Upcoming talks could lead to 2nd Amtrak run to B.C.

A second daily train between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., could start running by early summer if upcoming talks between Washington state and Canadian officials go well.

"It's the first real step forward in getting the second train situation ironed out," Vickie Sheehan, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT), said of the meeting that will be held in the next few weeks.

A second train would be popular among business and leisure travelers, particularly with the Winter Olympics coming up in February 2010 in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

Amtrak Cascades, which currently has one round trip a day between the two cities, was poised to start the second train last summer after track improvements were made. However, the service was derailed by a dispute over payment for immigration/customs inspections of passengers arriving in Canada aboard the second train.

The Canada Border Services Agency wants a daily payment of $1,500 (about $1,170 U.S.) for inspection costs. Amtrak Cascades, the Pacific Northwest rail service that is operated by Amtrak under contract with the governments of Washington and Oregon, doesn't want to pay that; no such fee is charged for the current Seattle-Vancouver, B.C., train.

"We're optimistic that we will reach a decision on the funding for customs," said Sheehan.

Officials from Washington's DOT and Canadian customs will meet in Canada in two or three weeks to discuss the issue.

"It was an unexpected charge ... in a budget crunch, that's hard to come up with," Sheehan said Thursday. If an agreement is made, Sheehan said, the second train would start in about 90 days, time that Amtrak needs to put staff and other matters in place.

Amtrak Cascades had record ridership last year, with 774,421 passengers on routes that stretch from Eugene, Ore., through Portland and Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. In 2007, it had 676,670 passengers.

Kristin Jackson: kjackson@seattletimes.com