Amtrak Cascades Speeds Up Trips from Vancouver, BC with Preclearance By Stephen Fesler - June 12, 2026
Traveling from Vancouver, British Columbia by Amtrak Cascades just got a little faster due to new United States customs prescreening protocols that went into effect Monday. Customs screenings are now being carried out before passengers depart Vancouver, allowing trains to avoid an additional stop at the U.S. border in Blaine. Consequently, travel time across the border should be reduced by at least 10 minutes.
Because of the new protocols, Amtrak is trimming scheduled travel time from Vancouver to Seattle to four hours and 15 minutes, down from the previous allotted time of four hours and 25 minutes. Northbound trains from Seattle have a shorter four-hour scheduled travel time.
For decades, U.S.-bound trains were required to slow on approach to the border and then halt upon reaching the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers stationed at the border crossing would then board trains to collect customs declarations and inspect travel documents and baggage of passengers, and on occasion conduct other searches that could further delay trains.
Under the new CBP protocols that went into force on June 8, Cascades passengers now complete all security screening, customs declarations, and travel document and baggage inspection at Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station prior to departure. That streamlines the preclearance process at the station where passengers had already been required to provide travel documents and have baggage inspections prior to boarding trains and where U.S. agents would clear trains for boarding and departure.
https://www.theurbanist.org/amtrak-cascades-speeds-up-trips-from-vancouver-bc-with-preclearance/