On the heels of Republican efforts to slash Amtrak's federal funding and scrap funding for high-speed rail , the state Department of Transportation just announced a new partnership with the state lottery that includes a new $5 "Cash Train" lottery ticket that will help fund a second train on Amtrak's Cascades line to Vancouver, BC through October. The tickets (which will be available until June) will pay out prizes of up to $50,000, as well as "second chance prizes" that include a trip to Vancouver and Whistler.

Depending on ticket sales, the tickets could raise up to $144,000 for WSDOT, which operates Amtrak service.