PORTLAND, Ore. — Amtrak has extended a pause on train service between Portland and Seattle through Saturday morning due to a second landslide along the route between the two cities. Alternative transportation will continue to be provided for passengers, according to a message on the Amtrak Cascades website.
Train service was suspended following an initial landslide on Tuesday and was scheduled to resume Thursday, but Amtrak Cascades reported the second landslide on its website Thursday morning and said train service would instead resume Friday. Subsequent tweets from the Amtrak Alerts account pushed the resumption of service back to Saturday.
The closure impacts Amtrak Cascades and Amtrak Coast Starlight trains. Trains between Portland and Eugene and between Seattle and Vancouver, BC are still operating normally. Riders with booked tickets can modify their trips on the Amtrak app, Amtrak.com or by calling 800-USA-RAIL. Cancellation fees will be waived, Amtrak said.
Most of the Portland-to-Seattle section of both lines runs on track owned by BNSF Railway. According to BNSF, the first slide happened about 6 miles north of Vancouver, stopping traffic around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Freight trains began moving through the area again later in the day, but Amtrak said BNSF put a longer passenger train moratorium in place. BNSF said Thursday that the extended closure is due to mud and debris in the same location as the first landslide.
Amtrak and BNSF have not specified a cause for either landslide, but the news comes amid around of heavy rain in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington caused by a series of atmospheric rivers hitting the region. A Flood Watch was in effect for most of the area through Wednesday night.
Portland officials warned residents to prepare for possible flood impacts, and localized flooding on roadways along the Oregon coast prompted the Tillamook and Seaside school districts to cancel classes Tuesday. Sections of U.S. Highway 101 and State Route 6 near those two cities were closed Tuesday morning due to flooding. Several counties in western Washington were also warned to prepare for possible flood impacts.