Last week, Sounder service experienced a major disruption after unanticipated maintenance issues resulted in a significant number of rail cars being removed from service.
Sounder trains are maintained and operated by Amtrak, whose team has been working rapidly to perform necessary maintenance and inspections to restore fleet availability and allow Sounder to return to full scheduled service.
Thanks to the expanded efforts and resources of our colleagues at Amtrak, the railcar availability restoration work that was originally anticipated to take up to six weeks is now already more than halfway done.
Crews have come in from as far as Los Angeles, and maintenance bays that were once dedicated to Talgo equipment are now being used temporarily to accelerate the pace of critical maintenance, ensuring that Sounder returns to service as quickly and safely as possible.
After last Wednesday’s late evening announcement of an unexpected railcar shortage, nearly all train service was cancelled, followed by Sounder operating a limited schedule and smaller, lower capacity trains.
In less than a week, however, Amtrak was able to release and add 11 cars back into Sounder service, allowing Sounder to operate all full length consists on all but four trains. Those four trains will continue to be cancelled until enough additional cars can be released to operate all service as planned.
During this disruption, Amtrak Cascades trains are available to passengers headed to any shared Sounder/Cascades station. These destinations include Tacoma Dome, Tukwila, King Street, Edmonds, and Everett.
To use the Cascades service, passengers can simply show their ORCA card or Sounder ticket to the station agent and train conductor and travel as needed. This service will continue to be offered until all trains return to service.
Regularly scheduled bus service is also available for impacted Sounder passengers. Travelers can find local bus routes by visiting the Sound Transit Trip Planner and filtering to “bus only.”
We understand the inconvenience and uncertainty these cancellations have caused our riders, and appreciate your patience as our partners work to restore full schedules and full trains as quickly as possible.