Amtrak Seattle-Vancouver “service has been canceled”

[dcassetta]

sorry, hijacking this thread. Looks like train is resuming, but running 10-2:15pm. Is that not enough time? Is Amtrak too unreliable? Our backup plan is our relative in Seattle will drive us.

Whether its train service or bus service, that would be too late in the morning for my comfort level. If there is an accident or a problem at the border you could miss the cruise. If you have a nice relative to drive you, I would recommend that, but leave earlier than 10am.

 

[brent02139]

Sorry, my misunderstanding, hopefully Amtrak will be certified soon

 

[Donna M]

I booked Amtrak Cascade route for Aug 31 and didn´t realize it was a bus till I printed the ticket and the bus number was there. It was very deceptive in my opinion. There is a window you can open that talks about bus service for areas not served by the train, but it doesn´t say there is not a train. There´s even a picture of how full the train is. Luckily I purchased the ticket that is refundable. I wonder how much trouble it would have been if I had gotten the nonrefundable one. Nowhere was it mentioned that there is no train. I googled if there are trains going to Canada and an Amtrak page came up explaining the situation. That information should be on their home page.

In our situation we were lucky in that I was able to get discounts on our excursions (Celebrity) that morning that covered the airfare.

 

[xlxo]

No Amtrak train service to Canada until late 2022 for Vancouver to Seattle cruisers​

https://www.king5.com/article/news/...2022/281-a7e86491-7fef-41d0-b978-cce3949a359a

Washington Department of Transportation and Oregon Department of Transportation "expressed extreme disassociation" with the delay, but added it is committed to an earlier start date if more employees are hired

Conductors, on-board service, staff and mechanics need to be hired to support the service

 

[tvguy]

I booked Amtrak Cascade route for Aug 31 and didn´t realize it was a bus till I printed the ticket and the bus number was there. It was very deceptive in my opinion. There is a window you can open that talks about bus service for areas not served by the train, but it doesn´t say there is not a train. There´s even a picture of how full the train is. Luckily I purchased the ticket that is refundable. I wonder how much trouble it would have been if I had gotten the nonrefundable one. Nowhere was it mentioned that there is no train. I googled if there are trains going to Canada and an Amtrak page came up explaining the situation. That information should be on their home page.

In our situation we were lucky in that I was able to get discounts on our excursions (Celebrity) that morning that covered the airfare.

Amtrak has used buses instead of trains on portions of some routes for decades. That would explain why I keep seeing Amtrak buses on the Highway. My son took Amtrak ONCE from Sacramento to Los Angeles. The Bakersfield portion to Los Angeles was by bus.
And last month airlines announced they will start substituting buses for planes on shorter routes. They don't have enough people to staff the plans and don't have enough passengers to justify flying with current fuel prices.
https://www.npr.org/2022/04/11/1092...lacing-planes-with-buses-on-some-short-routes

 

[HuskyGal]

thanks to everyone who has been updating this thread. Hopefully they can resume a few days a week of train service… We may need to cancel this Alaska cruise due to work reasons after all. I will be following along for updates in case we’re able to still go. We’re not interested in driving. Will likely use their bus option if we’re are still able to go and If train service had not resumed.

 

[Fuzzycaterpillar1]

I was looking at the Amtrak app to upgrade our coach seats to business class and noticed our reservation now says “service has been canceled.” No email from Amtrak. I reached out to Amtrak, waiting to hear back from them. I noticed the route only offers buses now. Ugh. FYI check your reservation.
Editing to add their response:
Hello, We are showing that the service has been canceled. We are not showing a reason for the cancellation. Please feel free to contact one of our reservation agents who will be able to go over options for rescheduling with you. You may reach them by calling 1.800.USA.RAIL (872.7245). We apologize for the inconvenince.
ETA on 3/20:
“We apologize we don't have an estimated date as to when service will be rescheduled. We would recommend calling one of our reservation agents who will be able to issue a refund for this reservation. You may reach them by calling 1.800.USA.RAIL (872.7245). We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Try Greyhound bus. They have a route from Seattle to Vancouver bc.

 

[LiZaArd]

thanks to everyone who has been updating this thread. Hopefully they can resume a few days a week of train service… We may need to cancel this Alaska cruise due to work reasons after all. I will be following along for updates in case we’re able to still go. We’re not interested in driving. Will likely use their bus option if we’re are still able to go and If train service had not resumed.

It’s been confirmed that this route will not resume by train until later this year so it won’t be available for the Alaskan cruising period so the bus (or flying) are the options.

 

[HuskyGal]

It’s been confirmed that this route will not resume by train until later this year so it won’t be available for the Alaskan cruising period so the bus (or flying) are the options.

Thank you.