Federal money for King Street, Tukwila stations in Washington State
Written by jrood
Washington State has been awarded $31 million in federal money for railroad projects in the state, the Seattle Times reports. More than $18.2 million will go to seismically retrofit King Street Station in Seattle and its clock tower, as well as restore the station's main hall and other upgrades at the station. The project is a partnership with the state, Amtrak, the city of Seattle, Sound Transit and BNSF.
The grant also includes
$9 million for Sound Transit’s Tukwila Station project, a new train station for
use by Sounder commuter trains and Amtrak Cascades intercity trains.
When combined with $590
million in federal stimulus money awarded earlier this year, this latest grant
brings Washington’s total funding for future high-speed rail corridors to $621
million.
In Mount Vernon, $3.3
million will be spent to build sidings "passing lanes for trains" to improve speed and reliability
for freight and passenger trains. The remaining $400,000 will be spent
developing a state rail plan integrating freight and passenger service.
This latest round of grants
comes from two Federal Railroad Administration programs to continue the
development of high-speed intercity passenger rail across the country. Nearly
$1 billion in federal, state and local capital and operating money has been
invested in high-speed rail in the Northwest since 1994.
