Slides near Everett, Kelso halt Amtrak service until Monday

Amtrak’s Cascades route is being affected by mudslides in two different parts of Washington, and full service won’t resume until Monday.

The slides, located south of Everett along Puget Sound and south of Kelso next to the Columbia River, are forcing Amtrak to use buses to cover part of the runs. One set of buses are running between Seattle and Everett, while another set are running between Kelso and Portland.

The two slides happened on Saturday. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which owns the affected tracks, put in a 48-hour ban on passenger traffic on its lines as soon as the slides happened. Freight traffic started running again as soon as the slides were cleared.

The slide south of Everett affects not only the Cascades, but also the Empire Builder that travels east to Spokane and Chicago. A different slide on Friday closed off not just Amtrak service, but the evening commuter runs for Sound Transit’s Sounder train.

The slide south of Kelso affects the Cascades and the Coast Starlight, the main line connecting the Northwest with California.

Amtrak officials expect regular service to resume in both areas on Monday.