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.