Service Development Plan for the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor Program FINAL UPDATE Service Development Plan For the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor Program FINAL UPDATE September 2017 Washington State Department of Transportation PO Box 47407 310 Maple Park Avenue SE Olympia, Wash. 98504-7407 PNWRC – Service Development Plan Page i Revision History Revision No. Status Date Notes 2009 HSIPR Track 2 Rev. 00 Initial Draft August 2009 application Draft Program Rev. 01 July 2011 Revised per FRA Deliverable Final Program Rev. 02 September 2017 Revised per FRA Deliverable PNWRC – Service Development Plan Page ii Table of Contents Revision History ................................................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Service Development Plan Purpose ................................................................................................................................... 2 FRA Service Development Plan Requirements ................................................................................................................... 2 Award Announcement for Washington State .................................................................................................................... 3 Existing Amtrak Cascades Service ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Locomotives and Rolling Stock ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Maintenance Facility ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 Existing Stations ............................................................................................................................................................... 10 Service Development Plan Rationale ..................................................................................................................................... 11 Purpose and Need ............................................................................................................................................................ 11 Geography and Population of the Service Area ............................................................................................................... 12 Existing Corridor Transportation Options and Corridor Multimodal Connections ........................................................... 14 Transportation Demand Analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 17 Identification of Alternatives ................................................................................................................................................. 21 No‐Build Alternative ......................................................................................................................................................... 22 Corridor Service Expansion Alternative ............................................................................................................................ 22 Chapter 2: Qualifications of the State of Washington to Implement and Maintain the Service ...................................... 1 Eligibility .................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Agreements between the States and Enabling Legislation ..................................................................................................... 1 State Enabling Legislation ....................................................................................................................................................... 2 Legislative Directives and Plans .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Operating Subsidy ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Financial Responsibility ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 Cost Sharing and Matching Funds Agreements ................................................................................................................. 6 Prior Experience with Large Transportation Projects and Rail Projects ............................................................................. 7 Understanding the Commitment ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Public Support and Public Involvement .................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 3: Station Evaluation......................................................................................................................................... 1 Overview of Existing Stations .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Station Improvements ............................................................................................................................................................. 2 King Street Station - Seattle ............................................................................................................................................... 2 PNWRC – Service Development Plan Page iii Tacoma Station................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Tukwila Station ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 4: Operations Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Route Selection........................................................................................................................................................................ 1 UP Portion of the Route ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 BNSF Portion of the Route ................................................................................................................................................. 5 BNSF Fallbridge Subdivision ............................................................................................................................................... 6 BNSF Seattle Subdivision .................................................................................................................................................... 7 BNSF Scenic Subdivision ................................................................................................................................................... 11 BNSF Bellingham Subdivision ........................................................................................................................................... 12 BNSF New Westminster Subdivision ................................................................................................................................ 13 Via Rail Canada Pacific Central Station ............................................................................................................................. 14 Tacoma Rail/ST Portion of the Route ............................................................................................................................... 15 Rail Traffic Controller Analysis .............................................................................................................................................. 17 RTC Analysis – Methodology and Output ......................................................................................................................... 17 RTC Scenarios ................................................................................................................................................................... 32 Passenger Stations ........................................................................................................................................................... 40 Infrastructure Improvements Required to Support the New Service ...................................................................................