I dont exactly remember when perhaps 2 years ago but on account of chronic lateness on the part of the northbound Coast Starlight (train 14), Amtrak broke the connection between the arrival of train 14 in Portland and the departure of the Empire Builder (train 28).
SCENE AT PORTLAND UNION STATION
(l to r): CASCADES (to Seattle), EMPIRE BUILDER, COAST STARLIGHT
In practical terms, that meant for passengers traveling to points on the Empire Builder such as Spokane, Whitefish, Glacier Park, and anywhere else along the way to Chicago, they either needed to use an Amtrak bus from Klamath Falls to Pasco, Wash. (and miss so much of the trip by train) or had to overnight in Portland.
Amtrak had no choice because the only-in-theory connection in Portland between trains 14 and 28 cost Amtrak dearly in bills for bussing (and occasionally flying) people to make connections, putting them up in hotels, or delaying train 28s departure thus making it late. Not to mention many unhappy customers. (The scheduled arrival in Portland of train 14 was 3:40 p.m. and the departure of train 28 was 4:45 p.m. but train 14 was nearly always late, and late by hours not by minutes.)
Now for the past few months both northbound train 14 and its sister train southbound train 11 have been remarkably reliable by Amtrak timekeeping standards. For Chico readers of Planes, Trains & Automobiles that means that the nocturnal arrivals of the trains (1:55 a.m. and 3:50 a.m. respectively) have been disturbingly close to the scheduled times or even, gasp, on time!
In order to begin offering a same day connection between the northbound Coast Starlight and the eastbound Empire Builder, Amtrak must be reasonably sure that the Union Pacific Railroad is going to continue dispatching passenger trains ahead of freight trains. Amtraks contracts for use of the freight railroads’ track requires such treatment but have been honored in the past at best only sporadically on the U.P.
But starting Sunday, 22 February, trains 14 and 28 will appear once again as a same-day connection in the various channels that Amtrak uses to sell tickets.
Needless to say, this does not mean that train 14 will never be late again into Portland but as Amtrak wrote in its briefing for travel agents, those situations would be handled on a case-by-case basis with special buses or hotel overnights. For travelers whose trips I personally plan, I would still offer passengers the option of scheduling the trip with an overnight in Portland instead of a connection if they have the time or inclination.
Why?
Portland is a great city, breaking the trip up like that wont usually change the fare, and then there is no possibility of missing the connection.
By the way when I randomly check schedules for trains over the next few months I still find many dates where trains still have sleepers with the lowest price level supplement still available. Now is a good time to travel.
