The entire Sound Transit fleet of Sounder train cars are set to get a midlife refresh, which should bring upgraded rider amenities for travelers on the S and N lines. Last week the Sound Transit board approved a $92.7 million contract to overhaul all 58 Sounder cars, work that will include door systems, HVAC control systems, floors, restrooms, lighting, and new paint jobs. When complete, each car is set to include improvements like USB-equipped power outlets, upgraded lighting, and better bicycle storage areas. The cars set to be overhauled include 40 coach cars and 18 cab cars, which include the driver’s compartment.
The 58 existing cars, which were manufactured by Bombardier, are all between 22 and 26 years old, and have been in use since Sound Transit started launching commuter rail service in 2000. Sounder South service started that September between King Street Station and Tacoma, with the only stops at Auburn and Sumner, as the fledgling transit agency continued to build out the other stations along the line that had been promised to voters in 1996.
Service on Sounder North up to Everett didn’t start until late 2003, after lengthy negotiations with BNSF over the payment to operate commuter rail on its tracks.
Mid-lifespan overhauls are common for a set of vehicles that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) expects to last 39 years, a fairly long timeframe when it comes to transit vehicles. The overhauls are actually coming a bit later than they might otherwise have been expected, according to Sound Transit.
“Due to Sounder’s duty cycle being somewhat lower compared to most peer agencies, Sound Transit has been able to extend the schedule for this overhaul, which otherwise might have begun several years ago, as some cars are up to 26 years old,” a staff report on the new contract stated. “However, the original passenger cars are showing signs of wear that are beginning to impact service reliability. By beginning this overhaul work now, it will allow Sound Transit to obtain the full useful life of the vehicles and ensure the reliability of service stays at a level expected by customers.”
The aging cars will be overhauled in stages, with an average of five cars out of service for overhauls at any given time over the next six years. Those cars will be subbed out for new railcars Sound Transit purchased from Alstom, which acquired Bombardier in 2021. Those 11 cars were purchased in 2020 for $46.5 million, as part of a joint order with two California transit agencies, the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission and North County Transit District.
The most substantive change expected with the new cars is the replacement of the pneumatic door systems, which are becoming more unreliable with age, with electric motor door systems. Improvements to the bike storage area could be welcome news, with the existing Velcro tie-up system not great for securing bikes in many cases.
Without a significant change in ridership dynamics, the second half of the Bombardier cars’ lifespan will bring significantly less wear-and-tear than the first.
Sounder has experienced a big decline in ridership since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with total usage still below 50% of where it was in 2019. Compared to Link light rail, which offers frequent service throughout the day at predictable intervals, Sounder trips remain clustered during peak-hours, with only a few trips outside of morning or evening rush hour or in the reverse commute direction.
A presentation to the Sound Transit board earlier this year noted that many of the planned capital upgrades included in the Sound Transit 3 (ST3) system plan are built around the old model of ridership, including construction of longer platforms and longer trains, along with larger parking garages. It also noted an opportunity to reassess Sounder service with Sound Transit’s planned program reset, which is being called the Enterprise Initiative. That reset is now tasked with handling a 20-25% budget deficit at the agency through 2046, but will be responding to the ways that ridership has been evolving over recent years in ways that can better meet demand.
The public is fairly unified in articulating what it wants from Sounder: more trips. A 2023 Sound Transit survey found 89.6% of riders would prefer to see added Sounder trips over longer trains on existing trips, with 82% asking for trips on the weekend. Currently, the only weekend Sounder service is scheduled around events, primarily sports games. In the post pandemic era, transit agencies have broadly acknowledged a need to shift toward more all-day service, but moves to actually make that happen are slow in coming.
Meanwhile, construction is well underway for an additional 1,500 new parking stalls along the S Line, new garages in Kent, Sumner, and Puyallup that are expected to cost $240,000 per parking stall.
With Sounder now at a turning point, the Bombardier cars will either return from their makeover to the same stagnant service levels that exist today, or to the next generation of Sounder service. That choice will be up to Sound Transit leaders.
Ryan Packer has been writing for The Urbanist since 2015, and currently reports full-time as Contributing Editor. Their beats are transportation, land use, public space, traffic safety, and obscure community meetings. Packer has also reported for other regional outlets including BikePortland, Seattle Met, and PubliCola. They live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
