Southbound Sounder
The "reverse-commute" Seattle-to-Tacoma Sounder train has posted pretty tepid numbers thusfar, but it has other benefits:
[ST Spokesperson Linda] Robson said the reverse commute allows the agency to offer a fifth northbound train in the morning despite having room to house only four trains at a time in Tacoma. The fifth train starts in Seattle and picks up passengers on its way to Tacoma before heading north again.
Robson said the train gives commuters another option besides driving or taking the bus. And she said Tacoma’s growing economy was a factor in the decision to begin the service.
The number of passengers heading south is relatively small.
In January an average of 38 people boarded the southbound train each morning. By comparison, the new northbound train departing Tacoma at 5 a.m. saw an average of 509 passengers in January.
Robson said the number of reverse-commute passengers is about what the agency expected. But she thinks it will grow as the agency expands service.
Sound Transit will launch another reverse-commute train – along with a sixth northbound morning train – in September. Early next year it plans to add a seventh northbound morning commute trip.
We're still far away from the 30 trains a day that we were originally promised, and both BNSF and ST share some of the blame for not being able to meet that promise.
Still, Sounder's making great strides. If, in fact, we're not going to build light rail to Tacoma, it makes sense to really invest in the Sounder system, with more dedicated rights-of-way, switches, and grade-separation. Clearly that's a big piece of the so-called "ST2.1," so we're getting there.
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It makes sense to run them in reverse, or it would be an in-efficient use of equipment to have the trains just get shunted into the yard after a one-way trip. Now a Third-Main and other improvements to help make for more trains, should be utilized for some off-peak runs. Maybe hourly outside of Peak Hour, and use DMUs for that service.
So, what I'm seeing this morning is that we have Sounder and Amtrak running to Tacoma on leased freight rails, and the Tacoma Trib calling for ST Link service from the airport to Tacoma. If everyone's dreams came true here we would have two services delayed by freight movements and one service running as light rail.
Speaking in technical terms, a tram on a grade-separated right-of-way with modest gradient and curvature can go like a bat outa hell. Maybe we should consider giving ST the same authority the Port of Seattle has always enjoyed of just dead-ending streets that formerly bisected what is now airport.
Even as a dedicated come-the-revolution kind of guy, I can hardly imagine Puget Sound will build two grade-separated passenger-only rail lines between Tacoma and Seattle any time soon. On the other hand, even a stick-in-the-mud can see how desirable it would be to build one. A conundrum, to be sure.