Amtrak Airo trains to start this week in Pacific Northwest

Dive Brief: Amtrak will debut two of its new Airo trainsets in the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday to serve the Cascades route between Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle and Portland and Eugene, Oregon.

The first two train sets, each with a capacity of over 300 seats, will operate four daily trips.

Eighty-three Airo train sets, manufactured in the U.S. by Siemens Mobility, are expected to replace older equipment on at least 14 intercity routes in the eastern and western U.S.

Dive Insight: Ridership on the 467-mile Cascades route topped 950,000 in fiscal year 2025.

“These new Amtrak Cascades trains are a game-changer for rail travel in the Pacific Northwest,” WSDOT Secretary Julie Meredith said in a statement.