$322 million agreement on Tacoma to Seattle rail corridor improvements to be announced on Thursday, April 29th

A major agreement that will improve passenger and freight mobility on rail corridors in central Puget Sound will be announced at a news conference on Thursday, April 29, 9:30 - 10 a.m. at Sound Transit's future Sounder commuter rail station site in Tukwila, located on South Longacres Way in the former Longacres racetrack parking lot.

The extensive improvements to the 40-mile rail line will be made possible through a joint partnership between Sound Transit and the Washington state Department of Transportation, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe, Union Pacific and the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Together, representatives from each partner organization and elected officials will outline the agreement at the news conference.

Sounder commuter rail's 40-mile inaugural service between Tacoma and Seattle on existing Burlington Northern/Santa Fe tracks is targeted to begin by the end of this year. 

Along with service between Tacoma and Seattle in late 1999, in early 2001 Sounder commuter rail will extend service north to Everett and south to Lakewood. Sounder is just one part of Sound Move, the regional transit plan approved by voters in 1996 which also includes 21 miles of Link light rail connecting SeaTac, Tukwila and Seattle; a 1.6-mile downtown Tacoma Link line; and the Regional Express program which includes 17 new limited-stop, two-way ST Express regional bus routes and numerous improvements to transit centers, park-and-ride lots and HOV lanes throughout the region.

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Sound Transit plans, builds and operates regional transit systems and services to improve mobility for Central Puget Sound.