The original 58 Sounder railcars, which have been in service since the launch of Sound Transit’s first commuter rail line in 2000, will see a full refurbishment to extend their life. The overhauls come at a turning point for the future of Sounder.
Sound Transit continues to restore Sounder rail cars to service with some improvements for riders, but maintenance work by contractor Amtrak could take a while longer. That means reduce Sounder service could linger.
Sounder commuter rail service will continue to operate on reduced schedules, with no firm timeline yet for the full restoration of service, Sound Transit said. The reductions stem from a maintenance lag revealed on Wednesday.
Sound Transit’s Sounder N Line between Everett and Seattle will see four round trips starting September 14, finally returning to pre-pandemic levels of service.
South Sounder riders could see more midday and weekday trips under a program reset. Sound Transit staff are recommending postponing pre-pandemic priorities for longer platforms and trains and accelerating investments in more trips and extended span of service.
The Sound Transit board established a new set of lower farebox recovery goals for buses and trains in a vote last month. The new targets follow the adoption of a new $3 flat fare structure for Link light rail, set to go into effect on August 30.
Sounder riders want weekend trips and a fuller weekday schedule, an agency report shows, but governing board priorities are holding back near-term potential.
An agency report obtained by The Urbanist lays out three key scenarios to implement fare gates with the goal of driving up fare compliance and revenue. Fare policy has a been a hotly contested issue at Sound Transit for the past few years, due in large part to concerns with
While Saturday and Sunday Link ridership is exploding, Sounder trains still don’t run on weekends. Sound Transit does not yet run regular Sounder service on weekends, but the agency should certainly change that given demand shown by strong weekend ridership on Link. By passing the Sound Transit 3 (ST3)
Sound Transit is taking a beat to rethink Sounder South capital expansion investments and plan targeted investments that could benefit existing Sounder and Amtrak services in the Tacoma area. The effort could mean bigger investments in Sounder S Line service with additional weekday trips and even the introduction of weekend
Sound Transit is partnering with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for a grade-separation project in Pierce County. The project is being led by the state transportation department as part of freeway expansion efforts near Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) and will benefit a railway that Sound Transit owns. The
Elected officials have approved another 1,500 car parking stalls at select stations along the Sounder S Line. This capital investment is astronomically expensive for the meager ridership gains that the projects might facilitate. That’s why it’s worth reconsidering recent project approvals and redirecting funding into higher performing
Ridership on Sounder’s southern line has taken a huge hit since the pandemic started in 2020. Sound Transit moved to cut service down to the bone for a time on the S Line, which runs between Seattle and Lakewood. That likely depressed ridership even more than it otherwise would
This Transpo Notes roundup touches on a mix of transit stories, including: * Leaky ceiling repairs underway at U District Station; * New Fare Paid Zones coming to Downtown Seattle Link stations; * Community Transit’s soon-to-launch microtransit pilot; and * Short- and long-term Sounder S Line service changes. U District Station’s leaky
This Transpo Notes roundup touches on a mix of transit stories, including: * New Sounder cars arrive; * $30 million in federal bus grants for Washington transit agencies; * A pilot passenger-only ferry launches service; * Staffing levels at local transit agencies still down; * Update on Link real-time arrival signs; and * New bike rooms
Puget Sound is investing heavily in large transit expansion projects like light rail and bus rapid transit. These are critically important for moving people quickly over in-city and short regional distances on-demand. But as the region grows around transit, policymakers need to begin planning how to transport people over longer
As a regular reader who lives in Downtown Tacoma, I’m always excited to see articles that address the challenges and opportunities in our city. The recent article proposing a Central Tacoma Link Extension (CTLE) to improve transit service into Downtown Tacoma was no different. However, I’d like to
Sound Transit has opened an online open house and survey on proposed station access improvements for Sounder commuter rail stations in South Tacoma and Lakewood. These are the last two stations on the S Line until Tillicum and DuPont Stations open in 2045 and are served by seven Sounder trips
On Thursday, the Sound Transit Board of Directors met for their final time in 2020. The meeting closed the year by taking up big actions on fare enforcement reform, and the board lowered youth, ORCA LIFT, senior, and disabled fares on Sounder trains and approved the 2021 budget. The board
Sound Transit is moving ahead with the the South Sounder Capacity Expansion program and has approved funding to proceed with acquisition of additional passenger cars as soon as next year to expedite expansion. This is just a small piece, however, of a larger $1 billion capacity expansion program that will
On Thursday, members of the Sound Transit’s System Expansion Committee heard an update from agency staff on the the Sounder South capital expansion program. The program is funded as part Sound Transit 3 (ST3) and is expected to provide about $1 billion in capital investments to expand capacity of
Sound Transit is seeking feedback on several station access improvements recommended for Edmonds and Mukilteo. The goal of the program is to deploy a variety of walking, biking, transit, and parking access improvements to Sounder commuter rail. A total of $40 million in funds are available for projects due to
Sound Transit has started a process to plan nearly $1 billion in capital improvements for capacity expansion of the Sounder South commuter rail corridor. The initial menu of options being explored include adding more trips, expanding the period of service, increasing frequency of service, and operating bigger trains. Implementation of
On Monday, Sound Transit announced that positive train control (PTC) has been fully implemented and received certification along the Sounder commuter rail corridors. Sounder trains operating the corridors from Lakewood to Everett are now controlled by PTC equipment that automatically slows trains from overspeeds and prevents collisions with other trains,
The North Sounder line has long been panned by technocratic transit advocates as a white elephant gift to Snohomish County communities. At a cost of more than $250 million for right-of-way slots, the line has four daily roundtrips on weekdays between Everett and Seattle. It suffers from a variety of
Sound Transit is adding new trips to the South Sounder line later in September. Two additional roundtrips will be added to better address crowding and fill out the schedule. One of the round trips will provide a reverse-commute service during the early afternoon peak hours. Collectively, the new trips will
Service on the South Sounder line will be temporarily truncated to Puyallup later this month. The service revision will begin on February 17th and run through the morning of February 22nd. Regular service will be restored in time for the afternoon commute on the 22nd. With service curtailed to Puyallup,