Leavenworth Real Estate

Leavenworth Train Service Begins!

The City  Leavenworth WA announced today that we will once again be a destination stop for Amtrak’s  Empire Builder’s route on the train service between Chicago, IL and Seattle, WA!  The inaugural run begins Friday, September 25th, 2009.

The festivities begin at King Street Station in  Seattle  3:15-4:15pm  with music and speeches from local dignitaries involved in the process of bringing train service to Leavenworth.

At 4:45 the Leavenworth dignitaries and their guests will depart King Street station and travel over the Cascade range arriving in Leavenworth at 8:12 PM.

In Leavenworth, there will be music and food starting at 7pm at the Icicle Station platform on North road.  State Senator Linda Evans Parlette will give the opening remarks and will perform the ribbon cutting ceremony with Leavenworth Mayor Rob Eaton.

The addition of a Leavenworth station is the first in many years and more than 8 years of effort and partnership building have been diligently tended to by the City of Leavenworth, Amtrak, BNSF and funding agencies.

“We have been working for some time with our partners at Amtrak and BSNF Railway to make Icicle Station and the return of rail passenger service to our community a reality. Our community has a long history with railroads and train service and we are truly thrilled to welcome Amtrak to Leavenworth and have the ability to offer passenger service to both our residents and our visitors,” said Leavenworth’s Mayor Rob Eaton.

Partners in the project include the Port of Chelan County, Chelan County Commissioners, Senator Linda Evans Parlette, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Projekt Bayern and the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce along with Amtrak and BNSF Railways.

“This is an exciting day for Leavenworth and a big step forward in showcasing one of Washington State’s best destinations. Bringing Amtrak to Leavenworth is going to help create local jobs, build their tourism industry, and make travel more convenient for local residents,” said Senator Murray. “I’m proud to have worked to provide federal funding that helped Leavenworth build Icicle Station and open their community to new visitors and economic opportunity.”

Regular service to Leavenworth begins September 26 and tickets can be purchased starting today via Amtrak.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 9:31 am and is filed under Community News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1. Brandon Green said at September 18th, 2009 at 1:01 pm

   I read a lot of real estate blogs–it’s great seeing so many areas of the country excited about getting new train service. Hopefully it’ll help the U.S. become greener and allow people to travel and be connected for cheaper.

2. Elaine Kinney said at September 21st, 2009 at 6:33 am

   I logged on to Amtrak.com and the only thing they list between Seattle and Leavenworth is bus service? It does not appear that you can purchase a ticket from the website as yet. I am interested in taking the train to Seattle on Saturday morning and returning Sunday night to Leavenworth.

3. Geordie Romer said at September 21st, 2009 at 1:37 pm

   Elaine – I noticed that too. I filled out a request on Amtrak’s website and will post when I hear back from them.

4. Geordie Romer said at September 21st, 2009 at 3:26 pm

   Please note that the new Leavenworth, WA (LWA) rail station stop has not been added to our website as of today’s date. The update for this information is being planned for October 5, 2009.

   For booking assistance prior to this date, you may make your advance reservation(s) through one of our sales agents at 1800 USA-RAIL (872-7245). This number is operational 24 hours daily, 7 days a week.
   We hope this information is of assistance for you.

   Sincerely,
   William
   Amtrak Customer Service

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