Packed with bikes, Amtrak Cascades adds more hooks to its trains

I was disappointed the new Oregon train sets didn’t come with roll-on bike cars. They have them in California, where they’re high-capacity, self-serve, and don’t cost extra. A missed opportunity.

I bought a folding bike so I don’t have to use the hooks anymore, but I was thrilled they were there on several Amtrak trips before that. Thanks for making things better for bicycling, Amtrak! Wish all trains were as accommodating (I’m especially looking at you, Coast Starlight!).

…in fact, Michael might want to pick a different photo for this article. The one up there now depicts someone bringing his own bike onto the train in California. That isn’t exactly what happens on Cascades, and it won’t start happening with these new trains.

Great news! Way to go Amtrak.

What they don’t tell you:

If you’re traveling up to Vancouver, BC, you’ll have to put your bike in a box for the Seattle to Vancouver leg (and on the way back). It’d be nice if they told you that up-front, especially when you specifically ask about it in advance (apparently, not all employees are informed), because not all of us happen to bring a spare pedal wrench with us when we’re on vacation, and the stations don’t bother to carry that tool either, despite the fact that it would be the least courtesy they could offer if they’re going to make you box up your bike w/o telling you in advance (I was lucky that I had my set of Allen wrenches to twist the handlebars). And it sucks to have to miss your train in order to look for whatever the nearest bike shop that might be open on a Sunday is (the shop near the train station isn’t) to buy a tool that you already own at home.

What’s with the “state-subsidized” adjective? Will BikePortland be referring to roads and MUPs that way, too?

great news! now just waiting for Cascades to add a AM PDX to Eugene run, and a PM Eugene to PDX. I believe this is supposed to actually happen in the next year or 2..?

I’m taking my (unboxed) bike on Amtrak for the first time next weekend. Are they strict about making you take off all panniers and baggage?

Kristen: in my experience, yes. Even down to the water-bottles (if they don’t make you take them off they’ll make you drain them.

Great to hear that this is happening. If travelling to the Seattle area, the Cascade lets one escape the open air mental hospital that is I-5, and having a bike along let’s you out of the clusterfuck that driving a car in the Emerald City has become. More Cascades! Yes!

You should also be aware that bikes with a “hook” reservation can be loaded/unloaded at any Cascades stop, but boxed bikes (unless Amtrak changed the policy) can only be loaded/unloaded at stations with baggage service. So if you are planning a trip to Mt Vernon, for example, you can’t check luggage which includes bike boxes.

Great news! Remember to email Amtrak and thank them! 🙂

Another point to think about: we encountered a 50 pound weight limit on the boxed bikes. No mention on the Amtrak web site, but when we arrived at the station in Sacramento with the recumbents neatly boxed in doubled boxes, they were rejected due to being 5-10# overweight. We had to buy an Amtrak bike box and transfer enough from each initial box to meet the 50# limit. What a butcher job on our neat packaging!

The limit WAS posted on the wall next to the baggage counter.

I ran across the new bike racks when I travelled down to Eugene a few weeks ago…at first I was happy to see them until I got a closer look at them (I sent photos to Jonathan). The new hooks seem underwhelming design wise…assuming the same new hooks were also used on the new Oregon train sets.

I spoke to one of the Talgo staffers and they told me that Amtrak Cascades added the same hooks to all Cascade train sets so that there would be seamless capacity among all trains for ease of reservations if a train set were moved around on route segments due to maintenance. They reported that there had already been problems with the new rack design NOT accommodating large wheeled bikes (downhill 29ers, etc.)…due to wheel width/ wheel base length (I forgot which). This was making it difficult for stops depending on off road bikes for tourism.

One other problem I saw on both directions of my trip was a lack of awareness and understanding of how to use the new rack design or what they were by baggage staff (when I asked them). Talgo and others told me there had not yet been any training on the use of the new racks (or scheduled by then). This was apparent on my return when I saw luggage piled high against the new racks and a cyclist had to box their bike at the station vs. using a hook as planned.

And PS. At the Eugene Amtrak station I ran into a fare issue I had never encountered before on Amtrak:
– Amtrak charged me $5 for each segment of my trip for my bike ($5 EUG to PDX + $5 PDX to VAN),
– I was told by the station agent that this was due to the trip using two different train numbers (route segments)
– though when asked if there was such an additional fee for traditional luggage transferred between these routes I was told no additional charge.

Has this bike luggage “overcharge” happened to anyone else?

Thanks, WSDOT and ODOT!

If you want to send a thank-you note to WSDOT (who owns the recently upgraded trains), the contact person is:

Andrew Wood
Deputy Director, Operations
360-705-7938
wooda@wsdot.wa.gov
Washington Department of Transportation
310 Maple Park Ave SE
PO Box 47300
Olympia WA 98504

AROW did a letter-writing night on this in 2010, we all got nice letters back from Andrew saying they’d look into it, but were noncommittal. I’m glad they came around.

Also, if you want to suggest they order upgraded bike racks, offer walk-on bike stowage, or other improvements, start with Andrew.

Ted Buehler

& while its nice that they’ve upped the bike hooks from 6 to 10, it’s still pretty underwhelming in terms of getting to where we need to be for car-free living in the Pac NW. They initiated the trains in 1994, as I recall. That’s 19 years to get the bike hooks increased from 6 to 10. At this rate, we’ll have 17 by 2032 and 27 by 2051.

Not going to cut it. Need a major upgrade if we’re really going to bring on the revolution… Just sayin…

Ted Buehler