# Former Eastside (Seattle) BNSF rail corridor sold again



## CHamilton (Aug 15, 2012)

Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton posts on Facebook:



> The Port Commission voted yesterday to sell the southern portion of the BNSF Eastside Corridor to King County for a $6 million loss/25% below what we paid for it, after much foot dragging and renegogiating of agreed terms by the County Executive's office.
> 
> As someone who grew up and lives on the Eastside, I have been a champion since taking office in 2006 of bringing the Corridor into public ownership, which the Port did in 2009. But tolerating the County renegotiating terms ex post facto, not being able to rely on a sister government's word, does nothing to further much needed regional collaboration.


The rail line in question, most recently home to the Washington Dinner Train, was cut in half a couple of years ago when an underpass through which it traveled was removed during highway reconstruction. At the time, a complex agreement was laid out that would transfer the line to public ownership, for future use as a bike trail and, potentially, as a commuter line. Since the line parallels the very congested I-405, many of us hoped that the line could be used to improve rail connections.

Ownership of the northern section of the line is also in flux -- see a December 2011 post from Seattle Transit Blog. So it's unclear at this point what will happen to the line, and whether there is any chance it will return to rail use. Since it travels through some very expensive real estate on the shores of Lake Washington, NIMBYism is likely to be strong.


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## Swadian Hardcore (Aug 15, 2012)

Is there any map of the line? It's confusing to dig info out of nowhere, especially since I'm not familiar with the line.


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## CHamilton (Aug 15, 2012)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> Is there any map of the line? It's confusing to dig info out of nowhere, especially since I'm not familiar with the line.


There's a PDF link on this page.


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## CHamilton (Aug 22, 2012)

Port OKs sale of Eastside rail corridor



> Commissioners ...agreed to grant King County a permanent easement over a portion of the corridor that still has freight service; the easement will allow King County to develop a recreational trail. The transaction now goes to the King County Council for final approval.


No mention of passenger or commuter rail.


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## CHamilton (Nov 14, 2012)

Here's a long, but useful, article describing the current state of this line.



> Eastside rail: The Humpty Dumpty of Northwest transportation
> 
> The Eastside's only rail line is in the midst of a five-way tug-of-war: Kirkland, Redmond, the Port of Seattle, Sound Transit, King County. Can so many owners ever amount to a whole, functioning transit line?
> 
> ...


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## CHamilton (Dec 2, 2012)

King Co. Council to take public comment on Eastside Rail Corridor



> The Metropolitan King County Council will take public testimony Monday on the proposed purchase of a portion of the Eastside Rail Corridor, the potential backbone of a regional corridor that could support trails, Eastside commuter rail, and an array of utility services....
> 
> The proposed legislation is the final step in the effort to maintain the 42-mile corridor that extends from Renton to Snohomish and prevent the corridor from being broken up and sold for private development.
> 
> ...


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## CHamilton (Mar 11, 2013)

Rail advocates hope for last-minute save in Kirkland


> As Kirkland prepares to put in a trail, a group of rail supporters argue that trains would do a great job of hauling away debris from an expected Bellevue building boom.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## CHamilton (Jun 7, 2014)

Was public railroaded in trail deal?



> Six years ago, King County and Port of Seattle officials gathered in front of the Wilburton railroad trestle in Bellevue to announce what they said was a historic purchase.
> 
> They were buying a rail corridor along the Eastside from BNSF Railway to convert it to “the granddaddy of all trails,” as then King County Executive Ron Sims called it. They also hoped to run commuter trains on the tracks someday.
> 
> ...


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 7, 2014)

Any of those guys going to go to jail Charlie?


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## neroden (Jun 18, 2014)

Yeeargh. This should be the main north-south freight rail line in the region, avoiding the unstable tracks on the beach, and instead it's been one stupid thing after another.

What's maddening is how recent these mistakes were. The really dumb abandonments out here in the east were mostly done in the 1970s and 1980s, with a few in the 1990s. I can't think of any post-2000 abandonments worth noting.


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