BNSF Railway confirms plans to double track Edmonds in 2023, but key questions remain

The proposed dual lane will replace the two mile stretch of single lane that begins north of Point Wells and extends to Edmonds Street highlighted in yellow on this aerial photo.

The BNSF Railway has confirmed what has been speculated for decades – a second rail line is coming to Edmonds.

According to BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent, the company plans to begin laying a second stretch of line alongside the existing two-mile single-track section sometime in 2023, starting north of Point Wells, stretching north around Point Edwards, and running along the west edge of the Edmonds Marsh, passes Edmonds Marina, the Waterfront Center and the ferry terminal and ends next to Edmonds Street, where it joins the existing double lane north towards Everett. This eliminates one of only two remaining single-track segments between Seattle and Everett. (The other is in Mukilteo, starting about 76th Street Southwest and ending about half a mile south of the lighthouse, and BNSF confirms that “There is no date on which this section could double.”)

According to the BNSF, the existing single-track route through downtown Edmonds is to be expanded to double-track in 2023. (Photo: Larry Vogel)

Kent went on to say that this will “improve the efficiency of operations for Sound Transit, Amtrak and Freight Services” and “reflect our strong commitment to our customers and communities in Washington state.”

While this answers a question that has arisen for years, it does raise a number of additional uncertainties. To name a few: how will Edmonds train station and bus terminal be redesigned; there will be loading platforms on both sides of the dual lane; How will passengers and others move between the platforms without walking directly over the tracks? and what plans, if any, exist to mitigate the swamp impact.

The double-track section that runs south from Everett joins Edmonds Street in a single-track section. (Photo by Larry Vogel)

The BNSF has already notified the Swamp Creek and Western Railroad Association, which operates a model railroad at Edmonds Station, that the BNSF will not renew its lease. The association has been informed that it will have to vacate the space by February so that the area can be redesigned for baggage handling as part of the double-tracking project.

As a privately held company, BNSF is not bound by any disclosure laws and accordingly, the railroad has not released any details about the project, including how it will look and what features it will contain.

Edmonds station’s passenger loading platform could be narrowed to make room for the new second platform. (Photo by Larry Vogel)

Kent declined My Edmonds News’ request for drawings and plans, saying in an email that “I’m sorry, I don’t have them.”

Phil Williams, director of public works and utilities for the city of Edmonds, said those plans exist, but the railroad has not been ready to share them yet. “We’ve been asking for this for years,” he added.

“The last time we were planning the Waterfront Connector project we asked to see the plans, but BNSF told us they wouldn’t share them with us,” Williams said. “However, they said they would allow our design consultant to see drawings, but they didn’t want to let go of the plans.”

In addition to impacting the city of Edmonds both during and after construction, the project could potentially impact ferry operations, Sounder commuter trains, Amtrak trains and buses that use the new transit center adjacent to the Main Street level crossing.

While there is enough right of way north of Main Street for a double lane, this narrows significantly at the level crossing of Main Street. Adding a double lane here will force a significant reconfiguration of the train station, bus transit center, and / or Railroad Avenue. (Photo by Larry Vogel)

According to Community Transit spokesman Luke Distelhorst, the transit company “received no information about it.”

However, ferry system spokesman Ian Sterling confirmed that Washington State Ferries is aware of the plans and has been in contact with the BNSF.

“BNSF has discussed this with us over the years and we will continue to work closely,” Sterling said in an email to My Edmonds News. “From the perspective of ferries, we have to keep at least two lanes for entry and exit. What exactly that looks like has yet to be determined, but I can tell you that we did that before when Sound Transit / BNSF installed a new track directly at the terminal entrance. “

Sound Transit also confirms that it is aware of the project, but only a few details.

“We have known this project for a while,” said Sound Transit spokesman John Gallagher in an email. Regarding the possible impact on the Sounder S-Bahn station, “there have been a few, but they could be mitigated in a number of ways, e.g. B. through a temporary platform or a bus bridge, ”said Gallagher. “We’ll have a better sense of what the impact will be and how we can mitigate it once we have the final construction schedule.”

The current single track track at Edmonds Station looking north from the level intersection of Dayton Street. (Photo by Larry Vogel)

BNSF owns the railroad tracks and serves as the “host railroad” for both Amtrak and Sound Transit. These agencies have contractual arrangements with the railways that set out the rights and obligations of each party and that they pay the BNSF to run their trains on their tracks. Due to the railways’ status as a private company, these contracts are not public documents, so details including the level of service that the BNSF must provide to ensure safe, timely and efficient passenger train operations are not available.

However, Amtrak publishes an annual report comparing the level of performance of the various guest railways with which it concludes service contracts. While the BNSF gets an overall rating of A, it gets an F for the Amtrak Cascade – which runs between Vancouver, BC and Eugene, Oregon along the current single-track section through Edmonds – where only 67% of passengers arrive within 15 minutes of the schedule.

An Amtrak train travels along the Edmonds waterfront. (File photo by Ken Sjodin)

Amtrak also advises that under federal law, Amtrak passenger trains must be given preference over freight trains on all rail routes, but this is routinely ignored in favor of freight trains carrying “coal, rubbish, crude oil, empty wagons, or the like” other cargo that the Host prefers Amtrak passengers, forcing Amtrak passengers to wait on a siding while a freight train … is prioritized first. “

“Unfortunately, only the Department of Justice can enforce this law, and it has brought only one enforcement action against a freight company in Amtrak history – and that was over 40 years ago! As a result, freight railways suffer no significant consequences if they prioritize their freight over you, our passenger. “

Like Amtrak, Sound Transit has a contract with the BNSF, according to which it pays the railway to run the Sounder commuter service. In December 2003, Sound Transit entered into a sharing agreement with the BNSF in which it agreed to pay the railroad $ 258 million in voter-approved monies to run the Sounder between Seattle and Everett on BNSF routes. in the long run ”. Although the full contract is not a public document, some details have emerged. A central element of the shared use agreement obliges the BNSF to commit to several parameters aimed at providing commuters with a punctual and reliable service. According to a report by the Sound Transit staff, these agreements set time slots in which up to four S-Bahn trains can travel in each direction, including operating times, arrival and departure windows, and maximum time between trains.

It’s hard to say right now whether the BNSF’s decision to double-track Edmonds is being driven in part by contractual arrangements with Amtrak and Sound Transit, or is aimed at making the railroad’s freight business easier.

Another emerging question is who controls the rights of way next to the two level intersections at Dayton and Main Streets in Edmonds.

“When we were planning the Sunset Avenue Walkway project, we looked at the county records to see how big the right of way of the railroad was next to Sunset,” said Phil Williams of Edmonds. “We had to know where that line was so that we could plan accordingly and not interfere with it.”

Answering the question of whether the city of Edmonds or the BNSF owns the Main and Dayton street level intersections will determine how much influence the city could have on the project. (Photo by Larry Vogel)

Williams added that as part of this research, the city discovered some records from the early 1900s suggesting that the city of Edmonds actually owns the intersections at Dayton and Main.

“If nothing has happened in the intervening years and this property still exists, things will change,” he said. “If Edmonds actually still owns these junctions, the railroad has an easement from us to run tracks over our right of way, not we have an easement from them to run a road over theirs. This would surely give us some shot power. I’m not a title expert, but I have the documents and I can’t see where they were changed. But I have to be corrected if the railway submits documents to the contrary. “

Williams said that issue was turned over to the Edmonds City Attorney to investigate the ownership of these two intersections and provide a final answer.

Bottom line: If Edmonds owns these intersections, it means BNSF will either need to get city approval to carry out this project or find a way to bypass it.

Even if much is still uncertain, the confirmation from the BNSF that the project will be advanced in 2023 answers, at least the “when”. But until the railway publishes its plans and the question of ownership of level crossings has been clarified, the “what, why and where” will continue to emerge.

– From Larry Vogel