There is no shortage of interest in the 42 miles of Eastside rail corridor that stretches from Renton to the City of Snohomish.

King County, the Port of Seattle and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad are still working on a deal that would result in the Port’s acquiring the corridor and leasing it to King County. The railroad would rip out the rails on all but 11 miles of the corridor so that King County could construct a bike / walking trail. Freight traffic would continue on the northern 11 miles of the corridor.

A group of enthusiastic private-sector investors is also interested in purchasing the 100-foot-wide by 42-mile-long rail corridor. If successful, this group, which wishes to remain anonymous until a negotiation is reached, would leave the tracks in the ground and use the line for commuter trains. The investors are not opposed to a rail and trail combination.

The Cascadia Center, a policy institute with a focus on transportation, is preparing yet a third proposal for the rail corridor. Their plan would have the line remain in public ownership, tracks intact. It calls for operation of a new self-propelled rail car called a “diesel multiple unit” (DMU) on the line from Snohomish to Bellevue. After construction on the Wilburton Tunnel is complete, rail service could be extended to Renton. The Cascadia Center proposal includes a trail component.

And let’s not forget the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train that ran along this corridor from Renton to Woodinville since 1992. Owner Eric Temple would like to reinstate Dinner Train service along the spared northern tracks between Woodinville and the City of Snohomish once the Port-county-railroad arrangement is finalized.

Three-way Deal

The latest iteration of the County-Port-railroad transaction would have the Port acquiring for the sum of $103 million the freight corridor north of Woodinville to the City of Snohomish and the corridor south of Woodinville to Renton, together with a spur to Redmond. The Port would negotiate a long-term lease on the property with King County so that the county could develop biking and walking trails from Renton to Woodinville. Commercial freight use would continue on the section from Woodinville to Snohomish. As part of the deal, the county would transfer ownership of the Fisher Flour Mill site located on Harbor Island to the Port. The county would also keep the Port apprised of future development at King County International Airport (Boeing Field). Another key element of the deal would be state funding of tunnel improvements at Stampede Pass.

Port of Seattle Media Officer Charla Skaggs said, “The port wants to purchase the corridor so that it would remain in tact. … Owning the corridor in tact allows us to reserve it for future transportation needs, if that time comes.”

Kurt Triplett, chief of staff to King County Executive Ron Sims, said, “This (deal) is a great example of two regional governments working together to pull something off for the Eastside. We’re excited about it. We’re going to create an amazing amenity for the Eastside. We’re committed to making it happen.

“The purchase and sale agreement has to be complete and adopted by the Port Commission by the end of the year. The King County Council and the Port Commission have to approve the lease. If the two things happen, we would close in the first quarter of 2008. In the current agreement, Burlington Northern would remove the rail and ties when the closing occurs. King County would receive a flat, graded corridor.”

Triplett said King County would put gravel on the corridor as an interim measure so that the public could use the trail until the county came up with a master plan for a final paved trail. He stressed that the master plan would be developed with lots of public hearings and public discussion.

The trail, projected to cost $40 to 50 million, would be paid for with county Parks funding. Triplett said the county pledged not to use the recently approved Parks levy money for the trail. It would tap other existing Parks funding sources, perhaps REET (real estate excise tax) money. Triplett also said were the corridor to be used for recreation and some type of train traffic, some entity would have to step in and help pay for the dual use.

“The good news for Woodinville in all of this,” said Triplett, “is that it creates the opportunity for the Dinner Train to run from Woodinville to the City of Snohomish.”

The reality of such a run is dependent upon negotiations between the Port and the Dinner Train. Triplett said both King County and the Port want to see the Dinner Train operate again.

Private Investors

Chuck Mott, chairman of All Aboard Washington, a nonprofit rail advocacy group, spoke in a phone conversation about private investors who’d like to buy the rail corridor. Previous private offers to buy the corridor have been declined, but the group is undaunted.

“They can finance the whole thing privately without using public money,” said Mott.

He said it was his understanding that neither the Port nor the county had the money for the transaction, the port to buy the line, the county to build a trail.

“They will probably have to raise taxes to get the money,” said Mott. “Look, the railroad wants to sell the line. Naturally, it wants the best return on its investment. We have been working with some people to purchase the corridor as a private equity investment. If we present our private sector investors, the railroad will have to decide if it wants to wait or get its money out now.

“Those rails have to remain in the ground. We could have a trail alongside the tracks, but we need the corridor now. There are one million residents living on the Eastside, now. Oil prices could reach $110 a barrel. Gas could go as high as $4.10 a gallon. People need a choice. Riding trains and reducing cars 2 to 1 is a viable solution. We could have commuter trains in just a few months.”

Mott said the amended Memorandum of Understanding that the Port, county and railroad recently signed expires at the end of the year.

“Burlington Northern indicated that if it can’t get it together by the end of the year, it would look at other options,” he said. “That’s not too far off. The private sector is not hamstrung by the rules and regulations that apply to the public sector. At the end of the day, it’s going to boil down to who’s got the money. This is why we’re encouraged to move forward.

“We’ve inspected the track. It is good quality mainline rail. We should know better than to destroy things that have good use. It would be too expensive to put back. In light of the falling dollar and record national debt, this country cannot afford to throw things away. This is a valuable corridor. It has good track. We would like to see commuter trains using it. The investors are encouraged to move forward,” said Mott.

Policy Institute

Bruce Agnew, director of the Discovery Institute’s Cascadia Center for Regional Development, said there was a silver lining in the recent defeat of the Roads and Transit package by voters. It opens up an incredible opportunity to introduce a neighborhood friendly commuter rail service from Snohomish to Bellevue. After Interstate 405 expansion is completed, the service could be extended to Renton. In fact, Agnew and others are working on a proposal to this effect.

Obviously, initiation of commuter service would require that the 31 miles of track between Renton and Woodinville remain intact. Given that King County is so close to penning a deal with the Port of Seattle and Burlington Northern, and given that their current agreement that calls for removal of those 31 miles of track, Agnew is calling on the public to step up and ask their County Council members and Port commissioners not to rip up the track.

“This deal is headed for signature,” said Agnew. “It is critical that the public weigh in now.”

The new commuter rail service would use self-propelled rail cars, DMUs, that “are inexpensive, can burn biofuels, carry bikes and be maintained by community college trained diesel mechanics,” according to an article by Agnew printed in the Oct. 31 issue of The Seattle Times Snohomish County Opinion section.

The article continues, “A single double-deck car can carry 188 passengers and costs around $4 million. Its lower weight requires less investment in track and the bi-level feature allows shorter platforms. The DMU can operate on separate tracks with freight trains or on tracks embedded in concrete like a streetcar, allowing them to divert from the corridor to downtown areas.

“… Proponents of the trail-only approach had early on argued that the tracks were in poor shape and conversion to high-capacity transit would cost billions. Cascadia has independently hired a team of respected, retired rail executives led by Read Fay to walk the tracks and provide an estimate of what it would cost to have the DMU units travel at a top speed of 40 mph.”

Agnew said the estimate was due back Nov. 20 and he would like to have a community meeting in Woodinville the following week, if possible. Check the Weekly or the Cascadia Center’s Web page at http://www.cascadiaproject.org/ for the exact date, time and location.

In an Oct. 5 article in the Puget Sound Business Journal entitled “Rails and Trails could coexist easily on the Eastside,” Agnew wrote: “A ‘Rail and Trail’ corridor opens more financing doors than a trail-only project, which competes for scarce parks funding. Connected to bus routes, passenger ferry stops and even Microsoft’s new Connector employee bus service, the project would be eligible for a new federal ‘Small Starts’ program grant for projects under $75 million.”

He said in a phone conversation that private developers were interested in contributing capital to fund station construction and track improvements along the line. Kirkland Mayor Jim Lauringer recently set out his vision for a mixed-use development with software companies, housing and parks located at a rail station on Central Way, within walking distance of downtown.

“This Eastside corridor is extremely popular,” said Agnew. “The track is already in place. What we are proposing is extremely affordable.”

Dinner Train

The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train owner Eric Temple said he was absolutely interested in running the Dinner Train along the northern stretch of the Eastside rail corridor between Woodinville and the City of Snohomish.

“We’ve already approached the Port about this,” said Temple.

This summer, Temple was forced to discontinue the train’s 44-mile Renton-to-Woodinville run due to an Interstate 405 road-widening project that was to sever the rail line at the Wilburton Tunnel in south Bellevue. He moved the train’s home base to Tacoma and ran it from there to Lake Kapowsin in Eatonville. On Oct. 29, this operation also ceased, due amongst other things, it was reported, to rising fuel costs and lower than anticipated ridership.

Making the Woodinville-Snohomish run a reality, he said, was a matter of timing. Private investors still interested in purchasing the corridor and a Cascadia Center proposal being efforted add even more layers of complexity to the issue.

“It’s a hugely complex deal that changes from day to day, week to week,” said Temple. “Given the importance of the corridor to the region, it’s understandable that the melding of options would take time. We remain very interested, but this could go on for years.

“We are pursuing getting on the line as a freight operator. This would open the door to the Dinner Train. We already are a freight operator in Clark and Yakima counties. We’re one of the best short line operators in the state.

“First and foremost, the track has to be restored to service in Renton so that that Boeing plant can be served from the south end. It is entirely possible for us to become the freight operator. Then we can seriously address operating the Dinner Train on the line. I think we have broad support to get there when the time is right,” said Temple.