AlanB

That is indeed schedule padding. So yes, if your train into VAN arrives on time and leaves on time, you'd have a very good chance of being early into PDX.

zephyr17

No

fairviewroad

True, but IME it's far more likely the train will depart VAN late and arrive into PDX close(r) to the advertised arrival time.

ND76

I took the Cascades trains in business class both ways between SEA and YVR. My total cost was $163.00. Some observations:

1. Heading north on the evening departure 9/8/16, the inbound train from PDX was about one hour late. Check in was supposed to have started at 1815 (scheduled departure was 1850), but ended up starting just after 1900. There were two Amtrak employees at a desk between Gates 3 and 4; one handled coach pax, and the other handled business pax. Check in was quick and easy in the business line.

2. I was on the single seat side, meaning that I was on the inland side. I was surprised at how few seats were in my car (I counted 24). Business class was sold out at SEA, although at least 50% of the pax detrained by Bellingham.

3. My seat was comfortable, but was not as wide as first class seating on European trains. Very comparable to the seats in Premium Economy on Virgin Atlantic.

4. The train seemed to move well for much of the USA part of the trip (somewhat slower between Mt. Vernon and Bellingham), but crawled along once north of the 49th parallel. Total running time northbound was 4:15; we arrived at Pacific Central Station on the stroke of midnight.

5. I used the Amtrak Connect wifi to stream an internet radio station I listen to and it worked very well, until the international boundary; it does not work in Canada.

6. Arrival at Pacific Central was somewhat prison like, with a 12' high fence with top piece bent back at a 30 degree angle to the right of the track, and with a gate which is shut behind the rear locomotive. Detraining did not start until the baggage car had been unloaded, and then they opened the doors from back to front one car at a time, with my car, #9, the rearmost, offloaded first. Immigration and customs was efficient and actually not unpleasant; the Canadian officer asked me to describe where I was going for 3 days, and after I told him, he smiled and waved me through.

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7. On the flip flop, Monday 9/12/16, early morning departure, I was worried about being left behind for not getting into the check-in/immigration line early enough, so I arrived at Pacific Central at 0530. A sign indicated that check-in opened at 0530 and closed at 0620. Once again, business class had its own dedicated line, and I was through that in 60 seconds or so. I was able to speak to a US CBP officer immediately, and after carefully looking at my passport and looking at me, he stamped my Customs Declaration card and sent me to the next station, where mall cop style security wanted to look into my carry-ons; after opening one compartment on my backpack and seeing it contained a lap top, he let me go. I was in my seat by 0548.

8. At 0630, there was no movement, and no announcements. At 0636, I watched one of the mall cops saunter at a casual rate down to the gate to unlock it and let the train roll out. We were in motion by 0641; however, we were only rolling through Burnaby and New Westminster at a top speed of 30 miles an hour. When we approached the turntable bridge over the Fraser River, we had to stop as it was opened to permit a barge with intermodal freight containers to pass through; we ended up losing another 10 minutes there. We arrived at the USA border, 38 miles down the line, at 0802. We stopped next to the Peach Arch border barrier, where three armed CBP officers boarded the train to do a customs inspection and collect the Customs Declaration cards. This was uneventful, and the train started rolling at 0819.

9. The Bellingham station is actually well south of the city center, and adjacent to the Alaska Marine Highway ferry terminal. Likewise, the Edmonds station is about one block south of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry.

10. It took 2:40 to travel the 119 miles between the Peace Arch and King Street Station, where we arrived at 1059 on my watch, 4 minutes behind the very padded scheduled arrival of 1055 (they allow 38 minutes to go 18 miles from Edmonds to Seattle). Excluding the time spent at the approach to the Fraser River and the border crossing, total rolling time was a little less than 4 hours for the 157 miles, a disappointing 40 mph on train equipment meant to travel up to 100 mph.

11. I really enjoyed the ride and was glad I did this. However, the inconsistent speed of the train, and the fact that you could drive from SEA to YVR in a little over two hours plus the time spent crossing the border, would make this a frustrating choice for those that need to travel between these two cities regularly. If there is a route that cries out for high speed rail, this is it (and that includes south to Eugene, Oregon). They should take the high speed rail money they are about to waste in the Central Valley of California and use it on a route where there are a lot of different cities that people actually want to travel to and from.

fairviewroad

You're essentially correct: SEA-VAC is a slow and expensive way to travel by train. The bus makes the trip faster (usually). Obviously you can do it for less by traveling in coach, but even so it's not generally the most affordable choice.

It's a great segment during daylight hours due to the near-constant good scenery. At night, it's....meh.

3Cforme

To clarify for others trying to follow:

YVR = Vancouver, BC, airport code

VAN = Vancouver, Washington

VAC = Vancouver, BC, main rail station.

Don't buy a ticket to VAN if you want to go to VAC.

txp

In a few days I am expected to travel on Amtrak 510 from Seattle to Vancouver BC in business class. I would appreciate if anyone could help me with *any* of these questions:

1. The train leaves at 7:45 AM. What time should I be at the train station in order to get one of the first seat assignments in business class.

2. Are business class passengers still able to go through customs in Vancouver ahead of the other passengers?

3. Will I save any time if I do not check bags?

4. Is Red Cap personnel available in Seattle and can they help with seat assignment?

5. What side of the car is usually looking west (at the coast): the two-seat row or the single-seat row?

Thank you very much!

zephyr17

txp

Thanks very much. This answers all my questions. I appreciate the time you took to reply.

And, yes, this will be a busy time of the year. I just checked the Amtrak website and I see that the entire train is sold out.

BTW, assuming I get there early to get some nice seats, is there a place to get a cup of coffee at the King Street Station after I get the seat assignment?

Thanks again!

zephyr17

Unfortunately, there isn't any food service at all within King Street Station, just some vending machines.

There is a Starbucks that opens early a couple of blocks west of the station at Jackson & Occidental.

txp

Thanks again!

shuttercookie

We were about third in the business class line when the seat assignment window opened. We requested and received seats on the ocean side. The ocean side had the single seats but we got the seats that were facing each other at the front of the car so were still sitting together.
We had the same seats on the trip back.
I think we got there about an hour early.

We did not check bags and were the first party through the customs line in Vancouver.

zephyr17

I ride the Cascades to Vancouver pretty frequently, and it is unusual that the consist is set up so the single seat side is on the Sound side. But, as you experienced, it does happen.

txp

Thank you both.

One more thought --

If we do check bags, will that cause significant delays upon arrival in Vancouver? I read somewhere that they offload the checked bags and place them on the platform *before* the passengers are allowed to get off the train. So, in theory, this should not add too much time. In practice?

My goal is to be among the first to go through customs in Vancouver. If checking the bags adds additional delay, I will just bring them on board.

Thanks again!

shuttercookie

We did not check bags but were amongst the first off the business class train. The sidewalk was already lined with large bags waiting for their owners to grab before heading through customs in Vancouver.
It does seem that we sat for a bit after the train pulled into the station.

On the other end in Seattle, we were off the train almost immediately.
Not sure where the bags are picked up in Seattle but not visible to detraining passengers as they were in Vancouver.