Cascade route change?

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rosewood

Train Attendant
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Jul 14, 2015
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Just read on FB Amtrak that the Puget Sound portion between Tacoma and Olympia will be re routed next year along I 5 highway.

Anyone know if this maybe true?
 
the point defiance bypass.

this is truely in progress.
 
Thanks for your reply, too bad , this is not an improvement
It is going to allow for an increase of frequency, as well as improve OTP for the corridor. it is bypassing a busy single track bottleneck with a passenger train only route.
 
Yes I can see that, the delays were good for the leisure travelers liking the views but not the business or game day passenger
 
The Lakewood Subdivision, which the new service will use, is mostly single track. Anyone know if they are planning to make it double? Charlie's link gives no details about that.
 
From what I've heard, I think it will stay single track for part of it (I think south of Lakewood), at least for know. I know that some crossings near Lakewood are double tracked.
 
The Lakewood Subdivision, which the new service will use, is mostly single track. Anyone know if they are planning to make it double? Charlie's link gives no details about that.
Looking at google maps aerial view (showing construction underway) It looks like single track. It also looks like right of way and track location is being done to facilitate double track in the future.

My understanding is that the Sounder commuter service is eying expanding to Olympia, and will likely be the driving force for double tracking if and when this happens.
 
It's going to be alternating stretches of single track and double track, with the possibility of expanding to full double track given extra money.

There's enough double track to handle the service planned for the 2017-2020 timeframe.
 
it would appear that the spacing of 2 MT is a defining point. If spacing is 10 miles then a late train could be further delayed up to 10 minutes. If spacing is variable then ? ? ? Does any one know the various single track segments distances of the by pass ?

Each double track section distance is also a factor to prevent slowing of at least one train of a meet.
 
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While I think overall the extra frequency and better reliability is a good trade-off, I'm bummed about losing the scenic section between Olympia and Tacoma. Truly one of the factors in choosing to take the train between Portland and Seattle.

That said, there's still a lot of water-hugging trackage along the Cascades route on the section north of Seattle. But that features much less service and isn't scheduled for any additional frequencies in the foreseeable future.
 
it would appear that the spacing of 2 MT is a defining point. If spacing is 10 miles then a late train could be further delayed up to 10 minutes. If spacing is variable then ? ? ? Does any one know the various single track segments distances of the by pass ?

Each double track section distance is also a factor to prevent slowing of at least one train of a meet.
Not sure.

-- Tacoma Union Station will be double tracked as will all points east.

-- There's a ~2.8 mile single-tracked section immediately west of Tacoma Union Station.

-- After that, it's double-tracked from there to south of Lakewood station (on the far side of Bridgeport Way), if I'm not mistaken.

-- There's about 10 miles from there to the beginning of a double tracked section near Nisqually. It's double tracked before the point where it joins the BNSF main line, so a northbound passenger train can get off the mainline before waiting for a southbound passenger train to come in.

-- There's already a siding in the middle of that 10 miles, so that makes 5 miles the longest possible single-track section...

-- But I believe they're actually extending the double track more than that so I think the longest section of single track will be less tha 5 miles.
 
Tacoma Union Station? It is now a Federal Courthouse, near, and formerly on, the Point Defiance line but now separated from the Point Defiance line by a freeway (I-705). It is about 1/2 mile or so north of the Point Defiance Bypass at its closest point. Do you mean the new Amtrak Freighthouse Square station?
 
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Brainfart. Yes, I mean the new Tacoma Freighthouse Square station.

It is a union station, you know. :) Sounder and Cascades. :)
 
While I think overall the extra frequency and better reliability is a good trade-off, I'm bummed about losing the scenic section between Olympia and Tacoma. Truly one of the factors in choosing to take the train between Portland and Seattle.

That said, there's still a lot of water-hugging trackage along the Cascades route on the section north of Seattle. But that features much less service and isn't scheduled for any additional frequencies in the foreseeable future.
I went SEA-Vancouver BC, and it hugs the coast pretty much all the way from SEA to half an hour away from VAC, although it crosses a cool old bridge in VAC
 
Testing of the new inland route begins this month, including Amtrak test trains. It's implied that the Amtrak test trains will not be in revenue service.

The new release indicates that service on the Point Defiance bypass will begin in "Fall 2017" including the expanded schedule.
 
So it appears that the Point Defiance by pass cannot be used until the Freight house station is complete and certified for occupancy and use ? Forgot -- where do the sounder trains that terminate at Lakewood now stop in Tacoma ?
 
Amtrak stops in Tacoma on a different line right now.

Sounder stops at Tacoma Dome, but (a) the trains are *shorter*; Amtrak needs a longer platform for the Coast Starlight, and (b) there are no facilities for Amtrak yet. The bypass can't be used until Amtrak has ticketing and baggage handling (Tacoma is a checked baggage stop!) and whatever's needed for wheelchair access on Superliners and so on. Amtrak is certainly not going to staff two stations at once, so...
 
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Amtrak stops in Tacoma on a different line right now.

Sounder stops at Tacoma Dome, but (a) the trains are *shorter*; Amtrak needs a longer platform for the Coast Starlight, and (b) there are no facilities for Amtrak yet. The bypass can't be used until Amtrak has ticketing and baggage handling (Tacoma is a checked baggage stop!) and whatever's needed for wheelchair access on Superliners and so on. Amtrak is certainly not going to staff two stations at once, so...
Can't speak to the wheelchair issue, but the baggage situation is easily handled by temporary suspending checked baggage service to Tacoma. There is precedence for doing this at other stations on both corridors and LD routes. Amtrak would simply issue a Service Alert telling people who want to check their bags that they can schlep them up to SEA if they need that service.

If everything else is ready to go, it seems foolish to put the entire project on hold just for the sake of an amenity that most Amtrak passengers at Tacoma don't use (speaking primarily about the Cascades passengers, but I suspect it holds true for CS pax too). And with Amtrak shutting down checked baggage service willy-nilly around the country, it's hard to lose sleep about people in Tacoma losing that service on a short-term basis.
 
Well, there's also a hell of a lot going on around Tacoma Dome station. Honestly, don't be surprised if the service date gets pushed back further. I'm pretty sure the Tacoma Trestle project is on the critical path now.

Immediately EAST of Tacoma Dome station, they're replacing the single-track wooden trestle.

Phase 1 is construction of a single-track concrete viaduct to the south of the original trestle; this is just about done.

Phase 2 involves the bridge over the road, completing this viaduct.

Then Sounder moves to the new viaduct (with a sharp S-curve in the track at the west end).

Phase 3 is the demolition of the old trestle.

Simultaneously with phase 3, the existing north-side Sounder platform (currently too short) will be extended east to where the viaduct/trestle starts. This allows 8-car Sounder trains but is still too short for the Coast Starlight.

Simultaneously with phase 3, a second Sounder platform will be built on the south side of the south track. The south track didn't have a platform and headed off on the "mountain line"; there's a new crossover west of the station to allow both station tracks to be used (and I believe the new crossover is done). This platform is also still too short for the Coast Starlight.

Finally, in phase 4, the concrete viaduct is widened to the north to double-track the "trestle" section, and this viaduct includes a further extension of the north platform. This is, finally, long enough for the Coast Starlight.

I think Amtrak can't move until that longer platform is complete. The problem is particularly with the southbound train; they can't block the grade crossing west of the station because it constitutes the access to the southern platform (no pedestrian bridge or tunnel). So they have to be able to fit the entire train on the platform.

They're expecting to finish this around the end of 2017. Project updates are here:

http://www.soundtransit.org/Projects-and-Plans/Tacoma-Trestle/Project-updates

The WSDOT announcement was about the track and signal on the western end of the line, Lakewood to Nisqually. This will be ready way before the platform at Tacoma Dome is ready.

I suspect the new station building and Amtrak facilities will also be ready (sitting vacant) significantly before that platform is ready. Since Amtrak doesn't want to maintain two facilities at once, they probably won't move any of the trains until they can move the Coast Starlight. Even though the Cascades trains could move much earlier.
 
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