Coast Starlight train to run normally next week after months of slide-damage repairs

For some Amtrak passengers, taking the long-distance Coast Starlight train along the West Coast will no longer mean having to take a bus.

Amtrak announced its Coast Starlight route between Seattle and Los Angeles will resume normal operations next week for the first time since a massive landslide covered tracks east of Oakridge, Ore.

The passenger rail service provider said Train 14, the northbound Coast Starlight from Los Angeles, will restart Tuesday and Seattle's southbound Train 11 will resume on Wednesday.

The Jan. 19 slide buried the Union Pacific tracks, which Amtrak uses, under a snowy mound of mud and trees more than 20 feet deep. It was the railroad's worst natural disaster in Oregon in 40 years. Repair and cleanup, which is just wrapping up, has cost millions at the site near Eugene.

Besides affecting the Coast Starlight, the slide disrupted freight traffic. Zoe Richmond, a Union Pacific spokeswoman, said full freight service will be restored this weekend.

During the repair and cleanup, freight trains were rerouted through Bend, with some trains forced to loop as far east as Salt Lake City. On April 5, some freight trains began moving through the slide area at night while workers continued cleanup during the day.

Meanwhile, Amtrak offered limited service in California, Oregon and Washington before reconnecting the route by using buses between Sacramento and Portland in February.

On April 15, Amtrak extended train service beyond Sacramento to Klamath Falls. Passengers would then have to take a bus to Eugene and then hop back on a train to complete the trip north.

Getting the Coast Starlight back to its full schedule comes just weeks before the beginning of the busy summer travel season, which usually starts around Memorial Day weekend.

"It's great news for us," Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said this week.

The Coast Starlight trains will be adding new amenities beginning in June, including an arcade car with video games and a refurbished parlor car, she said. With gas expected to remain pricey, Amtrak predicts more people will be traveling by train this summer.