According to a recent rack by the railroad company and the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT), an electric bus will replace a diesel bus on select portions of Amtrak’s Cascades route in the Pacific Northwest.
“At Amtrak, we are committed to providing our passengers with reliable, comfortable, and sustainable travel options,” Kara Oldhouser, Amtrak’s director of sustainability, shared this in a statement. “By incorporating environmental considerations into our current operations and working with our partners to reach more of the Americas, we continue to make Amtrak an even ‘greener’ mode of transportation.”
The new bus runs daily at noon between Seattle and Bellingham, stopping at Everett and Mount Vernon. Trains departing and arriving at stations south of Seattle will connect there.
You don’t have to worry about charging stops either. According to Amtrak and WSDOT, the bus can make a round trip on a single charge, saving approximately 10,000 liters of diesel and reducing emissions by 109 tonnes per year.
“WSDOT is pleased to be the first in the country to offer electric bus service on an intercity route that is part of Amtrak’s National Network,” added Roger Millar, Washington Secretary of Transportation. “Amtrak Cascades trains already run with locomotives that meet the EPA’s highest standards – reducing emissions by 86% after replacing older locomotives in 2017. Adding a bus to our fleet powered by clean energy further reaffirms our commitment to providing environmentally friendly travel options in the Pacific Northwest.”
Amtrak operates a number of bus rapid transit lines across the country, and it’s likely the company will replace more of them with electric alternatives in the future, as it has promised. “net zero in 2045” This promise will be fulfilled by first improving the energy efficiency of current operations, then using renewable fuels and finally using less diesel, similar to this bus.
Visit amtrakcascades.com for more information about the new bus and to purchase tickets for Amtrak’s Cascades route.
