Train Returning To Daily Schedule
Starting this spring, passenger trains will rumble through Spokane every day for the first time in two years.
The Empire Builder, Amtrak’s most direct - and soon to be only - route between Chicago and the Northwest, was cut to four days a week in February 1994 as a cost-cutting measure.
It and two other routes nationwide are being restored to daily service because Amtrak is cutting other routes, including a lengthier route between Seattle and Chicago. The change is effective May 11, said Marc Magliari, Amtrak spokesman in Chicago.
The change is welcomed in Essex, Mont., on the southern tip of Glacier National Park. Thanks to Izaak Walton Inn and a popular system of cross-country ski trails, Essex is the most popular “flagstop” between Seattle and Chicago. Even when the train doesn’t stop, guests and staff go to the inn’s porch to wave to its passengers.
“When they switched to four days a week, (guests) had to work around Amtrak’s schedule,” said employee Jonell Richards.
What won’t change much is the ungodly hour Amtrak leaves Spokane.
In order to make connections in Chicago, eastbound trains pull out of Spokane’s downtown Intermodal Transit Center at 1:15 a.m.
The schedule benefits skiers headed to Montana, who can sleep on the train and arrive at Whitefish at 7:35 a.m. or Essex about 9 a.m., noted Magliari. And the train crosses the scenic Rocky Mountains during daylight, something that probably wouldn’t be possible without a nighttime departure from Spokane.
The westbound schedule changes slightly, with trains pulling into Spokane at 12:45 a.m. rather than 2:05 a.m. Trains from Spokane go to both Seattle and Portland.
In addition to the Empire Builder, Amtrak has restored daily service on its California Zephyr between Oakland and Salt Lake City, and on the City of New Orleans between Chicago and Louisiana.
One of the routes being cut is The Pioneer between Seattle and Chicago. The scenic, 50-hour trip goes through Portland, southern Idaho, Denver, Nebraska and Iowa. Along the way, it follows part of the path of the original Transcontinental Railroad.
, DataTimes