Long-awaited rail service to pull in Sept. 24

A long-awaited increase in Sounder commuter-rail service is coming Sept. 24, adding two trains south of Seattle and one in the north.

The upgrade includes the system's first "reverse-commute" train, which leaves Seattle's King Street Station in the morning for the south-end suburbs and Tacoma.

Sound Transit has been gradually adding trains — years later than originally promised — because of the high costs and difficulty of gaining access to the regional freight tracks, which are privately owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

After the service change, Sounder will offer six round-trip trains in the south end and three on its less-popular north line from Everett. More are due next year.

Equally important to passengers, the choices of earlier and later trains is expected to improve.

The first train from Tacoma to Seattle will leave at 5 a.m. instead of the current 5:45. The earliest train has been the busiest, with frequent standing-room-only crowds, said Sounder spokeswoman Linda Robson.

And in the afternoon, the last departure for Tacoma from King Street Station will be at 5:55 p.m. instead of 5:40. Would-be train riders frequently complain they can't get from their workplaces to the station on time, so the change may help them.

For the Everett line, the third morning train to Seattle will be at 7:12 a.m., because surveys showed that riders wanted a late option, Robson said.

The service increase comes at a time when Sound Transit is seeking voter approval of a ballot measure in November to add light-rail routes and highway lanes. Proposition 1 construction costs are around $18 billion, or a total of $38 billion when administration, inflation, operations and financing are included throughout a 20-year construction period.

Sen. Patty Murray, who has helped deliver federal grants to the transit agency, will speak at a noon celebration today at King Street Station.

Sounder is coming off a strong August, as lane closures on northbound Interstate 5 caused hundreds of new riders to try commuter rail; the south line exceeded 8,000 trips on the busiest days.

The Everett line has been chronically weaker, drawing around 800 weekday trips as of this spring.

Critics point out that trips on Sounder are highly subsidized, in part because of the expense of contracts with BNSF. The commuter rail system, including operations and trains, costs an estimated $1.2 billion from 1997 to 2020.

For full schedules, go to www.soundtransit.org.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com