Amtrak Trains Let Cats And Dogs Ride The Northwest

NWNews | By Anna King

Published March 4, 2016 at 4:41 PM PST

On Monday, Amtrak opens its Cascades trains to cats and dogs between Eugene, Oregon, and Bellingham, Washington. But there are some guidelines.

Among those guidelines, Amtrak says there is a 20 pound weight limit -- and that includes your carrier.

But Amtrak's Vernae Graham says if your dog is like her shih tzu, Bandit -- "a little over weight” -- you are probably ok. It’s more of an "eyeball situation," not an actual station weigh-in.

The pet fare is $25 per reservation with only one pet per passenger. There are a maximum of five pet reservation on each train. Service animals do not count towards this limitation.

So far, Amtrak has chugged 4,200 pets since it started ticketing furry friends a few months ago.

Northwest News Network

Anna King

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.