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Options include preserving the corridor for passenger rail, bicycling, walking and recreational uses.
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Eastside Rail Corridor Fact SheetWhat is the Eastside Rail Corridor?
Why is BNSF selling the rail line?
Why does the Port want to secure the corridor in public hands?
What are the current uses of the corridor?
What is the status of the Port’s purchase of the Eastside Rail Corridor?
How much is the corridor worth?
How do the citizens of King County benefit?
What is envisioned for the future of the Eastside Rail Corridor?
Does the Port of Seattle intend to be the operator of freight service or commuter rail services?
What is the federal rail banking program?
1) What is the Eastside Rail Corridor?
The Eastside Rail Corridor consists of a 42 mile rail corridor stretching from the city of Renton to the city of Snohomish, with an eight mile rail spur running between the cities of Woodinville and Redmond. The rail corridor passes through the cities of Newcastle, Renton, Bellevue, Kirkland, Woodinville, Maltby, Snohomish and Redmond.
2) Why is BNSF selling the rail line?
BNSF, driven by increasing maintenance costs and declining freight use and revenues, has planned to divest the rail corridor since 2003. The rail line is not economically viable for BNSF to continue to operate it.
3) Why does the Port want to secure the corridor in public hands?
The Port’s primary mission is to create economic vitality in the region. This once-in-a-lifetime investment preserves a valuable transportation asset for the region, maintains current freight rail service, and secures the corridor for potential future freight rail use supporting the region’s economy.
The Port is also interested in optimizing the use of this corridor for other transportation modes compatible with freight rail.
Without the Port’s involvement to secure the corridor, the corridor could have been sold piecemeal to private owners and lost to public use forever.
4) What are the current uses of the corridor?
Parts of the corridor were used in the last century for mining and in transporting timber. In recent years, annual freight car loads on the line have declined dramatically to approximately 900 freight car loads per year. In comparison, Seattle’s main line handles 500,000* freight car loads annually. In February, 2008 BNSF ran its last trains to the Boeing plant in Renton before removing one mile of track around the Wilburton Tunnel in South Bellevue, as part of WSDOT’s widening of I-405. The widening project is expected to be complete in late 2009.
Freight uses between Bellevue and Woodinville are phasing out.
Currently, the northern portion, located between Woodinville and the city of Snohomish, is used as a freight corridor. The Puget Sound region is highly dependent on the efficient movement of freight, and this agreement ensures that freight rail use along the northern section will continue. The Port will contract with a third-party short-line operator to continue service on the northern portion of the line; that operator is not yet selected by the BNSF.
5) What is the status of the Port’s purchase of the Eastside Rail Corridor?
The Port of Seattle, BNSF Railway and King County signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November, 2007 that will result in the Port’s acquisition and receipt by donation of the 42-mile Eastside rail corridor from BNSF. The Port and King County plan to rail-bank the corridor for a long-term future transportation corridor. Commercial freight use will continue on the section from Woodinville to Snohomish via a third-party “shortline” operator leasing the tracks from the Port.
In earlier discussions between the parties, this transaction proposed additional properties such as King County International Airport and Fisher Mills on Harbor Island. These elements are no longer viable options and are not part of the negotiations.
6) How much is the corridor worth?
Because the value of the corridor exceeds the amount being paid by the Port, BNSF will be donating a portion of the value. While the overall value is subject to an appraisal, the “acquisition and receipt by donation” results in a purchase price of $106 million for the corridor, which is expected to be valued at a substantially higher rate.
7) How do the citizens of King County benefit?
Transportation issues are of critical importance to the citizens of King County. By purchasing the corridor, the Port of Seattle ensures that it is owned by the public and available for transportation needs in the future. Without the Port’s involvement, the corridor might have been sold in small sections, fragmenting the corridor and preventing any further public use.
8) What is the timeline?
9) What is envisioned for the future of the Eastside Rail Corridor?
The section from Woodinville to Snohomish will remain in freight use under a shortline operator. BNSF will select a shortline operator prior to the close of the sale to ensure continued freight rail service to current customers. That agreement would allow the shortline operator to operate an excursion train as well. The Port of Seattle has retained a consultant to provide advice to the Port as BNSF selects a shortline operator.
A feasibility study of commuter rail, and an adjacent trail, will be done by Sound Transit and the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), under a bill (HB3224) passed by the Washington State Legislature. It will include a survey of existing studies and, as necessary, a feasibility study to provide information on whether commuter rail service between eastern Snohomish county and eastern King county, can be a meaningful component of the region’s future transportation system. A report on the results will be provided to the transportation committees of the House of Representatives and Senate by February 1, 2009.
The potential for near-term uses for commuter rail connecting Eastside cities will be explored by Sound Transit and the PSRC in 2008.
10) Does the Port of Seattle intend to be the operator of freight service or commuter rail services?
The Port of Seattle intends to limit its role to property manager. The Port does not intend to be the shortline freight operator or subsidize its operations. The Port does not have the authority to operate a commuter rail service and will look to other public transit operators for the potential to provide commuter rail service in the future.
11) What is the federal rail banking program?
The federal rail banking program allows rail corridors and their easements to be preserved through interim conversion to trail use. At the same time, rail banking preserves the line’s future for the possibility of restored rail use. Acquisition of the southern corridor for the public is one of the largest and most significant in the history of the federal rail banking program.
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