Imagine getting to and from Duck home games without ever battling traffic on Interstate 5.
That’s a real choice now that Amtrak Cascades has partnered with Travel Lane County, the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Lane Transit District and the University of Oregon to offer football fans a 25 percent discount to ride Amtrak to and from UO home games.
The Amtrak trains, called Game Trains, are part of the Duck Downtown initiative. The Game Trains and Duck Downtown were featured recently in The Register-Guard.
Game Trains include both buses and trains along the Amtrak Cascades line, and the 25 percent discount applies to both. People planning to ride the Game Trains should visit Amtrak’s website to check departure times for buses and trains.
Kathy Holmes, the passenger rail program coordinator with the Oregon Department of Transportation, has been caught in I-5 traffic on game days and said it’s stop-and-go from near Albany all the way to Eugene.
Holmes understands that frustration and is encouraging out-of-town Duck fans to travel by train.
“We’re hoping for a big response to taking train,” she said.
In addition to the 25 percent Amtrak discount, passengers can show their train ticket stubs or e-tickets to LTD for free bus rides, including Autzen Stadium shuttles. The Amtrak trains carry 240 to 280 passengers, depending on the train model.
The original idea for train travel to Duck games came from state Rep. Nancy Nathanson, who rolled out the idea of Game Trains with area stakeholders last August. She said many people came together to promote train travel as a safer and greener way to travel to and from Eugene.
Oregon purchased two new trains last year and Amtrak boosted its schedule to two round trips from Eugene each day. The old schedule only allowed passengers to travel north from Eugene in the morning with no way to travel round trip in one day.
Matt Roberts, the UO’s senior director of community relations, said the purpose of Game Trains is to ease traffic and support alternative transportation. And, Holmes added, the more people who take the deal and opt to stay off the road, the better.
“When you ride the train you don’t have to worry about other vehicles and the headaches and traffic,” she said. “On Amtrak you can enjoy the time spent traveling, you can order food, have a Wi-Fi connection, feel free to move around and you aren’t stuck in a car. It’s a more relaxing way to travel.”
Nathanson has been involved in train travel initiatives since the early 1990s, when she was a Eugene City Council member. She said she’s been working to improve train travel for a number of years.
“I’m excited that there is going to be a fun, safe and affordable way to get to Duck games,” she said.
For more information about Game Trains, visit Amtrak’s site here.
―By Corinne Boyer, Public Affairs Communications intern