On Nov. 4, 2008, voters of the Central Puget Sound region approved a historic Sound Transit 2 ballot. Sound Transit will deliver this program between 2009 and 2023.
Sounder expansion summary
The ST2 Plan builds on the investments already made for providing passenger rail service between Everett and Lakewood along rail lines owned by Sound Transit and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Company.
ST2 increases the capacity of the highly utilized Tacoma-Seattle service through additional trains and expanded train lengths. Four round trips will be added to this service. Service capacity will be further expanded by increasing the number of passenger cars per train from seven to eight, and extending platforms at some stations. Additional locomotives and passenger cars will be acquired to support this capacity and service expansion.
On the Lakewood-Tacoma-Seattle line, ST2 also includes an expanded permanent Sounder station in Tukwila and access improvements for commuter rail and bus riders at the Kent, Auburn, Sumner, Puyallup, Tacoma Dome, South Tacoma and Lakewood stations. The ST2 Plan also provides for improvements on existing tracks in Tacoma, including Tacoma Rail tracks that are used by Sounder.
On the Everett-Seattle line, potentially in conjunction with Washington State Ferries multimodal terminal improvement projects, ST2 includes the construction of a permanent Edmonds Station and access improvements to Mukilteo Station.
Funds are also included to construct, own and operate a commuter rail yard and shop facility to support the level of service for Sounder trains at full operational capacity, enabling the agency to more efficiently maintain and operate Sounder.
The ST2 Plan also includes two provisional commuter rail stations along the Everett-Seattle corridor at Broad Street and Ballard that can be implemented subject to the availability of additional funds.
