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The group met at Andy's Diner on November 17th, in Seattle. Our guest for the evening was Paul Price, Director of "Sounder" the commuter rail division of ST' (Sound Transit's) triage for getting the Puget Sound out of the No. 1 position for "being the most congested area" in the nation.

It's always a pleasure to speak with Paul, as he is very straight forward, knowledgeable, and most enthusiastic about his task of bringing a new rail system online. As customary, it is a very informal gathering, allowing for lots of Q&A. We still have a few good seats available for more friends, and the chow at Andy's is always delicious.

Cutting to the chase, here's what's up with Sounder:

• ST has moved into final engineering on stations between Seattle and Tacoma.
• Station construction could begin early next year.
• Preliminary engineering is done on track/signal improvements needed between Seattle and Tacoma.
• ST Board will soon authorize final design work to be done by BNSF in the ST offices.
• Will use temporary station facility at Tacoma Amtrak if connection to TE isn't done in time. BNSF wants track/signal improvements needed for eventual increases in Amtrak service done at the same time to minimize service disruptions in the corridor.
• Service is to be phased in over the year in 2000 starting with a couple of roundtrips, more trips in June, more in October, with the goal of 18 trips per day by the end of the year (6 am trips to Seattle, and 3 reverse trips in both the am and pm peak travel periods).
• Environmental work is proceeding on Seattle-Everett and Tacoma-Lakewood.
• The TE to Prairie line connection has a maximum grade of 3.572%. Will be at grade at Pacific Ave. Tacoma has bought off on this. They can get a fully loaded 10 car train up this grade.
• The BNSF Mainline to TE connection will be 2.5%.
• Smart card technology a couple of years away yet. ST's vending equipment will be capable of handling it when it comes.
• Tukwila will ultimately have a 1000' platform, 400' to start. Amtrak has provided ST w/ $1/2 mill. for Tukwila and another $1/2 mill. will probably be forthcoming.
• Ridership projections for the initial segment are 11,800 per day(up and back counts as 2), increasing to 14,000 per day on the South line, with 5,000 per day on the North line.
• Paul says ridership projections are looking very strong and he seems to think the projection may be low.
• The market segmentation study will go to board in Dec and will be release to the public.
• He hopes to add runs outside peak times quickly, especially mid-day. This makes more productive use of crews. Coaster's busiest train is the 11:00 a.m. departure. On Sat. Coaster makes a profit as there is only one crew needed for the four roundtrips. Evening service is tougher as this takes additional crews.
• He also touched on BNSF's new Pt. Defiance proposal to keep Amtrak on this line. They say this would save 10 minutes vs. 15 on Prairie line. If Amtrak stay put then something needs to be done about the inadequate Tacoma station.
• The Board will decide on fare structure and price in Jan. 99. It's looking like about $3.00 or $3.50 per trip from Kent/Auburn, and maybe 50 cents more from Sumner/Tacoma. North end fares would be comparable.

The balance of the meeting was to discuss meeting place and time for next year. Mike will bring a draft work plan for discussion at the January meeting (3rd Thurs. @ 6:30, Andy's) Some members thought we could hold some meetings on Saturday, proceeding the regular WashARP meeting. We will try to accommodate some of these in 1999.

Mike discussed the need for separate dues to the section, feeling it was confusing and would bring the matter up before the Executive Committee.

The meeting concluded "promptly" at 9 pm. We will focus on the north corridor next meeting.

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Last Update: 12/13/98
Web Author: Warren Y. Yee