Major construction activities are under way at Amtrak’s King Street Yard in Seattle, Wash., for a new facility that will “enable modern, more efficient maintenance practices, and support the introduction of new, state-of-the-art Amtrak Airo trains set to enter service first on the Amtrak Cascades route in 2026, along with maintenance for trains on the Long Distance routes that operate out of this yard,” Amtrak reported May 9.
When completed in 2027, the facility will feature two new bays for maintenance and inspection and a new service and cleaning bay. PLC Construction is leading design and construction, which is managed by the facilities team within Amtrak’s Capital Delivery department.
Immediately after the construction contract was awarded last summer, Amtrak and PLC began early pre-construction activities, such as relocating buildings and passenger railcar equipment, before grading the property to prepare for the pile driving necessary to provide proper building stabilization, according to “America’s Railroad.”
Crews recently began building the foundation for the new nearly 100,000-square-foot maintenance facility. By the end of 2025, Amtrak said it will conclude pile driving and mass excavation at the site, before beginning to erect the pre-engineered metal building in early 2026.
The overall project investment is nearly $300 million, funded by the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA), according to Amtrak.
Amtrak employees at the King Street Yard currently maintain, service, and clean the locomotives and passenger railcars that operate on Amtrak Cascades (daily Pacific Northwest trips between British Columbia, Washington and Oregon); Coast Starlight (daily connections between Los Angeles and Seattle); and Empire Builder (daily connections between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest). They also maintain Sounder commuter trains there. This Sound Transit service operates between Everett, Seattle and Lakewood, with additional stops in between.
“The Pacific Northwest is a key priority for Amtrak, with the popular Amtrak Cascades line between Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, B.C., and points in between, as well as our Long Distance Coast Starlight and Empire Builder trains connecting the region,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris, who recently led a media tour of the King Street Yard project site and met with employees and regional partners, as part of a visit to multiple West Coast operations. “This critical investment will help us meet growing customer demand for a new era of rail with brand new trains that will upgrade safety, reliability, and comfort.”
The Seattle Rail Yard is one of six major Amtrak rail yards that will be upgraded with new facilities to support maintenance activities, routine inspections, equipment repairs, and minor service and cleaning needs. The others are: Penn Coach Yard in Philadelphia, Pa., where construction is also under way; Southampton Street Yard in Boston, Mass.; Sunnyside Yard in Queens, N.Y.; Ivy City Yard in Washington, D.C.; and Rensselaer, N.Y., Yard. Several layover sites outside the Northeast Corridor will also be built or renovated, Amtrak said; these are located along existing routes where trains are cleaned, serviced or stored, such as Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pa.
“While not visible to guests on their Amtrak journey, these upgrades are necessary to support the new Amtrak Airo trains coming to more than a dozen routes over the coming years,” Amtrak said. “Each Amtrak Airo train will be operated as a single ‘trainset,’ rather than individual railcars, and these new rail yard facilities will help create a consistent maintenance system that improves efficiencies and reduces turnaround times during repairs or inspections.”
In 2021, Amtrak selected Siemens Mobility, Inc. to manufacture new, state-of-the-art trains that comply with the Federal Railroad Administration Buy America Standards. The official name was announced alongside design details in 2022. In summer 2023, Amtrak executed a contract option for 10 additional trains, bringing the total order to 83. Production is taking place at Siemens Mobility’s Sacramento, Calif. facility.
Separately, Amtrak recently announced reductions-in-force.
