Washington

State Details

See Wikipedia; also see United States for information relating to the country as a whole, and the national operator Amtrak.

Maps

Washington is covered by the SPV "North America Railroad Atlas" volume Pacific North West.

Rail Operators

• AMTRAK
  • [Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada] - Seattle. AMTRAK Cascades. International service from Vancouver (Canada) to Seattle entering Washington state north of Bellingham.
  • Seattle - Centralia - Vancouver, WA - [Portland - Los Angeles] - [https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train The Coast Starlight between Seattle and Los Angeles. Enters Oregon at the bridge over the Columbia River south of Vancouver, WA.
  • Seattle - Spokane - [Chicago] the Empire Builder. Operates between Seattle and Chicago, exiting Washington state east of Spokane. Note that a portion of the Empire Builder starts from Portland, OR. See next entry
  • Portland, OR - Vancouver, WA, Spokane - [Chicago] the Empire Builder.. The train Enters Washington state at the bridge over the Columbia River south of Vancouver, WA. It combines with the Seattle portion (see previous entry) at Spokane.

Sound Transit

Sound Transit operates commuter rail services on two routes between Everett and Seattle and Seattle and Tacoma and two light-rail routes around Seattle. Journey planner with map: map page. Timetables: schedules page Note: The Sound Transit routes between Everett, Seattle and Tacoma are also used by Amtrak services.

Tourist Lines

• The Chehalis–Centralia Railroad is a heritage railroad based in Chehalis, Washington. It runs excursions over 10 miles (16 km) of track.
• Chelatchie Prairie Railroad is a heritage railroad in Yacolt, Washington.The excursions operate from the town of Yacolt to Lucia Falls, approximately 5 miles (8 km).
• Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad. Formerly the Mt. Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum (MRRR), the railroad operates for 7 miles (11 km) between Elbe and Mineral.
• Northwest Railway Museum. This is a railroad museum in Snoqualmie, King County, Washington. It incorporates a heritage railway which operates over 5.5 miles (8.8 km).
• Yakima Electric Railway Museum. Yakima Valley Trolleys operate trolley rides from the museum to Selah.

Metro and light rail systems

Seattle

• Sound Transit. Link light rail is a standard gauge, overhead electrification light rail system that serves the Seattle metropolitan area. It comprises three non-connected lines with 45 stations. These lines are the 1 Line (formerly Central Link) in King County and Snohomish County, which travels for 33 miles (53 km) between Lynnwood, Seattle, and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport; the 2 Line in King County's Eastside region, which travels for 10 miles (16.1 km) between Bellevue and Redmond; and the T Line (formerly Tacoma Link) in Pierce County, a streetcar which runs for 4 miles (6.4 km) between Tacoma Dome Station, Downtown Tacoma, and Hilltop. Journey planner and map: see page. See also UrbanRail.

Recent and Future Changes

Recent Changes

on 10 May 2025 SOUND Transit opened a 5.4km extension of Line 2, running from the previous terminus at Redmond Technology and adding two new stations at Marymoor Village and Downtown Redmond.

Future Changes

See [ https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion system expansion pages]

Updated May 2025

Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services

See USA - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services - Washington State.