page_title: Cascade Tunnel
section_title: Operations
hierarchical_section_title: Cascade Tunnel / Operations
caption_attribution_description: English: Cascade Tunnel (Washington)
context_page_description: The Cascade Tunnel refers to two railroad tunnels in the northwest United States, east of the Seattle metropolitan area in the Cascade Range of Washington, at Stevens Pass. It is approximately 65 miles east of Everett, with both portals adjacent to U.S. Route 2. Both single-track tunnels were constructed by the Great Northern Railway.
  The first was 2.63 miles in length and opened in 1900 to avoid problems caused by heavy winter snowfalls on the original line that had eight zig zags. The current tunnel is 7.8 miles in length and entered service in early 1929, approximately 1.5 miles south of and 500 feet lower in elevation than the original. The present east portal is nearly four miles east of the original's and is at 2,881 feet above sea level, 1,180 feet below the pass. The tunnel connects Berne in Chelan County on its east with Scenic Hot Springs in King County on its west and is the longest railroad tunnel in the United States.
context_section_description: The current Cascade Tunnel is in full operation and receives regular maintenance from BNSF Railway. The new alignment is a straight-line tunnel running between Berne and Scenic Hot Springs. It is currently part of the BNSF Scenic Subdivision between Seattle and Wenatchee, and Amtrak's Empire Builder runs through it. Because of safety and ventilation issues, this tunnel is a limiting factor on how many trains the railroad can operate over this route from Seattle to Spokane. The current limit is 28 trains per day. Speed through the tunnel is 30 mph (48 km/h) for passenger trains, 25 mph (40 km/h) for freight trains.
  The gradient in this tunnel is 1.565% (1:64), with the rise from west to east. The gradient is 2.2% on the west side from the town of Skykomish. Most recently, telecommunications assets and track sections inside the tunnel were improved.
caption: East Portal doors opening
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