Eugene Amtrak Station

Nice people and relatively clean waiting area with wooden seats. The station has a food vending machine and a drink vending machine.
HOT TIP: You can check in your Amtrak bag hours ahead of time, then take a walk across the road to the Smith Family Bookstore and kill those hours finding a book or two to read on your trip. It’s one of the best bookstores in Eugene. Two storeys of books.

Their policy regarding unaccompanied minors is onerous and and stupid. I have to arrive 60 minutes early with my 15 year old, have them interviewed, and wait at the station until the train leaves?
I can’t send my 12 year old with my 16 year old even though she could drive?
Also, you have to call them on the phone to book travel for unaccompanied minors age 13 – 15 instead of using their website like it is 2015.
By contrast Greyhound has a much more reasonable unaccompanied minor policy (with regard to ages, at least).

You must never expect train or bus by Amtrak to be on time, always 2 to 5 hours late of schedule. As long as you don’t need to be somewhere at a particular time, it’s fine.

The train station is very clean, and well maintained and the staff is always really friendly. It’s in a really good part of town that is surrounded by restaurants and bars, and a vegan bakery that is really great.
There really isn’t anything else to say other than if you are traveling out of town to the North or South up and down the coast it is definitely worth it to take the train. Much preferred to the bus, and the bus station.

This is a review of the Eugene Amtrak station, not Amtrak itself… With that said, there really isn’t any way this station could get less than 5 stars, imo. It’s in a nice part of Eugene that has restaurants, bars, and is close to a free way on-​ramp. The staff was friendly, and the station itself is spacious and clean.

This review is as much about Amtrak in general as this particular station. Our first real experience taking the train long distance had mostly good points, but one particularly bad one.
For our anniversary DLW and I did a getaway to San Francisco, and I suggested we take Amtrak rather than try to drive or fly. The attraction initially was that it’s so much cheaper than any other way, but there are also the facts that you don’t need to drive in the city or spend $ 50 a day on parking, or at least that much taking a taxi from the airport. We booked well in advance, and got a good price.
The train was 30 minutes late getting into Eugene, but we settled in for our ride quickly enough. Seats are roomy and give a lot of legroom compared to airline coach seats, plus they have electrical outlets at every seat, so no danger of running out of charge on your tablet or phone. Food and drinks are pretty pricey and not very appetizing, so we brought our own.
The Starlighter runs during the night, so we slept as much as we could. Fifteen hours was pushing the limit of what we could tolerate, but it was an adventure. The train had to stop during the night for a freight train, so we arrived 1.5 hours late in Emeryville, then took the shuttle into town, included in the price of our ticket.
It was the return trip that was the problem. The shuttle got us to the station in plenty of time, but the train was delayed for reasons not made clear to us. We waited until almost 5 am with no concessions except for some vending machines before finally getting an explanation: a couple of car switches and a freight train delay. There was only a single apology from the manager, and no make-​good except for a small snack box. We were seven hours late getting home.
I’m torn between a three and four-​star rating, but since being on time wasn’t critical to me, I’ll be generous. Amtrak is cheap and romantic, but not reliable if you need to keep to a schedule. If you have the time to burn, by all means use it. Just be prepared for a long wait. It helps if you’re good at sleeping on a plastic chair.

Dirk, one of the folks who works at the ticket counter, is my hero! He is super helpful and sweet, even once coming to my rescue with a curmudgeonly Amtrak bus driver who was trying to insist my camera and computer gear (in a normal sized carry on) go under the bus. He is awesome and deserves a giant raise! Oh yeah– the rest of the station is nice too:)

I use the trains periodically, sometimes it’s just nicer to have them drive.
Muuuch better than taking the bus + you can plug in your device & I think they have WiFi :)
the cost can be either super cheap or ridiculous expensive so ALWAYS but your tickets ahead of time. otherwise it’ll cost yah.

Very clean and nice!
I think more people should venture this way to check it out, it has some neat old trains too!

Kind of nice as Amtrak stations go. Located near downtown. Walking distance from most of downtown. Heated indoor waiting area. Attended ticket sales.

Train accommodations are great, however they have not taken time to provide training to employees about courtesies. Stations are beautiful and clean. However, a flaw exist.
For instance, please Amtrak Porter, make an announcement about arrival at location before it arrives, so we can get off the train! Currently, Sitting in Portland waiting for next south bound train back to Salem. Three to four hour delay. Just saying’ Same guy who did not know where the emergency medical kit was when I fainted on the train a couple of years back. Same porter. I could not believe he forgot to announce over the PA that the train had arrived in Salem. He is lame. Still has a job though…

Get on the fast track!
That’s what the theatrical poster for 1995’s classic comedy thriller Money Train exclaimed. In the poster two brothers from different mothers, Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, outrun a train while carrying a bag we can only assume is full of money. One brother was all washed up, the other dated mid-​nineties Jennifer Lopez with all her physical niceties (I’m referring to her butt).
My attempt to somehow tie this review of Amtrak Cascades into the many subplots of Money Train may come up short, but allow me to address the shared attributes, as I currently know them:
–Many people thought Money Train was a box-​office bomb. I think Amtrak Cascades is the bomb too!
–Bob Dole wanted to boycott Money Train because it was too violent. Bob Dole also threatened cut backs «from A to Z, from Amtrak to zoological studies…» After Dole threatened these cutbacks on the Senate floor he had some warm milk and took a nap. I drink warm milk and take naps when I ride Amtrak Cascades!
–It once took Bob Dole 7 hours to get rid of an erection. It takes 7 hours for me to ride Amtrak Cascades from Eugene to Seattle! It also took 7 hours for me to use Amtrak Cascades free wireless to load up IMDB’s page on Money Train!
On a very, very serious note. Sign up for guest rewards. You can get points and ride the train for free without risk of losing an appendage. Also, if you want to learn more about guest rewards shoot me your email because I get points if I get you to sign up.

$ 48 for roundtrip fare to PDX. Comfortable seats with plenty of leg room. Wi-​Fi available. I can only speak about the one and only trip I’ve taken so far, but the time to board to when the train left PDX was just plain fast. Not enough time to get impatient, and that held true for the three stops made between PDX and EUG. The train in one compound word: carefree.
We couldn’t get a train during the time-​slot we had available to leave EUG, so we had to ride the bus up to PDX, which wasn’t near as entertaining as the train was, so good luck to you to nab a train both ways!

The restaurants around this station has upscale prices. It seems a bit high for a college town. Didn’t have time for a sit down dinner, but there isn’t even a Subway or Jack in The Box nearby. Not much else around except a bar that is in sight of the platform.

One of the last bastions of comfortable commuting is that slow rolling relic of a bygone era, the train. I don’t like to drive and buses don’t cut it on anything longer than a crosstown jaunt. For my money, Amtrak is still a heck of a deal from the Eug to PDX. Heck from Portland to Seattle ain’ t that bad.
The check in is shorter and the ride less jarring compared to short flights in the Northwest. Anything further is for folks with time to kill and Social Security check coming regularly in the mail.
The Eugene Depot is right downtown so any delay is easily sipped away at the Jackalope Lounge or Electric Station bar. This comes in handy more often than not because let’s face it, Amtrak is not exactly a schedule to set your watch by. The building is beautiful with classic deep overhanging eaves protecting the quaint brick exterior. The long wood benches inside are well crafted and comfortable enough to sit on. There are even these cool round bay projections on the train side to be able to look down the track and see if the train is coming without having to step outside.
I hope there is some stimulus money earmarked to revitalizing the rail lines in the Northwest because the current system needs an update for the 21^st century. More efficient trains and proper maintenance could make this the viable alternative transportation it was meant to be.