The Point Defiance Bypass (officially the Lakeview Subdivision) is a 14.5-mile-long (23.3 km) rail line between the cities of DuPont and Tacoma in Pierce County, Washington.

It was opened for Amtrak service on December 18, 2017, but the first Cascades train derailed at speed on a bridge over Interstate 5 while traveling southbound near DuPont.

[3][4][5] The Northern Pacific Railway (NP) opened the Prairie Line – part of its planned transcontinental mainline – through Yelm and Lakewood on January 5, 1874.

[6]: 11  On May 1, 1891, the NP-owned Tacoma, Olympia & Grays Harbor Railroad completed a 24.7-mile-long (39.8 km) branch of the Northern Pacific between Lakeview (near modern Lakewood) and Lacey, passing through the Fort Lewis military base.

Mudslides frequently closed the line, and the 1988 conversion of two tunnels to single track to further increase freight clearances limited capacity.

[9] In 1992, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) identified the American Lake Branch and the northern section of the Prairie Line as a potential alignment for a new Amtrak bypass of Point Defiance.

[13] WSDOT published a long-range plan for the Amtrak Cascades corridor in 2006, outlining a series of projects needed before reactivating passenger rail service on the line.

[3][16] Officials from Lakewood and DuPont voiced their concerns about safety and increased traffic congestion resulting from the bypass's construction, leading to concessions in the final design by the state.

[21] Sound Transit plans to extend Sounder commuter rail service to DuPont in 2036, with an additional station at Berkeley Street.

[22] On December 18, 2017, during the inaugural southbound run of the Cascades on the Point Defiance Bypass, the train derailed while crossing Interstate 5 near the Nisqually River.

[27][28] The restoration of Amtrak service on the Point Defiance Bypass was then tentatively scheduled for 2020, after agreements with local officials and the arrival of new Talgo trainsets.