10 years and 3/4 million passengers later, Amtrak Cascades is alive and thriving. From the crazy Talgo car wings to the unique Cabbage Cars, it's a train that you can identify purely on site. The line runs through some of the most stunning parts of the region, serving the US and Canada. Last year the train saw a huge jump in ridership, and for 2010 another train to Vancouver BC will be added for the Olympics.But wait...isn't "rail travel" dead? Not by a long shot, if you ask those associated with the Cascades. In fact, the Governors of Washington and Oregon consider it a Signature Line and a testament to the value of public/private partnerships in railroading. The train has a decade of experience now, finding out what works and what doesn't. They've succeeded, and now with a renewed Federal commitment to rail they have the ability to pass on what they know to those in DC who want to restore High Speed Rail to America.
Governor Christine Gregoire and Oregon's Governor Kulongoski recently cheered the Obama Administration for making rail transport a priority; no doubt this had plenty of leverage from a new Vice President who has used Amtrak to commute now for many years. Gregoire and Kulongoski also wrote a letter to the US Secretary of Transportation (available HERE in PDF form, and great reading) which outlines the success of the Cascades and what they hope to achieve in the future. They also provided some insight on what it takes to make a line succeed, with the most important point being the goal of investing long-term.
Experience shows that a transportation model like the Cascades can work; vision keeps the model relevant. As air travel gets slower at the security gate, and more volatile on the credit card, people are once again seeing the value of hitting the rails. All Amtrak needs now are passengers, and with the way the numbers have been in the last 12 months I don't think that's going to be much of an issue.
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