Amtrak Announces Its First-ever Electric Bus Option — and It'll Operate Along This Popular Route
The new bus will provide daily, mid-day service to connect Seattle to Bellingham, with stops in Everett and Mount Vernon.
Amtrak is rolling out a brand-new way to ride in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s not by train.
The rail line, along with the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT), announced recently that they are replacing a diesel-powered bus with an electric vehicle, which will travel along parts of Amtrak’s Cascades route.
“At Amtrak, we strive to give our passengers reliable, comfortable, and sustainable travel options,” Kara Oldhouser, Amtrak’s sustainability director, shared in a statement. “By incorporating environmental considerations into our current operations and as we work with our partners to reach more of America, we continue to make Amtrak an even ‘greener’ mode of transportation.”
Courtesy of Amtrak
The new bus will provide daily, mid-day service to connect Seattle to Bellingham, with stops in Everett and Mount Vernon. It will connect to trains heading both to and from stations south of Seattle.
Courtesy of Amtrak
And no need to worry about charging stops, either. Amtrak and WSDOT say the bus can make the entire roundtrip journey on a single charge, saving some 10,000 gallons of diesel and cutting emissions by 109 tons per year.
“WSDOT is pleased to be the first in the country to offer electric bus service on an intercity route that’s part of Amtrak’s National Network,” Roger Millar, Washington’s secretary of transportation, added. “Amtrak Cascades trains already operate with locomotives that meet the EPA’s highest standards – reducing emissions by 86% after replacing older locomotives in 2017. Adding a bus to our fleet that is powered by clean energy further affirms our commitment to offer environmentally friendly travel options in the Pacific Northwest.”
Amtrak offers several thruway bus services around the nation, and will likely be replacing more in the future with electric options, as, according to the company, it has pledged to become “net zero by 2045.” That pledge will be fulfilled by first increasing its current operation’s energy efficiency, then by adding renewable fuels, and by reducing the use of diesel fuel, just like this bus.
See more about the new bus and book your ticket for Amtrak’s Cascades route on amtrakcascades.com.
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