Amtrak review - Seattle to Vancouver (and back)

I took Amtrak to Vancouver, BC this weekend and thought I would give a little review on it. Hopefully this will answer some questions that I have seen on these boards.

We boarded the train just north of Seattle in Edmonds, WA. and sat in the coach section on the left side of the train (looking forward) which put us on the water side. It is about a 4 hour ride from Seattle and for the most part it is smooth, there are some bumpy areas of the track, but not too bad. They play a movie, so bring some headphones and you won't have to buy any. The movie on the way up was "In the Pursuit of Happiness" and the way back was "The Holiday". We did not check our bags, just carried them on and put them in the overhead bins. There is a dining car as well as a snack car and the prices weren't too bad.

When we checked in at the Edmonds terminal we were given a customs form that we had to fill out. They did verify that we had either a passport or photo id with a birth certificate and once we boarded the train were asked again. Once we arrived at the train station in Vancouver, BC we got off by car number, business class was first. It took us maybe 10 - 15 minutes to get to the customs agent, gave him our customs form, showed the passports and asked a few questions.

We caught the sky train across the street from the train station. The fare to get Canada Place was $2.25 per person, you will see many people who do not purchase a ticket and we wondered why we found out that a lot of people have transit passes. We were told by someone that lives in Vancouver to pay the fare at the pay station, because if you do not and get caught you will be fined. The sky trains run every few minutes and they take about 5 minutes to get to the downtown area.

Going back to Seattle we got to the station early and boarded the train at about 4:45, the train started to roll at 6pm exactly. We were given a customs form and when we got to the Peace Arch crossing you stay on the train and the US custom officers board and you show your id and give them your custom form. It sure did beat waiting in the long lines.

Along the way we were entertained by dogs chasing along the train (at a good distance – no chance of the dog getting hurt), eagles flying bye or sitting in trees and we even saw people on the beach burning bon fires.

We paid $50 pp using our AAA membership discount and booked about one month before we went. There were a few people who had booked a train, transfer and hotel package.

I hope I have covered everything, if you have any questions please let me know.

Glad that it sounds like you liked it!

One thing...in all the times we've gone to/from on Amtrak, we've never stopped at Peace Arch for any reason. Only reason we've ever stopped was b/c there was a broken down freight train in front of us!

We're picking our brains as to where we turned US customs forms, but all we can come up with is that the conductor picked them up for us, and turned them in once we got to Seattle!

And here's an oddity of mine...I like sitting backwards. I feel that you get a *bigger* view of the coastline that way, though of course you're seeing what you've just gone past. I also like sitting across the aisle from the waterside, b/c it's a broader view, though not as up close as sitting on the waterside. (and sometimes you have waterside people blocking the view)

Thank you so much for posting that review! Last year we took the bus via amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle. It was easy but you had to stop at customs at the boarder, get off the bus, walk through xray and have your luggage xrayed. There were 3 or 4 busses ahead of us to we were probably there for 1/2 an hour or so. Not too bad.

In April we are taking two 1 night cruises, both Vancouver to Seattle. On the first one we are taking the same amtrak bus up the night before, staying at a hotel then cruising home. The second one we are taking the (real) train up in the morning and cruising home that afternoon. I was a little worried about train delays but we're leaving on the first train out in the morning so it would have to be pretty major delay in order for us to miss the ship.

Thanks for the info on the sky train too.

Glad that it sounds like you liked it!

 

One thing...in all the times we've gone to/from on Amtrak, we've never stopped at Peace Arch for any reason. Only reason we've ever stopped was b/c there was a broken down freight train in front of us!

 

We're picking our brains as to where we turned US customs forms, but all we can come up with is that the conductor picked them up for us, and turned them in once we got to Seattle!

 

 

And here's an oddity of mine...I like sitting backwards. I feel that you get a *bigger* view of the coastline that way, though of course you're seeing what you've just gone past. I also like sitting across the aisle from the waterside, b/c it's a broader view, though not as up close as sitting on the waterside. (and sometimes you have waterside people blocking the view)

When returning to the US, the US Custom Officers boarded the train just south of the Peace Arch. They then go through each car reviewing our passports, asking questions and taking the custom forms.

Thank you so much for posting that review! Last year we took the bus via amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle. It was easy but you had to stop at customs at the boarder, get off the bus, walk through xray and have your luggage xrayed. There were 3 or 4 busses ahead of us to we were probably there for 1/2 an hour or so. Not too bad.

 

In April we are taking two 1 night cruises, both Vancouver to Seattle. On the first one we are taking the same amtrak bus up the night before, staying at a hotel then cruising home. The second one we are taking the (real) train up in the morning and cruising home that afternoon. I was a little worried about train delays but we're leaving on the first train out in the morning so it would have to be pretty major delay in order for us to miss the ship.

 

Thanks for the info on the sky train too.

There is some good news for the future of train service between Seattle and Vancouver, BC. As soon as there is some repair done on the tracks in BC they will start running 2 trains per day. One departs Seattle in the AM and the other will be in the PM, it will be the same for Vancouver. They just have to do some pull offs to the tracks. It is in preperation of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

There is some good news for the future of train service between Seattle and Vancouver, BC. As soon as there is some repair done on the tracks in BC they will start running 2 trains per day. One departs Seattle in the AM and the other will be in the PM, it will be the same for Vancouver. They just have to do some pull offs to the tracks. It is in preperation of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Any idea of when that might happen? I'm sure it won't be by September though. We are terrified of missing that early morning train!

The Amtrak conductor said the earliest would be next year (2008).

I was a little worried about train delays but we're leaving on the first train out in the morning so it would have to be pretty major delay in order for us to miss the ship.

For what our experiences are worth...we've never been delayed on our way up. As far as I know, the train leaves directly from Seattle, there's nothing before that. Those previous stops are what get you in trouble on longer runs, like Seattle down to San Jose (and further south), because there are SO many opportunities for delays at stations or on the rails. And we haven't experienced slow-downs going north, just that silly southbound thing that wouldn't even have been a problem and hardly noticed at all, except that we had a newly sick kid with us. :(

When returning to the US, the US Custom Officers boarded the train just south of the Peace Arch. They then go through each car reviewing our passports, asking questions and taking the custom forms.

Oh, what I'm saying that we have not had this experience in multiple train trips. I think it varies; as far as either of us recalls, we have *never* stopped at the arch for customs, or even stopped at all (except for the freight train on our last trip) (oh wait, we have slowed just after getting into Canada, under a big bridge). It's been a year, though, it migh have changed!