(The Associated Press circulated the following article on January 10.)
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Mudslides triggered by heavy rain halted Amtrak passenger train service early today through Bellingham, the second time in a week the rail service has been closed.
Other slides spilled onto Interstate 5 between Olympia and Tacoma and forced the evacuation of a University of Washington fraternity annex in Seattle.
No injuries were reported from any of the slides.
Gus Melonas, a spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, said mud, rocks and trees spilled onto tracks about three miles south of Tacoma, in Shoreline just north of Seattle and further north between Edmonds and Everett.
The slides effectively closed all passenger rail service between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Portland, Ore.
Buses were used to carry Amtrak passengers around the slides and replaced Sounder commuter trains between Seattle and Everett. Sounder trains were still rolling between Seattle and Tacoma, Sound Transit spokesman Lee Somerstein said.
Freight trains were able to run on parallel tracks north and south of Seattle but at reduced speeds, Melonas said.
The disruption of passenger rail service was the second in less than a week north of the city. Four slides between Seattle and Everett blocked the same line early Friday. Amtrak service resumed Sunday and Sounder trains on Monday.
In other problems, state Transportation Department crews were removing debris from a mudslide that blocked a northbound lane on Interstate 5 in the Nisqually area near the Pierce-Thurston county line.
In Seattle, a clogged drain was blamed for a mudslide that caused a retaining wall to bulge at a fraternity annex north of the university. City firefighters evacuated five residents and cut electricity to the building.