Train passengers in the Pacific Northwest can look forward to an upgraded ride next year in the new Amtrak Airo, and with it comes a new $300 million facility in Seattle now under construction specifically for its care.
The contract was awarded to PCL Construction Services in 2024. Pre-construction work began shortly after, which largely included relocating operations such as the weld shop and "wheel gardens."
"The new upgraded King Street Yard will enable modern, more efficient maintenance practices, and support the introduction of new 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," according to the Amtrak press release. "When the project is completed in 2027, the modernized rail yard will feature a new two-bay Maintenance and Inspection facility and a new Service and Cleaning bay that provide the foundations for a world-class maintenance yard."
PCL Construction had a lot of coordination required to start work.
Amtrak photo
"We have a whole relocation package that will be put together beforehand because, obviously, in building a new building you'll be affecting operations that are currently there," said Teffin George, Amtrak Seattle project director. "So, upon us actually starting the construction was the relocation of all of those operations that were there, but nothing that was concrete of the facility. It worked out well in the sense that we were able to find a spot that would line up with our track geometry so that the facility is actually conducive to where we built it."
One of the biggest challenges is the location of the new 100,000-sq.-ft. facility, which will be 600 ft. long, George said.
"It really comes down to such a shallow water table. We're at about 5 to 6 feet on the part of the property that the water table is at," he said. "So, we've dug down as far as we can without hitting the water table. Now we're at that point that, for us to start doing the foundations, we really need to dewater the site, and so we've just been working through the city and state to get permits."
Amtrak said about 500,000 gal. of water — enough to fill 15 residential swimming pools — need to be removed from the site daily. The "dewatering" is needed to lower the groundwater table and build on the historic tidal bed.
Amtrak expects to finish pile driving and mass excavation of the site by 2025 and begin erecting the pre-engineered metal building in early 2026.
Amtrak photo
About 17 mi. of piles will be driven 140 ft. into the ground, according to Amtrak.
As with most projects in this part of Seattle, the piles are needed for building stability. Not only does the former tidal bed sit on 30 ft. of miscellaneous materials (landfill) discarded by the city's earliest settlers, but is also an active seismic zone.
The King Street Yard site is unique in that there is a roadway that runs across the yard. Along with the water table, that adds a challenge to the project.
"Just the speed and requirements of how fast you have to get this work done, it's always a challenge with any project," George said. "But it just compounds it with being such a small site and having a roadway in the middle of it doesn't exactly help. But it is a challenge that we have been addressing."
Just eight of the new Amtrak Airo trains will replace the entire fleet of Amtrak Cascades trains that are operating today," said W. Kyle Anderson, senior public relations manager of Amtrak. "The Airos are modern, state-of-the-art trains currently under construction by Siemens in Sacramento."
The new trains are one full "trainset" or all six cars plus the engine combined in one train and maintained as one "set," Anderson said. This allows for more efficient maintenance practices.
"Think about a six-car train where we pull it apart and bring one car into the shop for work at a time," he said. "With this new facility being built, the full trainset will be maintained at once, which is quicker and more efficient for our crews."
The project is funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.
"It basically gave the most money for passenger rail in America's history," Anderson said. "It's definitely in line with the state of Washington and Oregon DOTs' plans to increase frequency, to add more trains and improve reliability for customers. This new facility is designed for our new trains. The trains being replaced across the country are, on average, about 40 years old. So, it's all part of our focus on building a new era of rail in America." CEG
