The WSDOT website says Amtrak Cascades will return to the Lakewood Sub this Spring.

I assume the Starlight also shifts over at that time?

The website also says the deadline for PTC to be fully operational in the Pacific Northwest is December 31. Is it fully operational now? Is anyone here in the know?

Quote:

Rail - Tacoma - Bypass of Point Defiance
Project news
August 2018

Update on return of Amtrak Cascades service to the Point Defiance Bypass

In spring 2019, Amtrak anticipates returning Cascades passenger train service to the Point Defiance Bypass between Tacoma, Lakewood, JBLM and DuPont.

This schedule allows time for the National Transportation Safety Board to complete its investigation and issue its recommendations related to the 2017 derailment in DuPont. It also provides time to monitor how Positive Train Control (PTC) is working on the current Amtrak Cascades route, before returning the service to the bypass. Amtrak, Sound Transit, and BNSF are all working together to ensure PTC is operating seamlessly in the entire Pacific Northwest and they are confident they will meet the December 31, 2018, federal deadline for implementation in our region.

PTC equipment testing and crew training will occur on the Point Defiance Bypass throughout the fall and winter in preparation for the return of daily service next spring.

[www.wsdot.wa.gov]

My recommendation to improve safety: A fixed approach semaphore placed a mile out from Nisqually Junction. Call me old fashioned, but it could have saved Amtrak 501.