New Sounder train trip added

Published 10:09 pm Saturday, September 22, 2007

Commuters who shunned Sound Transit’s Sounder trains may want to give the service another chance.

A third round-trip train from Everett to Seattle starts service Monday, giving riders the alternate boarding times they have clamored for since service started with one train in December 2003.

The times are staggered to give riders early and late options, said Martin Young, program manager of Sounder operations.

Also on Monday Sounder is expanding its free wireless Internet access to at least two cars per train, said Bruce Gray, an agency spokesman. Up to now the service had been an experiment offered only on a limited basis.

“The pilot program has been very successful,” Gray said. “Customers asked for more service. It gives you another reason to ride the train. You know what time you’re going to get to work, and you can get some work done along the way.”

Sounder ridership has been steadily climbing since service started, Young said. There are no specific projections for how many new riders will take Sounder once the third train starts, but there are estimates for what service will be like when a fourth round-trip and a station in Mukilteo are added next year.

By then, the number of riders per week is projected to hit 9,615, up from about 4,000 per week today.

Sounder struggled to attract riders when service started, mainly because the single train offered didn’t give commuters enough flexibility.

It also suffered from other rough stretches in the early going, including a two-year delay in service and a budget that ballooned to $385 million, triple the original estimate.

Its early problems were linked to underestimating how important the Everett-to-Seattle rail line is to the freight rail company Burlington Northern Santa Fe, officials said.

Original plans called for 12 weekday round-trip trains supporting 7,200 boardings a day by 2010. Tough negotiations with the railroad resulted in just four daily runs.

Sound Transit revised its ridership estimates, suggesting that there will be 2,100 boardings per day by 2010.