Amtrak Cascades - On-time performance

2023

Amtrak Cascades' on-time performance improves

Washington's Amtrak Cascades trains were on time 55% of the time in 2023, up eight percentage points from 47% in 2022.

Amtrak Cascades trains between Portland and Seattle experienced 1,861 hours of delays, which negatively impacted on-time performance in 2023. Although train delays are separated into 25 categories, 42% of all delay hours were due to three causes:

• Freight train interference caused 14.9% (278 hours) of delay.
• Passenger train interference caused 13.9% (259 hours) of delay.
• Slowdowns due to congestion, raised bridges, and weather caused 13.3% (247 hours) of delay

The on-time reliability goal of 88% is being tracked in accordance with contracts that WSDOT negotiated with BNSF, Amtrak and Sound Transit in 2018. The agencies use a shared database system to report delays, assign responsibility, and indicate that corrective actions are required if the goal is not reached.

Because BNSF dispatchers in Fort Worth, Texas, determine the movement of both freight and passenger trains along the Amtrak Cascades corridor, the company is tasked with minimizing delays due to train interference. In keeping with contractual commitments, WSDOT requires BNSF to submit corrective action plans to mitigate these other delays that are under its purview.

2022

Amtrak Cascades' on-time performance declines

Washington's Amtrak Cascades trains were on time 47% of the time in 2022, down from 51% in 2021.

Amtrak Cascades trains between Portland and Seattle experienced 1,320 hours of delays, which negatively impacted on-time performance in 2022. Although train delays are separated into 25 categories, 45% of all delay hours were due to three causes:

• Slowdowns due to congestion, raised bridges, and weather caused 17.7% (234 hours) of delay.
• Freight train interference caused 17.2% (227 hours) of delay.
• Passenger train interference caused 10.1% (133 hours) of delay.

The on-time reliability goal of 88% is being tracked in accordance with contracts that WSDOT negotiated with BNSF, Amtrak and Sound Transit in 2018. The agencies use a shared database system to report delays, assign responsibility, and indicate that corrective actions are required if the goal is not reached.

Because BNSF dispatchers in Fort Worth, Texas determine the movement of both freight and passenger trains along the Amtrak Cascades corridor, the company is tasked with minimizing delays due to train interference. In keeping with contractual commitments, WSDOT requires BNSF to submit corrective action plans to mitigate these other delays that are under its purview.

2021

Amtrak Cascades' on-time performance declines

Washington's Amtrak Cascades trains were on time 51% of the time in 2021, down from 62% in 2020 and 58% in 2019. Amtrak Cascades' on-time performance goal is 88%—as contractually negotiated by WSDOT, Amtrak, and BNSF in 2018—but it has not yet been achieved.

Amtrak Cascades trains between Portland and Seattle (the portion of the Amtrak Cascades corridor which WSDOT oversees and that was operating in 2021) experienced 50,578 minutes (over 842 hours) of delay, which negatively impacted on-time performance. Although each minute of train delay is separated into one of 25 categories, 45% of all delay minutes were due to three causes:

• Freight train interference caused 23% (11,653 minutes) of delay
• Slow speed restrictions due to track conditions including congestion, raised bridges and weather caused more than 12.1% (6,141 minutes) of delay
• Signal delays accounted for 10.1% (5,093 minutes) of the delay

The on-time reliability goal of 88% is being tracked in accordance with contracts that WSDOT negotiated with BNSF, Amtrak and Sound Transit. The agencies use a shared database system to report delays, assign responsibility, and indicate that corrective actions are required if the goal is not reached.

Because BNSF dispatchers in Fort Worth, Texas determine the movement of both freight and passenger trains along the Amtrak Cascades corridor, the company is tasked with minimizing delays due to train interference. In keeping with contractual commitments, WSDOT requires BNSF to submit corrective action plans to mitigate these other delays that are under its purview.

2020

Amtrak Cascades' on-time performance improves

Washington's Amtrak Cascades trains were on time 62% of the time in 2020, up from 58% in 2019. In 2018, Amtrak Cascades' on-time performance goal was changed from 80% to 88%. This goal was contractually negotiated by WSDOT, Amtrak, and BNSF.

Amtrak Cascades trains between Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia (the portion of the Amtrak Cascades corridor which WSDOT oversees) experienced 34,964 minutes (over 582 hours) of delay in 2020, which negatively impacted on-time performance. Although each minute of train delay is separated into one of 25 categories, 48% of all delay minutes were due to three causes:

• Slow speed restrictions due to track conditions including congestion, raised bridges and weather caused more than 19.6% (6,865 minutes) of delay
• Freight train interference caused 17.1% (5,970 minutes) of delay
• Passenger train interference accounted for 11.1% (3,888 minutes) of the delay

The on-time reliability goal of 88% is being tracked and enforced in accordance with contracts that WSDOT negotiated with BNSF, Amtrak and Sound Transit. The agencies use a shared database system to report delays, assign responsibility, and indicate that corrective actions are required if the goal is not reached.

Because BNSF dispatchers in Fort Worth, Texas determine the movement of both freight and passenger trains along the Amtrak Cascades corridor, the company is tasked with minimizing delays due to train interference. In keeping with contractual commitments, WSDOT requires BNSF to submit corrective action plans for mitigating these and other delays that are under its purview.

2019

Amtrak Cascades' on-time performance misses goal

Washington's Amtrak Cascades trains were on time 58% of the time in 2019, up from 50% in 2018 (see chart on p. 18). In 2018, Amtrak Cascades' on-time performance goal was changed from 80% to 88%. This goal was contractually negotiated by WSDOT, Amtrak, and BNSF.

Amtrak Cascades trains between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia (the portion of the Amtrak Cascades corridor which WSDOT oversees) experienced 133,312 minutes (over 2,221 hours) of delay in 2019, which negatively

impacted on-time performance. Although each minute of delay fell into one of 25 separate categories, more than 50% of delay minutes were due to three causes:

• Slow speed restrictions due to track conditions including congestion, raised bridges and weather caused more than 18.7% (24,876 minutes) of delay
• Freight train interference (see box at left) caused 15.3% (20,439 minutes) of delay
• Passenger train interference accounted for 12.9% (17,246 minutes) of the delay

The on-time reliability goal of 88% is being tracked and enforced in accordance with contracts that WSDOT negotiated with BNSF, Amtrak and Sound Transit. The agencies use a shared database system to report delays, assign responsibility, and indicate that corrective actions are required if the goal is not reached.

Because BNSF dispatchers in Fort Worth, Texas determine the movement of both freight and passenger trains along the Amtrak Cascades corridor, the company is tasked with minimizing delays due to train interference. In keeping with contractual commitments, WSDOT requires BNSF to submit corrective action plans for mitigating these and other delays that are under its purview.