2nd Seattle-Vancouver train ready to roll

A long-awaited second daily Amtrak train between Seattle and Vancouver will begin service on Wednesday, Aug. 19, officials in Washington state announced Wednesday.

The new train will depart Vancouver at 6:45 a.m. for Seattle and Oregon, before arriving back in Vancouver at 10:45 p.m. Currently, one train a day capable of carrying 220 passengers arrives in Vancouver at 11:35 a.m. and departs Vancouver at 5:45 p.m.

The plan to increase Amtrak's Cascades service to British Columbia had been stalled for more than a year because the Canada Border Services Agency wanted to charge the company $1,500 a day to cover the costs of processing additional passengers. But that fee was eventually waived for the pilot project, which is scheduled to run until March 2010.