Canadian Railroads > Is the Rocky Mountaineer Coastal Explorer Finished?

I waited last Saturday to photograph the Rocky Mountaineer Coastal Explorer at its usual southbound time through Mukilteo, WA (USA), but never saw it.  Either it was way early, or it didn't run.  Does anyone know if it ran last Saturday?

Also, I read somewhere here on TO that this was to be the last year for the RMCE.  Does anyone know if that's definitely true?  Will it run any more this year?

Thanks...

-Tom

I know that at least two previous "Coastal Explorer" trips this summer were cancelled due to insufficient passengers.

Had a good friend caugtht it both coming into and leaving Seattle on Saturday with Amtrak 503 leading.

Tom

TTM Wrote:
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> Had a good friend caugtht it both coming into and
> leaving Seattle on Saturday with Amtrak 503
> leading.
>
> Tom

Thanks Tom; I'm guessing it passed through before I got there.  I'll have to try again in September.  I sure hope they keep running.  Over the years it's been fun catching it here and there in Puget Sound.

-Tom

Sasquatch Wrote:
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> I waited last Saturday to photograph the Rocky
> Mountaineer Coastal Explorer at its usual
> southbound time through Mukilteo, WA (USA), but
> never saw it.  Either it was way early, or it
> didn't run.  Does anyone know if it ran last
> Saturday?
>
> Also, I read somewhere here on TO that this was to
> be the last year for the RMCE.  Does anyone know
> if that's definitely true?  Will it run any more
> this year?

I don't know if any more runs will be made this year, but it's not coming back next year. Although it is shown in the printed catalogue for 2020, the reservation system will not take bookings for it (unlike other routes) and some travel agents have caught on to this.
 

How can they fix this and get folks on the train?

JohnM Wrote:
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> How can they fix this and get folks on the train?

Start by lowering the prices......

The Seattle-Vancouver portion is only available to passengers joining other Rocky Mountaineer trips at Vancouver BC. The intent of the Seattle train was as a "shore trip' for cruise trip passengers terminating their Alaska cruises at Seattle and involved an overnight hotel stay in Vancouver BC.

Rocky Mountaineer markets combination cruise and train packages, as do several other travel companies.

I wonder how much the Seattle-Vancouver option adds to the total cost of a cruise plus train package?

Working for a time in the hospitality business, I was aware that most of the Rocky Mountaineer guests purchased their trips well in advance of the journey. By March of the year of travel, the number of passengers was pretty well known for the season. The decision regarding the future of the Seattle train was likely made months ago.

If you head over to RMR's website you are stll able to book the Seattle trip as part of a package. When a few of us were thinking about catching it I looked at the schedule and it was shown not to be running for 3-4 weeks and the first sold out train was 2 weeks ago with the remaining trips listed as available.