver airport since 1974, says Bruce Agnew, transportation director for the Cascadia Center of the Seattle-based Discovery Institute. No more stopped trains along Boundary Bay.

This changes an issue that the 2001 Canada-US Pre-Clearence agreement left hanging; they specified that trains could get immigration pre-clearence but not customs due to the RCMP not willing to deputize US CBP personnel to allow for customs inspection to be done in Canada outside of Ontario. In Ontario all US CBP Officers working pre-clearence posts are deputized by OPP as Ontario Special Constables so they can do customs inspection without the presence of a RCMP or OPP officer.

And something not exactly mentioned is that Vancouver station might also get a NEXUS kiosk for NEXUS cardholders.

The chart is a bit dated, being from December, but the progress of all Washington's planned improvements to the Cascades route can be found at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/EE ... ec2011.pdf .

The tracks in Tacoma from D to M Street should be complete by summer with Sounder trains to Lakewood before the end of the year. http://projects.soundtransit.org/Projec ... l-Work.xml

The design of the Everett storage track is complete.

WSDOT is currently seeking approval on the project's scope, schedule and budget from the Federal Railroad Administration before BNSF can start construction.

Construction is tentatively scheduled to be complete in the summer of 2012, pending release of funds by the Federal Railroad Administration.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/rail/everettstorage/

Passenger rail service on ideal track

Faster, more reliable passenger rail service between Vancouver, B.C., and Eugene, Ore., is one of the likely outcomes of a new partnership between the Washington and Oregon transportation departments.

The two state agencies have agreed to manage the route for Amtrak Cascades service as one continuous rail corridor, instead of two separate state operations.

This is a welcome move that should eventually lead to improved service for a growing customer base of rail passengers.

The goal is to have a unified plan for governance, scheduling, budgeting, capital planning and fleet management. This should lead to increased efficiencies and cost savings.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2012/04/10/2 ... rylink=cpy

Found a nice trip report on an airline/travel blog: http://hackmytrip.com/2012/04/29/trip-r ... ncouver-bc

Rbts Stn wrote:Found a nice trip report on an airline/travel blog: http://hackmytrip.com/2012/04/29/trip-r ... ncouver-bc

He seems determined to be negative.

I dont see it that way , he makes alot of good points that Amtrak needs to work on . business class at least , you need to be able to book a seat of your choice if avaliable .
Amtrak needs a mystery shopper to see what those card players are meant to be doing , if they are on duty , why arethey playing cards rather than seeing to customers needs , or just passing time with the customers if time is avaliable .
I would think the comment about the lack of conductors passing through the cars would be a concern , particualrly on an international route .

Sorry, this article is a month old, but the trains are even further behind schedule.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =157752906

The new equipment isn't expected to enter service until next spring…up to six months later than originally planned. Shelley Snow of the Oregon Department of Transportation says there have been a number of delays at the Wisconsin factory where the trains are being manufactured.

jstolberg wrote:Sorry, this article is a month old, but the trains are even further behind schedule.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =157752906

The new equipment isn't expected to enter service until next spring…up to six months later than originally planned. Shelley Snow of the Oregon Department of Transportation says there have been a number of delays at the Wisconsin factory where the trains are being manufactured.

The various new trains ordered and planned by OR and WA will do three things:
(1) provide additional service, but not until after Pt Defiance Bypass is built
(2) lengthen existing consists (through a complex juggling mechanism: basically one new trainset starts, and the previous 6 trainsets get turned into 5, IIRC)
(3) allow Oregon to stop paying Washington for the use of trainsets

Given that the new service is waiting on the Bypass, I doubt that either Oregon or Washington is in a huge hurry to get the new trainsets. It's not like Amtrak, which must be itching to get its Viewliners what with its fleet shortage.

Given the current ridiculous goings on in Wisconsin, is it permissible (given federal programs have conditions of various kinds) for WA/OR to lease those units on a short term basis while waiting for the ordered units? From what I understand there are Superliners running on some Cascades services at present, presumably to cover for a maintenance window on some of the Talgos. Not sure how long for but presumably Amtrak could find something else for the Superliners to do if there were other available Talgos to be spotted in (with some decals in strategic places).