PORTLAND, Ore. — The first of Amtrak’s new Airo trainsets moved a step closer to entering service today (Saturday, Sept. 26), running a preview trip for media and local officials on the Amtrak Cascades route between Seattle and Portland, Ore.
The trainset used today — one of three accepted for service — will be opened for public tours on Sunday morning in Portland and Sunday afternoon in Seattle. Slots for those tours, which were available by online registration, filled up within 24 hours of being made available. The trains will then enter service on Wednesday, Sept. 30; two trainsets are scheduled to operate that day while a third set will be held in reserve [see “Open-house events …,” Trains.com, Sept. 18, 2026].
Eventually, eight Airo trainsets will operate in the Cascades corridor between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Eugene, Ore. The full complement is not expected to be operating until January…