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I agree, but it's time to make some tough choices. Ridership south of Portland has always been dismal. With University of Oregon going online this year, I think it is going to continue to stay very low. Using a 2 carriage Horizon trainset would probably serve the line. It's too bad we don't...

I hope that they can make the Wisconsin cars work in the mid-term future. 5 Talgo sets would at least allow them to operate the pre-Covid schedules. If the Bypass is used and schedule/reliability improve as expected, I think an adjustment of the schedule could be done to add 2 more round trips...

The operator applied the brakes just before the curve, and they estimate that it was going 60mph when it hit the curve. See my other link above where it talks about cant deficiency. 60mph on that curve is absolutely possible for a light train with low center of gravity. I read the NTSB...

The article is accurate, but keep in mind that while we aren't a "big" city, we are still a city. The clashes are occurring in one specific area. Unless you are in that area between 10pm and 6am, you aren't going to have problems. 99% of the city is going about their normal (well, at least...

It goes back much longer than 3 years, and keep in mind that the Talgos still have a big, heavy engine up front, and a FRA-compliant cabbage car on the back. Cascades trains have had encounters with vehicles at grade crossings, and have never had a death because of it. More info on the NTSB...

WSDOT made the decision to upgrade a stretch of track to 80mph, but keep the 30mph bridge. That's placing a lot on Amtrak and their engineers for the southbound runs. It was one of the holes in the swiss cheese that lined up on that day.

It is, and has been controversial for many years. The US approach to rail safety has basically been: trains are going to crash, so let's build them like tanks. In the developed world, the approach is to install safety systems that ensure the trains don't crash in the first place. We are...

The Portland station is not close to the current protest activity. It is, however, home to a decently large homeless population. We take the Cascades with our small children several times per year, and we've only had an issue once, on a MAX train at the station closest to Union Station. We...

Fair points, but WSDOT actions are still ridiculous here. Let's review the facts: -WSDOT and Sound Transit develop a new route -WSDOT and Amtrak fail to properly train drivers and launch service before PTC is implemented -The very first train crashes into a bridge at 60mph and 3 people die...

15 minutes matters when you have a competing service on the same route with similar travel times (Bolt Bus). In the last week, the delays on the route are 30+min from the Talgo times, and I have a hard time believing that mechanical issues are the cause every day. And say what you want about...

The NTSB report was filled with errors and baseless claims: https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/11/01-talgo-challenges-ntsb-finding-in-cascade-accident-report Talgo report here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14VXFiyvqSx8DcfUNlffiQ8Ji4TueIJeD/view?usp=sharing It includes examples of...

Is there an onboard technician requirement? I was on a series VI train a few years ago that lost a nut on part of the tilting mechanism south of Olympia. We stopped in Olympia because the link had come off. No Talgo employee was around when I was out on the platform talking to the conductor...

Should we start lobbying the BC government to buy 2 of these for the Vancouver - Seattle operations? If they own the trains, WSDOT can still save face by saying the got rid of them, but they can be used to improve service on that leg of the journey. Any other excursion operators here in the NW...

This is so infuriating. WSDOT is dumping these and giving us crappy Horizon cars just so they can continue to try and deflect blame for the crash. The NTSB conclusions about the series VI trainset crash performance is baseless. No train would perform well when crashed off of and into a bridge...

It's entirely passenger comfort. If you read through the Talgo analysis of the Bypass Crash, they note that the center of gravity of their series 6 car was roughly half that of the Charger locomotive that initiated the derailment. They also noted that they believe the Talgo cars would have...

Let’s remember that NTSB recommendations are just that: recommendations. They are often ignored (see: US auto industry, aerospace industry, etc). As an engineer, I’m always curious about these things, and I’ve read through the entirety of Talgo’s response to the NTSB report, and I think their...

Portland does not have a "serious crime problem". We have a problem with homelessness, drugs, and property crimes. We are among the safest mid-sized cities in the US (look it up). I wouldn't hesitate to just stay on the red line until Old Town and walk, even with my 2 and 3 year olds with me...

I've seen them on about half of my Cascades trips, always sitting in the dining car. Only spoke with them once, on the afternoon train from SEA - PDX on 12/18/17. I asked if he had any info on the morning's derailment, but he couldn't share. We were on a train up to SEA a few months ago that...

This is what I would recommend.  If you hunt around, you can get really cheap flights out of Oakland to PDX.  Fly up early in the morning, then take the Red Line downtown ($2.50).  You'll have enough time to see the waterfront, hit up Deschutes Brewery for a beer, grab some food at a food cart...

If you end up with enough time, and the weather is decent, I'd recommend walking through downtown (south from the station), then east through the UofO campus.  If you have time, you could then walk north from there, across the Willamette River to Autzen Stadium, then west back over the river to...