It’s not just light rail that people are turning to–heavy rail is growing in popularity, too. WSDOT reports that Amtrak Cascades is seeing double-digit increases in ridership compared to 2009. Second quarter of 2010 is 12 percent higher than 2009, and for the first half of 2010, ridership is up 17 percent over 2009, to almost 400,000 riders.

Explains WDOT:

A portion of the ridership growth is due to the additional service to and from Vancouver, B.C., that began in August 2009 and the 2010 Olympic Games that were held in Vancouver, B.C., in February and March.

But the Olympics alone isn’t responsible for the record-breaking months of April, May, and June. The second train to Vancouver is getting use, Olympics or not. The Tacoma News Tribune quotes Vickie Sheehan, a WSDOT spokeswoman, saying, “With the economy the way it is, people are taking shorter, closer trips for their vacations.”

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If, as Sightline says, gas consumption has risen slightly as the price of gas has dropped, it’s also true that it could clearly have risen more. (Amtrak’s ridership dropped just slightly in 2009, as well.) The popularity couldn’t be more timely, as the whole Cascades line is part of the planned high speed rail upgrade, which would introduce a 110-mph top speed and cut the travel time from Seattle to Portland to two and a half hours; to Vancouver, to two hours, forty-five minutes.