SEATTLE — Despite a name reflecting its railroading past, the present and future of the venerable Freighthouse Square building in Tacoma lies much more on the passenger side of the business. The former Milwaukee Road warehouse, built around 1910 and redeveloped decades later as a retailing center for small local shops, galleries and restaurants, already […]
Zone & Region: Pacific Northwest
Washington state utility board set out $120,000 in grants for the Central Washington Railroad NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — The Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission has approved $120,000 in grants to improve 20 grade crossings on the Central Washington Railroad in the Yakima Valley. Eighteen of the grants will be used to replace batteries in warning lights, while the remaining two will be used to replace batteries and LED lights. The grants […]
Sound Transit takes wait-and-see approach on possible cuts NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — Sound Transit is holding off on any cuts to projects or service that might result from passage of a recent state initiative, with the transit agency’s board option to wait until courts decide on the constitutionality of the new law. Initiative 976, which passed Nov. 5, would limit auto registration fees to $30. […]
Montana Rail Link president resigns NEWSWIRE
Montana Rail Link president Stacy Posey has stepped down after just 11 months as head of the regional railroad. Justin Franz MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana Rail Link President Stacy Posey has resigned after less than 11 months on the job. On Wednesday, MRL announced Posey was leaving for “personal reasons” and had been replaced by […]
Washington state port commissioners agree to sell rail line to tourist operation NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — The Port of Chehalis in southwestern Washington state plans to sell to the Chehalis-Centralia Railroad & Museum a 10.2-mile line the tourist-rail operation is already using. The port’s three commissioners unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the sale at an Oct. 24 meeting. The museum submitted the only bid for what is known as […]
Sound Transit to rename ‘Red Line’ in response to local concerns NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — Sound Transit will drop the name “Red Line” for its light-rail corridor because of objections that the title evokes redlining, the former practice of denying home loans to non-white families in some areas of Seattle and other cities. The Seattle Times reports that CEO Peter Rogoff said during a meeting of the transit […]
Jury awards $4.5 million to woman injured in ‘Cascades’ wreck NEWSWIRE
A passenger on Amtrak Cascades train No. 501 has been awarded $4.5 million from a jury after being injured in the 2017 wreck. Steve Carter TACOMA, Wash. — A jury in Washington has awarded a woman $4.5 million nearly two years after she was injured in the derailment of an Amtrak Cascades train as it […]
Seattle, transit agency could sue over initiative which would cut funding source NEWSWIRE
SEATTLE — Seattle and King County, Wash., are saying they will sue to block a measure passed by Washington voters on Tuesday which will cut auto registration fees, the Seattle Times reports. Those fees help fund public transportation, and the measure’s passage will likely lead to cuts in light rail and bus service in the […]
Spokane airport receives $11.3 million grant for rail line to transload site NEWSWIRE
SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane International Airport has received an $11.3-million grant to build a rail transload facility with the goal of attracting aerospace and other industries. The BUILD Grant — for Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development — from the U.S. Department of Transportation will extend an BNSF Railway existing rail spur by 3 miles […]
High speed rail conference convenes at Microsoft headquarters
REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp.’s corporate campus in the Seattle suburb of Redmond is miles from rail lines hosting regular passenger-train service. But that corporate campus will be, for three days beginning today [Nov. 6], the focal point of the high-speed passenger rail universe. The Cascadia Rail Summit convenes with U.S. High Speed Rail and Microsoft […]
Rainier Rail to acquire Tacoma Rail line NEWSWIRE
TACOMA, Wash — The company which operates Rainer Rail plans to acquire a 4.4-mile segment of Tacoma Rail’s Mountain Division in Washington state. The track runs from Rainier in Thurston County to McKenna in Pierce County. That segment connects with a 34.6-mile line between Chehalis and Yelm that Rainier Rail bought from the city of Tacoma […]
Work begins on Oregon bridge damaged by derailment NEWSWIRE
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Bureau of Transportation has begun repair work on a key roadway bridge damaged by a Union Pacific derailment, and Oregon Public Broadcasting reports another lane could be open by Thanksgiving. The North Going Street Bridge — the only route to and from the Swan Island industrial area, which includes United […]
