98-520: Streetcar: First Hill Streetcar (transfer at 5th & Jackson) King Street Station is a train station in Seattle , Washington , United States. It is served by Amtrak 's Cascades , Coast Starlight , and Empire Builder , as well as Sounder commuter trains run by Sound Transit . The station also anchors a major transit hub , which includes Link light rail at International District/Chinatown station and Seattle Streetcar service. It
196-649: A community center and turns north onto Broadway, which also carries a protected bicycle lane on its east side along with on-street parking spaces . The streetcar follows Broadway uphill into First Hill, stopping at Terrace Street near the Harborview Medical Center and Marion Street at the Swedish Medical Center on the west side of the Seattle University campus. The line then crosses into Capitol Hill and serves
294-411: A ticket vending machine on the platform. The First Hill Streetcar runs for 20 hours per day from Monday to Saturday, with trains from 5 am to 10:30 pm, and 10 hours per day on Sundays and federal holidays from 10 am to 8 pm. Trains arrive at stations with a scheduled frequency of 12 minutes during weekday rush hours, 15 minutes midday on weekdays and Saturdays, and 20 minutes during
392-576: A Seattle-based partner that would assemble half the fleet. Inekon's delay was blamed on an existing backlog of orders, the battery systems, and a redesign required by a change in fire regulations. The project overran its $ 134 million budget by $ 1.6 million, which was paid by Inekon as part of their contract penalties. Testing of the first streetcar began in March 2015 and acceptance tests were completed on all five vehicles by October. The final phase of testing, including 310 miles (500 km) of operation and
490-441: A common corridor on Jackson Street with a one-way loop between Pioneer Square and International District/Chinatown station, the streetcar would use either 12th or 14th avenues to reach Yesler Terrace , then continue north on Broadway, Boren Avenue, or 12th Avenue. Near Capitol Hill station, the streetcar would split into a one-way couplet between Broadway and 11th Avenue with a terminal at Denny Way. Despite community support for
588-482: A feasible way to connect First Hill with the light rail system while acting as a potential catalyst for new transit-oriented development . A preliminary analysis in 2005 found the streetcar would cost up to $ 122 million to construct and attract 3,000 weekday riders if built. The First Hill Streetcar project was included in the Sound Transit 2 plan, which was approved by the Sound Transit board and placed on
686-508: A five-train simulation, was completed in early January 2016. The First Hill Streetcar began service with a soft launch on January 23, 2016, announced the previous day by the city government. Passenger fares were waived entirely for the first two weeks of operation, leading up to a formal grand opening during a Lunar New Year festival in the International District on February 13, 2016. In its first year of operation,
784-455: A frequency of five minutes due to an overlap of the two lines. During preliminary construction in late 2017, questions arose about increased costs and potential disruption to downtown businesses. Mayor Jenny Durkan cancelled work on the project in March 2018 and ordered an independent review, which found that construction costs had risen to $ 200 million due to errors in vehicle procurement and design changes. The streetcar project, later renamed
882-517: A goat William Kenney , one of the railroad's presidents, had used to haul newspapers as a boy. Locomotives and passenger cars were repaired and overhauled at the shops in St. Paul, Minnesota , while the shops at nearby St. Cloud were dedicated to freight cars beginning in 1890. In 1892, a new shop site was established five miles west of Spokane , Washington in Hillyard (named after James Hill) to serve
980-444: A mechanical bridge plate is deployed by the operator from one of two doors in the center section. A third door is located near the operator's cab in the raised section above the truck , which has seating accessed by a stair. A set of digital displays inside the car show upcoming stops, which are also announced by an audio message. The streetcars, numbered 401 to 407, were built by Czech manufacturer Inekon Trams, who also supplied
1078-634: A microwave tower for the Burlington Northern Railroad , the successor of both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railways, whose offices occupied the second and third floors of the station. King Street Station was Seattle's primary train terminal until the construction of the adjacent Oregon & Washington Depot, later named Union Station , in 1911; the 1912 Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Seattle still refers to King Street Station as "Union Passenger Depot". After
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#17327802174511176-530: A preliminary agreement between the City of Seattle and BNSF Railway to purchase the station for $ 1. The Seattle City Council formalized the agreement by passing legislation in December 2006. The deal, revised to $ 10, was signed March 5, 2008. The purchase by the city freed up US$ 19 million of state and federal funds that was used for further restoration of the station. The city earmarked a further US$ 10 million for
1274-656: A railroad. Stevens was an efficient administrator with remarkable technical skills and imagination. He discovered Stevens Pass through the Cascade Mountains, set railroad construction standards in the Mesabi Range, and supervised the construction of the Oregon Trunk Line. He then became the chief engineer of the Panama Canal . The logo of the railroad, a Rocky Mountain goat , was based on
1372-974: A route to California that rivaled the Southern Pacific Railroad 's route between Oregon and California. The GN route was further inland than the SP route and ran south from the Columbia River in Oregon. The GN connected with the Western Pacific at Bieber, California ; the Western Pacific connected with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe in Stockton, California , and together the three railroads (GN, WP, and ATSF) competed with Southern Pacific for traffic between California and
1470-420: A series of the earliest public relations campaigns, contests were held to promote interest in the railroad and the ranchlands along its route. Fred J. Adams used promotional incentives such as feed and seed donations to farmers getting started along the line. Contests were all-inclusive, from the largest farm animals to the largest freight carload capacity, and were promoted heavily to immigrants and newcomers from
1568-688: A set of stops between Pike and Pine streets in the center of the city's main nightlife district. Streetcars then pass the Seattle Central College campus and Cal Anderson Park before merging into a single track on the west side of Broadway. The First Hill line terminates at a stop on the south side of East Denny Way , adjacent to the west entrance of the Capitol Hill light rail station . The First Hill line has ten stations that are served by trains in both directions. The Jackson Street stops are primarily center platforms , while
1666-477: A southbound business-and-transit lane between Union and Madison streets and prohibiting certain turning movements at three intersections. Other reliability projects, including the installation of transit signal priority on Jackson Street and turn restrictions on Yesler Way, were completed in 2018. A streetcar network plan published by the city government in 2008 explored extensions of the First Hill line to
1764-404: A station located east of 12th Avenue South and make a turn north onto 14th Avenue South, stopping at South Washington Street near Bailey Gatzert Elementary School and Wisteria Park . The line turns west onto East Yesler Way and continues around the north side of the elementary school campus, traveling uphill into the expanded Yesler Terrace housing development. The streetcar stops in front of
1862-747: A superior alternative to both services offered by GNR. The Great Northern energetically promoted settlement along its lines in North Dakota and Montana, especially by Germans and Scandinavians from Europe. The Great Northern bought its lands from the federal government – it received no land grants – and resold them to farmers one by one. It operated agencies in Germany and Scandinavia that promoted its lands, and brought families over at low cost, building special colonist cars to transport immigrant families. The rapidly increasing settlement in North Dakota's Red River Valley along
1960-576: A tourist attraction. GN constructed stations at East Glacier and West Glacier entries to the park, stone and timber lodges at the entries, and other inns and lodges throughout the Park. Many of the structures have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places due to unique construction, location, and the beauty of the surrounding regions. In 1931, the GN also developed the "Inside Gateway",
2058-793: Is located at the northeast corner of the International District/Chinatown light rail station and the Union Station office complex. It then continues across the International District and stops at 7th Avenue South near the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience . The streetcar crosses a spur track on 8th Avenue South that leads to the line's operations and maintenance facility and then travels under Interstate 5 into Little Saigon . Trains then stop at
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#17327802174512156-795: Is located at the south end of Downtown Seattle in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, near the intersection of South Jackson Street and 4th Avenue South, and has four major entrances. It is the 15th-busiest station on the Amtrak system, serving as the hub for the Pacific Northwest region. Opened on May 10, 1906, it served as a union station for the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway , both owned by James J. Hill . The station
2254-417: Is unique; it's covered with glass Ludowici tile that is backlit at night to showcase its transparency. The glass tiles were made with manganese , causing them to turn purple over time from UV exposure. During the 2013 restoration these tiles were replaced with salvaged glass tiles of the same age made by the same manufacturer. Inside the main entry, at the base of the clock tower, is the entry hall, known as
2352-412: Is used by Sounder commuter trains and connected via a pedestrian bridge on South Weller Street. The remaining platforms, accessed from the station's waiting room, are used for Amtrak services and special event trains. Built between 1904 and 1906 by the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway , the station replaced an antiquated station on Railroad Avenue, today's Alaskan Way . Designed by
2450-545: The Bank of Montreal ), and others to invest $ 5.5 million in purchasing the railroad. On March 13, 1878, the road's creditors formally signed an agreement transferring their bonds and control of the railroad to J.J. Hill's investment group. On September 18, 1889, Hill changed the name of the Minneapolis and St. Cloud Railway (a railroad which existed primarily on paper, but which held very extensive land grants throughout
2548-674: The Central District and on Rainier Avenue , connecting Broadway to the Mount Baker light rail station at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The initial plans for the First Hill line included service north of Denny Way to Aloha Street, but this section was eliminated under the Sound Transit 2 funding plan. The 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (0.8 km) streetcar extension was supported by community groups and merchants in
2646-588: The Empire Builder today, running it over the old Great Northern's Northern Transcon north of St. Paul. The GN had commuter service in the Minneapolis area running between Great Northern Depot and Hutchinson. In 1951 the company owned 844 locomotives, including 568 steam, 261 diesel-electric and 15 all-electric, as well 822 passenger-train cars and 43.897 freight-train cars. The Great Northern had numerous paint scheme variations and color changes over
2744-535: The Klondike gold rush , jade green for Little Saigon, hot pink for Capitol Hill, and red and yellow for Chinatown-International District. The First Hill line requires six streetcars during normal operations, with five in service and one operational spare . An additional vehicle would be required for the North Broadway extension. The streetcars are stored at an operations and maintenance facility within
2842-706: The Libby Dam on the Kootenai River in the late 1960s. The United States Army Corps of Engineers built a new route through the Salish Mountains, including the 7-mile-long (11 km) Flathead Tunnel , second-longest in the United States, to relocate the tracks away from the Kootenai River. This route opened in 1970. The surviving portions of the older routes (from Columbia Falls to Kalispell and Stryker to Eureka), were operated by Watco as
2940-646: The Mission Mountain Railroad until April 1, 2020, when BNSF (GN's modern successor) took back control of the Kalispell to Columbia Falls section. The Great Northern mainline crossed the continental divide through Marias Pass, the lowest crossing of the Rockies south of the Canada–US border. Here, the mainline forms the southern border of Glacier National Park , which the GN promoted heavily as
3038-628: The Pacific Northwest . With a terminus at Superior, Wisconsin, the Great Northern was able to provide transportation from the Pacific to the Atlantic by taking advantage of the shorter distance to Duluth from the ocean, as compared to Chicago. Between 1891 and 1917 GNR built a number of railway branch lines across the border with Canada. These lines were built to provide service to the city of New Westminster, Victoria (via ferry connection) and
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3136-574: The Roads and Transit ballot measure for the November 2007 election. The ballot measure was rejected by voters, but Sound Transit 2 was passed by voters as a standalone ballot measure in November 2008 and included $ 120 million in funding for the streetcar. The Seattle City Council approved the First Hill line in December as part of a citywide streetcar network that would expand on the existing South Lake Union Streetcar . An interlocal agreement between
3234-531: The Seattle Streetcar network stops nearby. After many years, the original upper entrance off of Jackson Street has been reopened. The station entrance located on the first floor off King Street now also has a passenger drop-off loop for vehicles, instead of a small parking lot. Plans to restore the entire building to its former prominence, including cosmetic renovations to both the station interior and exterior, began in 2003. As part of these renovations
3332-679: The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway , merged to form the Burlington Northern Railroad . The BN operated until 1996 when it merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. GN operated various passenger trains, but the Empire Builder was their premier passenger train. It was named in honor of James J. Hill, known as the "Empire Builder." Amtrak still operates
3430-513: The terrazzo floor features Greek-influenced meander patterns. Currently King St. Station has 25 daily train departures: From 2014 to 2019, Rocky Mountaineer operated excursion trains on its Coastal Passage service between Seattle and Banff, Alberta . First Hill Streetcar The First Hill Streetcar , officially the First Hill Line , is a streetcar route in Seattle , Washington, United States, forming part of
3528-771: The "Culture Connector", remains unfunded and suspended as of 2023 . A report released in January 2024 estimated that the project would take seven years to construct and cost $ 410 million—a 43 percent increase from the 2018 estimate. The First Hill Streetcar line travels 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from Pioneer Square in Downtown Seattle , east through the International District , and north through Yesler Terrace and First Hill to Capitol Hill , generally following South Jackson Street and Broadway . Trains take approximately 18 minutes to traverse
3626-481: The 12 Trio models used for the South Lake Union line, the 121 Trio features an on-board energy storage system that allows streetcars to run off-wire on downhill sections of the route and recharge the battery using regenerative braking . The streetcars are painted in colors to represent neighborhoods on the route, including baby blue for First Hill's hospitals, metallic gold for Pioneer Square's role in
3724-526: The 12th Avenue option and First Hill organizations backing the Boren option, SDOT recommended the Broadway route with no couplet or one-way loop. Other activists also petitioned the city for an extension to the business district on North Broadway, terminating near Aloha Street, which would require a separate funding source. Mayor Mike McGinn endorsed the Broadway route and the city council unanimously approved
3822-507: The 732nd Railroad Operating Battalion (ROB). They were one of two spearhead ROBs. The 732nd operated in support of the Patton's 3rd Armored Division crossing into Germany with them. The Officers of the 732nd were all previous employees of the Great Northern. On March 2, 1970, the Great Northern, together with the Northern Pacific Railway , the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and
3920-474: The Broadway and Yesler stops use side platforms due to the streets' widths. Each is equipped with a low platform for level boarding that measures 60 to 70 feet (18 to 21 m) long and 10 to 12 feet (3.0 to 3.7 m) wide. The platforms include a basic steel and glass shelter, a digital display with real-time arrivals , wayfinding maps and signs, benches, and leaning rails. Passengers pay for rides using an ORCA card reader or via paper tickets printed at
4018-560: The Broadway business district, who lobbied the city to study and design the $ 20 million project in 2010. A car tab fee rejected by city voters in 2011 would have funded $ 18 million for various streetcar projects, including the Aloha extension. As design work progressed, the cost of the project rose to $ 25 million, which would be covered by a Puget Sound Regional Council grant and a local improvement district levied on local property owners. The city government completed 90 percent design of
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4116-543: The Compass Room and restrooms were refurbished, and the exterior awnings were replaced. New mahogany entry doors and wood framed windows were installed in the waiting room and Compass Room. New brass door hardware and reproduction period light fixtures and plaster decorative work were included to reproduce the former character of the station's interior. In November 2006, the Office of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced
4214-408: The Compass Room. The name references the navigational star compass rose design laid out in hand-cut marble tiles on the floor at its center. The Compass Room has marble wainscotting , and is lighted by a multi-globe chandelier suspended above the compass rose from an elaborate plaster rosette . Triple-globe wall sconces around the perimeter illuminate a band of inlaid green iridescent glass tile on
4312-741: The East. The very first predecessor railroad to the company was the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad owned by William Crooks . He had gone bankrupt running a small line between St. Paul and Minneapolis . He named the locomotive he ran for himself and the William Crooks would be the first locomotive of the Great Northern Railway. J.J. Hill convinced New York banker John S. Kennedy , Norman Kittson (a wealthy fur trader friend), Donald Smith (a Hudson's Bay Company executive), George Stephen (Smith's cousin and president of
4410-636: The Midwest and Pacific Northwest) to the Great Northern Railway. On February 1, 1890, he consolidated his ownership of the StPM&;M, Montana Central Railway , and other rail lines to the Great Northern. The Great Northern had branches that ran north to the Canada–US border in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. It also had branches that ran to Superior, Wisconsin , and Butte, Montana , connecting with
4508-496: The Minnesota border between 1871 and 1890 was a major example of large-scale "bonanza" farming. During World War II, the Army moved its Military Railway Service (MRS) headquarters to Fort Snelling , Minnesota. The MRS worked collaboratively with commercial railroading in the U.S. The Great Northern sponsored the 704th Grand Railroad Division. It was the second Grand Division that the Army stood up. The Great Northern also sponsored
4606-688: The R Class 2-8-8-2 around 1927 which was the largest steam locomotive in the world at the time. From there the mainline crossed the Cascade Mountains through the Cascade Tunnel under Stevens Pass , reaching Seattle, Washington , in 1893, with the driving of the last spike at Scenic, Washington, on January 6, 1893. The Great Northern electrified Steven's Pass and briefly owned the electric Spokane and Inland Empire Railway . The deadliest avalanche in US history swept two Great Northern trains off
4704-622: The Twin Cities, across North Dakota and eastern Montana. The line then crossed the Rocky Mountains at Marias Pass. It then followed the Flathead River and then Kootenai River to Bonners Ferry, Idaho , south to Sandpoint, Idaho , west to Newport, Washington , and then to Spokane, Washington . The company town and extensive railroad facility of Hillyard, Washington was named after James J. Hill and briefly manufactured
4802-472: The U.S. In 1970, the Great Northern Railway merged with three other railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad , which merged in 1996 with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway . The Great Northern was built in stages, slowly creating profitable lines, before extending the road further into undeveloped Western territories. In
4900-466: The alignment in May 2010, with 10 stops and 10-minute weekday headways . Pre-construction activities for the project began in January 2011 and a formal groundbreaking was held on April 23, 2012. The project also included the construction of a two-way protected bicycle lane on the east side of Broadway that was added as a result of cycling accidents on the South Lake Union line. Track-laying began over
4998-496: The baggage area, originally used as a restaurant, were also undertaken during this time. During June 2010, work also began on demolition of a 1950s addition to the building that housed the escalators and part of the Jackson Street Plaza. Demolition work was completed by September 2010. A surprise development during this phase was the removal of the suspended ceilings in early July. Crews worked over several nights while
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#17327802174515096-548: The city and Sound Transit was signed in October 2009 to allow the city to design and construct the streetcar while using funds from the transit expansion plan, which would also cover the $ 5.2 million annual operating budget. While initially projected to open in 2016, the project timeline was accelerated by three years under the agreement. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) presented three basic route alignments for public consideration in December 2009: beginning with
5194-431: The city government, and neighborhood stakeholders convened The First Hill Work Program to investigate alternative modes and projects, among them bus improvements to the Broadway and Madison Street corridors and a streetcar from International District/Chinatown station to Capitol Hill. The Work Program was completed in April 2007 and concluded a two-mile (3.2 km) streetcar on Broadway and South Jackson Street would be
5292-405: The city's Charles Street Service Center, connected via a spur track on 8th Avenue South. The facility has capacity for seven streetcars, including three within the maintenance shop, and is expandable using outdoor storage tracks. The building was awarded LEED Gold certification for its sustainable construction, including a green roof and solar panels , and also houses administrative offices for
5390-413: The city. SDOT planned to install a rubber flange filler between the track and concrete, but found that it would cause additional hazards and not last an adequate amount of time. Streetcar service on the First Hill line was halted indefinitely on March 2, 2017, due to an incident where a streetcar lost electrical power and slid uncontrolled downhill for over two blocks after a brake failure. The vehicle
5488-410: The closure of Union Station , which formerly served Union Pacific (the Milwaukee Road had moved out a decade earlier). To further cut costs the station's restaurant, lunch counter, and gift shop were immediately closed and vending machines installed. Eventually even the escalators stopped running and without the funds or passenger volume to justify repairing them, were permanently walled off. Today,
5586-463: The direction of Northern Pacific architect A.C. Cayou, a new drop ceiling of plastic and metal was installed in the waiting room ten feet below the original, concealing the hand-carved coffered ceiling to just below the balcony and second level arcade . Hundreds of holes had to be punched through the plaster to attach the ceiling's support wires to the steel frame of the building. The new ceiling held new fluorescent lights and heat lamps , replacing
5684-459: The early morning, evenings, Sundays, and holidays. The streetcar had an annual ridership of 882,219 passengers in 2017. The streetcar is owned by the City of Seattle and is currently operated by King County Metro under a contract with the city government. The line's operating budget is primarily covered by a $ 5 million annual contribution from Sound Transit, with the city government paying other costs. Metro operates bus replacement services in
5782-400: The end of World War II , as passenger rail travel began to decline across the United States, steps were taken to gradually modernize King Street Station. The ticket counters, once located directly to the east of the compass room, were expanded outward into the waiting room. In the late 1940s a set of " electric stairs " and a new side entrance to the second floor railroad offices were built over
5880-474: The event of service disruptions. The First Hill Streetcar uses a fleet of six low-floor Inekon 121 Trio streetcars that are maintained and operated by King County Metro. The articulated streetcars measure 66 feet (20 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) wide, and have two operator's cabs for bidirectional operations. They each have 30 seats and capacity for 40 additional standing passengers, along with two wheelchair locations; to board wheelchairs and bicycles,
5978-412: The existing South Lake Union line was planned in the 2008 city network as part of the Seattle Center – Downtown Seattle – King Street Station line. Planning on the project, named the Center City Connector , began in 2012 and was approved two years later by the city council to run for 1.2 miles (1.9 km) primarily on 1st Avenue. It would cost $ 110 million to construct and would carry streetcars at
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#17327802174516076-418: The existing trolleybus and electrical wires above Broadway and South Jackson Street, SDOT elected to forgo wiring for its downhill, inbound track and instead rely on an onboard battery. Street construction and electrical installation were completed in late 2014, but the commencement of service was delayed to the following year due to procurement issues with the Czech streetcar manufacturer, Inekon Trams , and
6174-438: The firm of Reed and Stem of St. Paul, Minnesota , who acted as associate architects for the design of Grand Central Terminal in New York City , the station was part of a larger project that moved the mainline away from the waterfront and into the planned Great Northern Tunnel under downtown. The depot's 242-foot (74 m) tower was modeled after the recently collapsed Campanile di San Marco in Venice , Italy , making it
6272-426: The goal of connecting the neighborhood to other light rail stations. The $ 135 million project, funded primarily by Sound Transit , was approved by voters and the city council in 2008. The city government selected the Broadway corridor and began construction on the line in April 2012, also working on a parallel protected bicycle lane . Construction was completed in late 2014, but delays in the delivery and testing of
6370-428: The interior and in the clock tower while the base shows influences of Beaux Arts . The entire first floor exterior is brick-clad with granite . The building is L-shaped with the clock tower marking the main entry on the west facade . The clock tower and main entry terminate the axis of King Street in Pioneer Square. The main building's roof features Ludowici clay tile with a green glaze. The clock tower's roof
6468-474: The introduction of city trolleybuses . First Hill, a major regional destination due to its concentration of medical facilities and Seattle University , was slated to receive an underground Link light rail station under the system's first planned expansion from Downtown Seattle to the University District , passed by voters in 1996. A technical study revealed tunneling through the weak soil under First Hill involved high risks and would cost $ 350 million beyond
6566-458: The iron range of Minnesota and copper mines of Montana. In 1898 Hill purchased control of large parts of the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota and its rail lines. The Great Northern began large-scale shipment of ore to the steel mills of the Midwest. The railroad's best-known engineer was John Frank Stevens , who served from 1889 to 1903. Stevens was acclaimed for his 1889 exploration of Marias Pass in Montana and determined its practicability for
6664-460: The line from end to end. The line begins in the median of South Jackson Street at Occidental Avenue in the Pioneer Square historic district , located near the city's waterfront and between Lumen Field and Occidental Park . Streetcars travel east on South Jackson Street, passing the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and King Street Station —the city's intercity rail station—before reaching its second stop at 5th Avenue South. The stop
6762-466: The main waiting area were the terrazzo tile floor and the clock on the west wall above the restrooms. Despite the attempted modernization, the station continued to deteriorate. Following the creation of Amtrak in 1971 to take over the money-losing passenger service from the railroad companies, hundreds of routes were eliminated and service across the country was cut in half. Amtrak consolidated all of its Seattle service at King Street Station, resulting in
6860-417: The modern Seattle Streetcar system. It travels 2.5 miles (4.0 km) between several neighborhoods in central Seattle, including the International District , First Hill , and Capitol Hill . The line has ten stops and runs primarily in mixed traffic on South Jackson Street and Broadway . The streetcar line was proposed in 2005 as an alternative to a cancelled Link light rail station on First Hill, with
6958-498: The name of modernization. It was selected as Amtrak's sole Seattle station in 1971 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places two years later. Commuter rail service began in 2000 from a new platform and pedestrian bridge at South Weller Street. King Street Station was acquired by Seattle's city government in 2008 and renovated in 2013 at a cost of $ 55 million, restoring its original fixtures. The current station consists of ten tracks and four platforms, including one that
7056-477: The new city of Vancouver. The first line was built between 1891 and 1893 providing a connection between Seattle and New Westminster. This line crossed at Blaine, passed through Cloverdale and terminated in Brownsville. In 1903 GNR constructed a line running from Cloverdale to Port Guichon (Present day Ladner, BC ). A ferry service from the port provided service to Victoria and Vancouver Island. In 1909 this line
7154-438: The open stairwell to Jackson Street, narrowing them by half. Over the next two decades, as train ridership and the station's number of employees dwindled, the station was further remodeled to reduce maintenance and heating costs. In the late 1950s the station's original high-back benches, made of yellow oak , were replaced by modern chrome and plastic seats. The final blow to the station's character occurred in late 1967 when, under
7252-458: The original brass chandeliers and sconces . Below the new ceiling, plaster reliefs , marble panels, glass tile mosaics and other original fixtures were sheared from the walls and replaced with sheet rock and Formica paneling. The dedicated women's waiting room at the southwest corner of the building was converted into employee offices; its own architectural details suffering the same damage. The only original remaining features left visible in
7350-507: The project in 2015, choosing a terminus at Roy Street and an intermediate stop at Harrison Street, but business leaders grew skeptical of the streetcar's cost and design, which would limit truck access. Work on the project was halted in December 2016 and put on indefinite hold in October 2017 alongside street improvements, including the protected bicycle lane extension. An extension of the First Hill Streetcar to connect with
7448-481: The project's proposed budget, so the Sound Transit board voted in July 2005 to remove the First Hill station from their preferred light rail route. In lieu of light rail service, Sound Transit commissioned studies on alternative means of improving transit service to the neighborhood, leading King County Executive Ron Sims to suggest a streetcar connecting with the Capitol Hill light rail station . Sound Transit,
7546-517: The railroad right-of-way. In Kalispell, Montana the original Great Northern grade from 1892 has been converted into a trail. The trail starts in Kila, MT, and goes to Kalispell Montana, travelling through downtown, right past the Kalispell Depot. The section of rails from Kila to West Kalispell was taken out in the early 1900s, while the section from downtown to where the current end of rail is,
7644-412: The restoration as part of a passed local transportation levy. In 2008, the clocks in the clock tower were repaired, and the old radio microwave antennas were removed. Repair work to the exterior continued as of June 2010. Phase two of the project began in May 2010, when demolition work commenced on the second and third floors, previously used by Burlington Northern for division offices. Work on modernizing
7742-424: The restoration of the interior. The restoration project was completed and the station was officially rededicated on April 24, 2013. King Street Station is a red brick masonry and steel frame building with terra cotta and cast stone ornamentation , through relatively subdued in comparison to the clock tower. The architectural style is sometimes denoted as "Railroad Italianate" with definite Italian inspirations on
7840-611: The resulting dirt to fill in the east end of False Creek. In 1915, on this infill, the GNR opened Union Station, the terminus of its rail line in Vancouver. Its service to Vancouver and Victoria experienced competition from a partnership between Northern Pacific and Canadian Pacific. This competing service terminated at Pacific Station in Downtown Vancouver and from there offered direct steamship service to Victoria, thus offering
7938-627: The station has been fully restored and is part of a group of transportation facilities in the southern portion of Downtown Seattle. King Street Station is located a block away from the International District/Chinatown station of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel serving the Link Light Rail 1 Line . Many King County Metro and Sound Transit Express bus routes serve the area, and the First Hill line of
8036-476: The station was mostly empty removing the over 1,600 acoustic tiles and their framing. The modern light fixtures and remaining suspended wires remained until enough funding became available to complete restoration. The final phase of the project focused on the rebuilding of the Jackson Plaza. Thirty-six geothermic wells reaching 300 ft (91 m) into the ground were drilled to eventually heat and cool
8134-506: The station. A new concrete floor was poured including seismic wall supports and space for an elevator and new ticketing and baggage areas. In October 2010, the King Street Station project was awarded $ 18.2 million from $ 2.4 billion in high-speed intercity passenger rail service funding announced by the U.S. Transportation Department . This funding was needed by the project in order to complete seismic regrades and to finalize
8232-415: The streetcar averaged 3,050 weekday riders and met year-end projections, but by June 2017 the line was under-performing in ridership and fare revenue projections. The First Hill line was criticized for its slow, meandering route without transit-only lanes or other priority measures to give it a time advantage over buses or pedestrians. While SDOT included bicycle-friendly features and pathways parallel to
8330-500: The streetcar system. Great Northern Railway (U.S.) The Great Northern Railway ( reporting mark GN ) was an American Class I railroad . Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota , to Seattle , Washington , it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad . The Great Northern's route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in
8428-522: The streetcar vehicles pushed the opening of the line to January 23, 2016. A proposed connection to the South Lake Union Streetcar line was planned to be constructed in the late 2010s, but was suspended by the city government in 2018. First Hill and the Broadway corridor were historically served by several lines under the private and municipal streetcar system , beginning with the first line constructed in 1891 and ending in 1941 with
8526-425: The streetcar, the tracks remained the cause of serious crashes, including a fatal incident on Yesler Way in May 2016. A lawsuit alleging fault for the cyclist's death was filed against the city government and Sound Transit by her family and settled in 2018. Another crash, which resulted in severe injuries to a cyclist at South Jackson Street and 12th Avenue South, was settled in 2019 with $ 1.55 million paid for by
8624-417: The summer on Yesler Way and on Broadway between Pine and Howell streets, causing street closures and other traffic disruptions. During work on the Broadway section, Stacy and Witbeck contractors excavated railroad ties used by the original streetcar system until the 1940s. Trackwork on South Jackson Street began in early 2013 after completion of sewer and utility work in the International District. Due to
8722-682: The tallest building in Seattle at the time of its construction. This tower contained four huge mechanical clock faces built by E. Howard & Co. of Boston , Massachusetts , offering the time to each of the four cardinal directions. At the time of installation it was said to be the second largest timepiece on the Pacific Coast , second only to the Ferry Building in San Francisco , California . Later, this tower also served as
8820-481: The tracks at Wellington, Washington by the Cascade Tunnel killing 96 people. The mainline west of Marias Pass has been relocated twice. The original route over Haskell Pass , via Kalispell and Marion , Montana, was replaced in 1904 by a more circuitous but flatter route via Whitefish and Eureka , joining the Kootenai River at Rexford, Montana . A further reroute was necessitated by the construction of
8918-591: The vehicles for the South Lake Union line and the Portland Streetcar system. The fleet was manufactured in Ostrava by Inekon and shipped to Seattle for final assembly by Pacifica Marine in 2015, falling significantly behind schedule and delaying the start of service. The streetcars draw their electrical power from overhead catenary that is energized at 750 volts direct current . Unlike
9016-535: The walls. Circular clerestory windows are trimmed in plaster relief decoration. This motif was originally repeated throughout most of the station's waiting room. While there is no known influence for the design of the interior, it resembles the ceiling of the famous Salone dei Cinquecento at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy featuring a similar coffered grid with dentils and repeating circles, while
9114-576: The western half of the GN system. The mainline began at Saint Paul, Minnesota, heading west along the Mississippi River bluffs, crossing the river to Minneapolis on a massive multi-piered stone arch bridge just below the Saint Anthony Falls . The bridge ceased to be used as a railroad bridge in 1978, becoming a pedestrian river crossing with excellent views of the falls and of the lock system. The mainline headed northwest from
9212-606: The years, but Rocky the goat was consistently featured. In addition to the Stone Arch Bridge, parts of the railway have been turned into pedestrian and bicycle trails. In Minnesota, the Cedar Lake Trail is built in areas that were formerly railroad yards for the Great Northern Railway and the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway . Also in Minnesota, the Dakota Rail Trail is built on 26.5 miles of
9310-483: Was designed by Reed and Stem and incorporated elements from various architectural styles, including a prominent clocktower inspired by St. Mark's Campanile in Venice . A second city terminal, Union Station , was built one block to the east and opened in 1911. As passenger train service declined in the mid-20th century, King Street Station fell into disrepair and was renovated several times to conceal interior elements in
9408-566: Was extended from Cloverdale to Huntingdon. Service from Blaine to New Westminster was redirected in 1909 over a new line past White Rock, across Mud Bay, through Annieville and on to Brownsville. After a new railway bridge was completed across the Fraser River from Brownsville to New Westminster the GNR extended its railway line to Vancouver. Between 1910 and 1913 GNR excavated the Grandview Cut to give it access to False Creek and used
9506-472: Was stopped at a curve in the tracks by an emergency parking brake that engaged automatically; the two passengers on board were uninjured and there was no damage. Service resumed on March 20 after modifications to the load contactor were installed and tested; streetcars, however, remained temporarily restricted to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h) on the steepest sections of Broadway. SDOT announced plans in 2018 to improve streetcar service on Broadway by adding
9604-624: Was taken out in 2021. Further west, the Iron Goat Trail in Washington follows the late 19th-century route of the Great Northern Railway through the Cascades and gets its name from the railway's logo. The Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad that James J. Hill purchased in 1929 became a bicycle path between Spokane, Wa and Coeur d'Alene, Id. and Spokane, Wa. and Pullman, Wa. Appearances in popular culture: The Great Northern
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