Train ties between Seattle and Portland will grow July 1 with the addition of a fifth daily Amtrak round-trip between the cities.
The additional train helps integrate Cascadia by making connections easier along the corridor from Bellingham to Portland. Here's the info from Amtrak.
This is a case of supply trailing demand. Highways along the Cascadia corridor are increasingly clogged. The latest train is the first new service in the corridor since 1999. Even without additional service, passenger traffic from Seattle-Portland rose 6 percent from 2004 to 2005, according to a Seattle Times report.
The new train is funded by a multi-billion-dollar transportation package approved last year by Washington, whose taxpayers fund three current round-trips using new train equipment. The trains make the trip in about 3:30. A daily Amtrak on its way to L.A. and back also serves the route more slowly.
Cascadia travelers are waiting for British Columbia's government to step up with funding to fix the weakest link in the Cascadia corridor: between the U.S. border and downtown Vancouver.