Project updates
Like many agencies nationwide that are balancing transit operations and mega-project capital expansions, Sound Transit faces rapidly escalating costs in nearly every area of its work.
The “Enterprise Initiative” is Sound Transit’s comprehensive effort aimed at delivering the maximum benefits of ST3 within available financial resources. As part of this effort, the Sound Transit Board is evaluating different approaches to updating the ST3 System Plan in summer 2026, which may include new ways to build, phase, or sequence projects.
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Overview
A new Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF) is needed in South King County to store and service a growing train fleet. This will support future light rail extensions to Tacoma, West Seattle, and serve the entire region.
An OMF is where light rail trains go 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for cleaning and repairs. To build this new facility, we need approximately 60-70 acres (for reference, one football field is 1.3 acres) near an operating Link line.
We need four OMFs across the region to support our system expansion. Currently, we service the existing light rail fleet at a central OMF on South Forest Street in Seattle.
Benefits of the OMF South
- This facility will create high-skilled, living-wage jobs for more than 610 people in South King County. At our existing OMF Central in Seattle and OMF East in Bellevue, the average employee wage is $45 per hour, or $85,000/year.
- OMFs ensure thousands of passengers ride clean, well-maintained trains. We suspend service every night between 1-5 a.m. so we can service our Link trains.
Current project status
The Sound Transit Board selected the South 336th Street site as the project to be built on June 27th, 2024.
Sound Transit is now beginning final design and construction for the project. The Board has identified an in-service date of 2032 (subject to change). We are currently in a procurement process to select a contractor for the final design and construction phase of the project.
The selection of the contractor for final design and construction is expected in late 2026. Once a contractor is selected, final design will begin. Early construction activities, like site preparation, clearing and grading, will start in late 2026 or early 2027. A more detailed schedule of activities will be developed after the contractor has been selected.
If you have further questions or comments, you can contact the project team at omfsouth@soundtransit.org.
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Aerial view of the Operations and Maintenance Facility in Seattle.
An inside look at the Operations and Maintenance Facility in Seattle.
Workers perform maintenance on Link light rail trains every night at the Operations and Maintenance Facility in Seattle.
