The U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance program, which inspects travelers headed to the United States before departure, is available at more than a dozen airports, including the primary international hubs serving Abu Dhabi, Ireland and the Bahamas, as well as Canadian cities including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. The ferry terminal in Victoria, British Columbia, also takes part in the program.
Pacific Central is the first train station to have a U.S. preclearance program. Amtrak advises on its website that passengers traveling from Vancouver into the United States should arrive at least one hour before departure to complete processing.
Amtrak’s president, Roger Harris, said in a statement that the change would make “cross-border travel faster, easier and more seamless” for rail passengers entering the United States from Vancouver.
While the exact number of passengers expected to go through preclearance in Vancouver wasn’t immediately clear, nearly 150,000 passengers traveled to and from British Columbia on Amtrak Cascades trains in 2025, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
The change also comes ahead of the introduction of Amtrak’s new Airo trains, which will debut on the Cascades route later this year.