By Guest blogger Vickie Sheehan

Thank you for sharing your comments, suggestions, and feedback on the proposed renovation of the Amtrak Cascades Bistro car. We received many insightful comments that we will take into consideration as we move forward in the design process. We really appreciate your time and interest in this project.

While reading through the comments, there seems to be some confusion on a few issues we'd like to clarify:

• Wi-Fi will be installed and available throughout all trains. It will not be limited to just the Bistro car.
• Both the Bistro and Lounge cars will be renovated. At this time we do not have a proposed design for the Lounge car.
• The proposed design shown is an artist's rendering that has not been finalized. The Bistro design will continue to address passenger concerns with the current layout and how best to serve them more quickly and efficiently while retaining the Northwest styling unique to Amtrak Cascades.
• We are working to develop the best solution for the location of Amtrak Conductors that would allow them to be easily accessible to the passengers (both Business and Coach), be the most effective in their critical on-board responsibilities, and have the best opportunity for communication with all on-board staff.

Thanks again for your comments. You can keep up to date on the progress of the Amtrak Cascades Trainsets Overhaul project through the project page. And to find out more about what WSDOT is doing to improve the Amtrak Cascades service including track upgrades, improved on-time reliability, reduced rail congestion, and enhanced service, visit our ARRA High Speed Passenger Rail Web page.

In April 2009 we began building a new train station on the northeast corner of 271st Street NW and 84th Avenue NW in Stanwood. The station will give residents of the Stanwood-Camano Island area access to Amtrak Cascades intercity passenger trains that travel between Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, BC, and ten intermediate communities.  The last time passenger trains stopped in Stanwood was over 35 years ago.

Don't you just love old photos? This is a great one. It's the old Stanwood station in the 1960's.



Crews constructed the storm water retention system in July.

Measuring for trainman’s ramp. What is a trainman's ramp?  That's a good question, I didn't know either. A trainman’s ramp is a place where a train crew member who has to walk along side a freight train can easily climb on to and off  a train station platform, and is a railroad safety requirement.

And here is the finished product. Beautiful! You can find the rest of the construction photos in the Stanwood Station set on flickr. The new station will open for service on Saturday morning, November 21st, 2009! An opening ceremony will be held at the station starting at 8:45 a.m. Tickets are on sale now at Amtrak.com.