Pacific Northwest: Keep the B-Train?

Posted on 21. Feb, 2010 by Rob Howatson in Regional, teaser

Pacific Northwest: Keep the B-Train?
TRAIN TRAVEL

Is Amtrak’s Vancouver to Seattle No. 2 a train worth fighting for?

by Rob Howatson

Amtrak passenger trains have been running between Vancouver and Seattle since 1995, offering a scenic roll across the border. But it is only in the past six months that the service has become truly practical for British Columbians looking for a daytrip or weekend in Space Needle Town.

The original schedule had Vancouverites boarding at 5:45 p.m. and arriving in Seattle just in time to check into a hotel for the night. The next day, the only train home left at dawn, unless travellers settled for a bus or a second night in the Emerald City. But a new, second Amtrak Cascades train means Canadians can now arrive at King Street Station before noon, enjoy a ball game at Safeco Field or cruise the malls, then choo-choo home at 6:50 p.m. Better yet, rail lovers can overnight in Seattle and enjoy brunch the next day at Pike Place Market before  even thinking of heading home.

Photo: Cascades at Titlow Beach, WA/courtesy Amtrak

Also read: Vancouver to Seattle the Amtrak Special

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About the Author

Rob Howatson

The Pacific North West Rob Howatson blogs about the Pacific Northwest on MyWestworld. Rob Howatson is a freelance writer and a contributing editor for My Westworld magazine. He also writes for the Globe and Mail and Vancouver Sun newspapers, and B.C. Business and Vancouver magazines. His passions: travel, local history and arts and entertainment. Some of Rob’s memorable moments in the field include dangling from a fourth-storey balcony in Sydney, Australia (the balcony turned out to be a flimsy window box); paragliding in the B.C. Rockies; and discovering a 1950s time capsule in the wall of Vancouver’s old Sunset Community Centre just prior to the building’s demolition in 2008.

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2 Responses to “Pacific Northwest: Keep the B-Train?”

  1. Bill Langford

    Bill Langford

    23. Feb, 2010

    The Amtrak website shows no train from Vancouver to Seattle: it is a bus connection to the U.S. border area and then a train to Seattle. The article makes no mention of bus travel, implying that it is a leisurely journey by rail in both directions. Am I missing something?

  2. judy

    judy

    24. Mar, 2010

    I think the train should remain

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