On January 6, two new trains joined Amtrak’s Oregon fleet, making commuting exponentially more convenient between Eugene and Vancouver, B.C.

The Talgo Series 8 trains were added to the Amtrak Cascades corridor, which already featured three trains owned by the Washington Department of Transportation and two owned by Amtrak.

With the added trains come the replacement of several bus routes, new bus stops, and new bus services. The trains also add more departure options, so that passengers aren’t as limited when traveling north from Eugene or south from Portland. This means a roundtrip can happen by train in one day, which was previously impossible.

“The passengers I talked to were really excited,” said Kathy Homes, Program Coordinator for ODOT who rode one of the trains, dubbed ‘Mt. Jefferson,’ on Monday. “The new trains allow us to have the new schedule, which is something that people have been asking us for for a long time.”