Herald staff
MUKILTEO — A mudslide closed railroad tracks north of Mukilteo early Thursday morning, forcing more than 100 Amtrak train passengers to be bused from Everett to Seattle.
As a safety precaution, the railroad has suspended passenger traffic along that stretch of rail until early Saturday morning. Although the debris was cleared from the tracks in a few hours, some rock and dirt was still shifting, said Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas.
That means passengers on daily Amtrak trains from Seattle to Bellingham and Seattle to Vancouver will likely have to be shuttled part of the way today.
"We’re still operating our service, but it’s just that part of the route will have to be bused," said Amtrak spokeswoman Kathleen Cantillon.
The mudslide, which was 10 feet deep and 40 feet long, gave way at 3:30 a.m. Thursday. It blocked both sides of the railroad’s main track, Melonas said.
The railroad was able to get one side open for freight traffic by 6:30 a.m. and both tracks cleared by 10:30 a.m. But officials decided to take some time to assess the landscape before allowing passenger travel.
About 119 passengers on the Empire Builder, which runs from Chicago to Seattle, had to be taken off their train in Everett Thursday. They were put on buses for the last 25 miles of their trip, Cantillon said.
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