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 operates commuter rail services on two routes between Everett and Seattle and Seattle and Tacoma. 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.