WSDOT begins track, signal improvements at King Street Station

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
image description
This photo, taken from Fourth Avenue looking south, shows the two new main line tracks to the left, and the series of connecting tracks that allow passenger trains to enter and exit King Street Station. Amtrak’s Empire Builder, on the right, has just arrived at the station after its journey from Chicago.
WSDOT

Construction began March 11 on track and signal improvements at the King Street Station in Seattle, Wash. The work is part of the $50.4-million King Street Station Track Improvements project overseen by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

 

The project will extend tracks, install additional turnouts and add a new platform and canopy. In addition, decades-old hand-thrown switches will be replaced by a modern, computerized system, further improving train movement at the station.

The improvements will make it easier for trains to enter and exit the station, which will help reduce delays and make train travel throughout Washington and the entire Amtrak Cascades corridor more convenient. Amtrak Cascades trains run from Eugene, Ore., to Vancouver, British Columbia and are jointly administered by WSDOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

This project is part of the nearly $800-million federally-funded Cascades High-Speed Rail Capital Program, that includes 20 projects throughout the state. The King Street tracks project is the final of the 20 projects to start construction. Ten of the projects are complete and all will be done by spring 2017.

Once complete, the work will allow WSDOT to add two more daily Amtrak Cascades roundtrips between Seattle and Portland, reduce travel times between the two cities by 10 minutes and increase on-time reliability to 88 percent.

 

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