Amtrak Cascades wrapped up its 10th anniversary year with continued growth in ridership and improvement in on-time performance. A total of 761,610 passengers rode Amtrak Cascades in 2009 and on-time performance improved by 8 percent.

The Washington State Department of Transportation this week released the Amtrak Cascades 2009 Performance Report, which is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Freight/publications. The Amtrak Cascades 2009 Performance Report is an annual summary of ridership, on-time reliability, operating costs and revenue for the service, which is sponsored by Washington State in partnership with Amtrak and the state of Oregon.

“We see passenger rail as viable alternative available to travelers up and down the I-5 corridor, which is why Washington has invested more than $331 million in passenger rail since 1994,” said Paula Hammond, Washington Transportation Secretary. “With our recent Recovery Act funding award of $590 million, we will offer increased travel options and improved reliability.”

Ridership for 2009 was up 12.5 percent over 2007, just a few points below 2008’s record levels. In August, a second daily service to Vancouver, B.C. began which contributed to additional ridership growth. Amtrak Cascades improved its on-time reliability averaging nearly 72 percent for the year. This is a significant improvement toward the performance goal of 80 percent or higher.

Amtrak Cascades operates four daily round-trips between Portland and Seattle; one daily round trip between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. and between Portland and Vancouver B.C.; and daily service between Eugene and Seattle, via Portland. Amtrak Cascades is operated by Amtrak in partnership with the Washington and Oregon Departments of Transportation.

For Amtrak Cascades fares and schedules, visit AmtrakCascades.com.