SEATTLE – For the first time in 38 years, passenger rail service is returning to the community of Stanwood/Camano Island with daily Amtrak Cascades train service making two morning and two evening stops at a new rail station beginning the morning of Nov. 21.
“Amtrak is delighted to stop in Stanwood and provide residents with direct access to train travel and connections to our national network,” said Kurt Laird, Amtrak District Superintendent.
“The opening of this new station could not come at a better time with the 2010 Olympics right around the corner,” said Paula Hammond, Washington Transportation Secretary. “Not only does the new stop give the community of Stanwood/Camano Island access to Amtrak Cascades intercity passenger rail service—which means more travel options to Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C.—but it provides Olympics-bound travelers an alternative way of getting to the games in Vancouver, B.C.,” she added.
The $5 million station project was funded by the state of Washington, is located on the corner of 271st Street NW and the BNSF main line tracks in downtown Stanwood, and is expected to boost the Stanwood-area tourism industry and spur local economic development near the station. Great Northern Railroad operated passenger rail service to Stanwood until 1971.
