EB possible service disruption questions

[radsmom]

I have just come across some information regarding track work that is being done between Spokane and Portland. From Feb - April 12 (this would be during our trip). The EB has a one hour window to make it through or it does not go to PDX (I THINK the train goes to SEA and the pax are bussed to PDX). Then the next day the equipment is not in PDX so the pax are bussed to Spokane.

Has anyone here run into this on the EB recently? Does anyone know if all of the equipment goes to Seattle if that happens (or does the PDX portion stay in Spokane?)

Could we take a Cascade train up the next morning and get on the EB in SEA to avoid having to be bussed PDX to Spokane? We would have to catch an early train to get up to SEA but I would really prefer this to the bus to Spokane option.

Can anyone comment on this or give advice? Thanks!

 

[denmarks]

I checked arrival times in Portland for the past 5 days and the EB (27) seems to be arriving almost on time. If there are any disruptions they must be rare.

 

[jccollins]

If the westbound Empire Builder train is operating one hour or more late at Spokane, WA, the Portland section cars will stay on the train and continue with it through to Seattle. Usually these cars are taken off the main train at Spokane and taken directly to Portland. If this does happen, passengers have the option to take a direct thruway express bus from Spokane, WA to Portland, or they may remain onboard the train in their respective coach or sleeper and continue on to Seattle. Once in Seattle, passengers will be given a complimentary ticket on the next scheduled southbound Amtrak Cascades train to get to Portland.

Going eastbound that evening the equipment would not be available in Portland for passengers to board the Empire Builder, so passengers would be bused to Spokane, WA to board their section of the train there. Passengers who go to the Portland station on their own before northbound Amtrak Cascades Train 506 departs at 12:30pm bound for Seattle will be given a complimentary ticket to ride that train to Seattle. Train 506 arrives into SEA at 4:00pm and the Empire Builder departs SEA at 4:45pm.

 

[radsmom]

Going eastbound that evening the equipment would not be available in Portland for passengers to board the Empire Builder, so passengers would be bused to Spokane, WA to board their section of the train there. Passengers who go to the Portland station on their own before northbound Amtrak Cascades Train 506 departs at 12:30pm bound for Seattle will be given a complimentary ticket to ride that train to Seattle. Train 506 arrives into SEA at 4:00pm and the Empire Builder departs SEA at 4:45pm.

Thanks for that info - I was hoping it be the case for us to be able to take the Amtrak Cascades to Seattle to get our sleeper instead of having to bus it to Spokane.

Does that 506 run on time? I was a bit worried that the 45 connection time would be too close. I was thinking about taking the 500 at 8:45 to be safe if that was an option.

Thanks again for the reply. It's good to know in advance about this.

 

[AmtrakFan]

Amtrak would hold 8 in the event 506 ran late since it would have 28 Passengers.

 

[jccollins]

Does that 506 run on time? I was a bit worried that the 45 connection time would be too close. I was thinking about taking the 500 at 8:45 to be safe if that was an option.

Train 506 is a guaranteed connection to train 8 as AmtrakFan mentioned, and they will hold train 8 if train 506 is running that late. It is a guaranteed connection everyday, not just because of this unusual service disruption possibility.

You could take the earlier train 500 PDX-SEA that morning, but it would most likely be on your own dime. You might convince an Amtrak agent into giving you a ticket for it instead of train 506, but you'd have to risk the possibility of them making you pay for it since it isn't the scheduled guaranteed connection for train 8.

 

[battalion51]

Well technically they're both guaranteed connections, it's just not the one they generally set passengers up on. Just tell them you'd like to eat in Seattle or something like that, and they probably won't care.