Passenger-train service between Vancouver and Seattle, Wash. is set to resume in September for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
It’s three months earlier than expected, after railroad company Amtrak said in May that staffing shortages would keep the route closed until December.
At the time, it said it didn’t have enough conductors, mechanics and onboard service staff yet to operate the trains.
On Friday (July 1) though, Amtrak announced in a tweet that service to Canada, including between Seattle and Vancouver, will begin in September.
Prior to the pandemic, the route saw about 159,000 passengers per year riding directly from end to end, and another 131,000 when including stops in between.
Amtrak didn’t say how it expedited its original timeline. Black Press Media has reached out to the Washington State Department of Transportation for comment.
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