Passenger Trains > Amtrak train # 500 north bound Tacoma WA

Amtrak  # 500 north with  Charger  #1406  coming through Nalley Valley.
             #  11 and #  500 passed at 72nd street in Tacoma WA  they were close together . usually they pass each other at Lakewood WA.
             photo by  Chris Marshall

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How  is  the  ntpass  working out  for  timeheeping?

Ouch! My eyes are smarting. Pretty sorry-looking outfit.

I don't think the bypass is helping very much with timekeeping although five minutes has been reduced from the schedule since the trains took the Point Defiance route. I rode the Cascades a few months ago from Vancouver WA to Tacoma WA and then back to Portland. Both trains were tardy but not out of whack tardy. It would be nice to see more travel time taken off the schedule for Amtrak trains between Portland and Seattle. The Point Defiance bypass is single track in many spots-more double track would probably have to be added. There are some very sharp curves as well-for example just south of Tacoma Dome Station-it doesn't really matter as all Amtrak trains are stopping at Tacoma.  Btw in 2015, I rode Sounder from Lakewood to Seattle. More of the travel time improvements should involve improvements along a lot of the route from Seattle to Portland. Stations like Centralia can only have one Amtrak train stop there at once. It would be nice to possibly have platforms on both sides of the tracks between Portland and Seattle.