Seattle, Washington: Sound Transit

I am trying to gather any information on the new light rail opening in seattle this summer.. my first big question is does any of the light rail line share trackage with the new Lake Union Streetcar?

No. The two lines will connect (at least for transfer purposes, don't know if there will be a physical connection) at the Westlake light rail station.

http://www.soundtransit.org/x1171.xml

http://www.seattlestreetcar.org/map/

Does anyone know where the maintenance will be done for the Lake Union Streetcar? Will they build a shop for an operation of that size, or make an arrangement similar to Portland and have the light-rail system do the maintenance at their shop under contract?

The connection between the South Lake Union Streetcar and the LINK Light Rail at Westlake will be via a serpentine crosswalk, as this is where 5th Ave ha a Y intersection with Westlake, as well as Stewart Street intersecting there, other than that, the station is across the street. The maintenance for the South Lake Union Streetcar is done at a separate facility up the street from the line.

Apparently BNSF had sold the State of WA industrial trackage that Sound Transit now uses to access Tacoma Dome Station from TR Jct., where the line leaves BNSF's Seattle Sub. Doe anyone know who dispatches and who issues the operating timetable for the rr between TR and Tac Dome?
Thanks!

Andy
Jacksonville, FL

Site Admin Note: pardon my intrusion into this forum, but I thought I'd sticky this and add a news link while I was at it for this service.
Moderator Note: And, pardon my intrusion into your post, twropr, but I renamed this thread to go along with the established pattern.

That's part of Tacoma Rail's Mountain Division; the portion that Sound Transit uses is about a mile or so and I believe entirely within yard limits.

It is the former Milwaukee Road mainline into Tacoma and definitely not "industrial track" (at least by Tacoma standards, given the large amount of industrial spurs/leads in the Tideflats and elsewhere.)

Interestingly, there are a pair of Griswold crossing signals at the Tacoma Dome ST station, and the Milwaukee Road logo is still painted on the viaduct just to the east of the station.

Sound Transit OKs purchase of rail right-of-way for Bellevue-Redmond work

The Sound Transit Board has approved the purchase of 1.1 miles of former BNSF right of way in the City of Bellevue needed for the upcoming extension of East Link light rail service to Bellevue and Redmond.

The purchase of the property from the Port of Seattle supports Sound Transit's work to start construction of East Link in 2015.

Included in the purchase package offered by the Port is an easement that provides access to 37 miles of the rail corridor between Woodinville and Renton for other potential high-capacity transit investments in the future.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/default/articl ... z1LEJzXgga

Now that Sound Transit has access to the entire 37 miles of the ex-BNSF rail corridor, it might be far cheaper to go ahead and use it through Bellevue as well, as today's Bellevue city council prefers......

Sound Transit buys 1.1 miles of former BNSF track for East Link light rail

Sound Transit and the Port of Seattle today announced they have finalized Sound Transit’s purchase of 1.1 miles of former BNSF track in Bellevue for construction of East Link light rail, as well as easements for future access to 37 miles of the Eastside rail corridor.

The purchase supports Sound Transit's work to start construction of East Link light rail. The 37-mile easement was also part of the purchase package offered by the Port of Seattle. The easement provides the ability to consider future voter-approved rail transit investments between Woodinville and Renton. Sound Transit would need to build new tracks to support the safety features and operating speeds needed for passenger rail service.

...

In addition to the 37-mile easement, Sound Transit also received rights to access the portion of the rail corridor located within Redmond's city limits, allowing for future construction of a light rail extension between the city’s Overlake and downtown areas. Last year Sound Transit identified a route for building the extension at such time funding becomes available.

Rail News - Construction begins on Seattle's new streetcar line. - Progressive Railroading

On Monday, Sound Transit and Seattle city officials broke ground on the First Hill Streetcar. ...

The 2.5-mile line is scheduled to be open by spring 2014.

Seattle Streetcar: First Hill Streetcar: Construction Starts 2012 has a detailed map of the line. First Hill Streetcar - Wikipedia has a less-detailed one, but it also shows the other urban-rail lines in the area.

Seattle already has a streetcar line, the South Lake Union Streetcar, but it does not go near the upcoming First Hill line. It runs north from the Westlake light-rail station to Lake Union. The First Hill line will go east from near King St. Station, then north on Broadway to a future light-rail station at Denny Way.

Seattle Streetcar plans and Seattle Streetcar Network - Wikipedia show some maps of various proposed streetcar extensions. One of them would connect the South Lake Union and First HIll lines.


Officials work to cut costs on Bellevue light-rail project | Local News | The Seattle Times

Bellevue and Sound Transit officials' ideas for reducing the cost of light rail through Bellevue focus on eliminating planned trenches in parts of South Bellevue, excavating a shallower downtown tunnel and building a less expensive downtown station.

Bellevue and Sound Transit officials are rolling out ideas this week they say could reduce city taxpayers' bill for a light-rail tunnel by as much as $60 million.

Sound Transit Projects: University Link Extension - has a street map -- the line won't be following the streets. Since it's in a solid-rock tunnel, its builders evidently don't think that that's worth bothering with.

From the University of Washington northward:
Sound Transit sets budget and timescale for North Link project  - Railway Gazette - it will cost $2.1 billion, and it should open in 2021.
Sound Transit Projects: Northgate Link Extension - it should break ground on August 17.

From Northgate northward:
Sound Transit Projects: Lynnwood Link Extension - officially renamed, still in planning.

From downtown Seattle to Bellevue and Overlake:
Sound Transit Projects: East Link Project - from their timeline, they may start construction in 2015 and finish it in 2023. It may later be extended from Overlake to downtown Redmond.

From SeaTac Airport southward:
Sound Transit Projects: S 200th Street Link Extension - they are expecting to start construction next year and finish in 2016.

From S 200th St. southward:
Sound Transit Projects: Federal Way Transit Extension Project - still in planning

Sound Transit Projects: Tacoma Link Expansion - they will decide where to extend to

Sounder trains coming to South Tacoma and Lakewood this fall - SoundTransit - though not Amtrak Cascades ones for a few more years. That project is WSDOT - Project - Rail - Tacoma - Bypass of Point Defiance; it will require work on the tracks between Lakewood and Nisqually.

The construction of the track connection between D to M streets in Tacoma is evidently approaching completion. It's a rather curious bit of unfinished business from the heyday of the railroads a century or so ago. That project's home page: Sound Transit Projects: D-to-M Street Track and Signal Work

lpetrich wrote:It's a rather curious bit of unfinished business from the heyday of the railroads a century or so ago.

Not so curious when you see how the line used to cross the Thea Foss Waterway at about 14th Street: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/was ... a-1895.jpg

Party like it's 2021 for Northgate light rail - seattlepi.com - Seattle PI on the groundbreaking ceremony for it (day just before). Along the way to it:

Sound Transit currently is building a light rail extension from downtown to Husky Stadium. Tunneling between future stations at Capitol Hill and Husky Stadium recently was completed. The project so far is on schedule to be finished in 2016.

Rail News - Sound Transit breaks ground on Northgate light-rail extension. For Railroad Career Professionals

The $2.1 billion Northgate Link extension will operate mostly underground through one of the most congested travel corridors in the region. ...

Northgate Link construction will start with demolition work in the Roosevelt area. Next year, Sound Transit plans to select a contractor to excavate the underground stations and use tunnel-boring machines to construct twin 3.7-mile tunnels from north of the Roosevelt neighborhood to the University of Washington Station. Tunneling is slated to begin in late 2014.

This making nearly 7 route-miles of tunnel north of downtown Seattle.

With all the Seattle commuters to Olympia, why not extend it to downtown Olympia??