Construction crews recently began building the foundation for a new 100,000-square-foot maintenance facility at Amtrak's King Street Yard in Seattle. The facility will help improve Amtrak service and support the introduction of new trains.

“The Pacific Northwest is a key priority for Amtrak, with the popular Amtrak Cascades line between Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, B.C., and points in between, as well as our Long Distance Coast Starlight and Empire Builder trains connecting the region,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris in a press release. “This critical investment will help us meet growing customer demand for a new era of rail with brand new trains that will upgrade safety, reliability, and comfort.”

Upgrading the King Street Yard

The upgraded King Street Yard will enable modern, more efficient maintenance practices, support the introduction of new, state-of-the-art Amtrak Airo trains set to enter service first on the Amtrak Cascades route in 2026, and maintain trains on the Long-Distance routes that operate out of this yard. 

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, providing the foundations for a world-class maintenance yard.

Immediately after awarding the construction contract last summer, Amtrak and its contractor began pre-construction activities such as relocating buildings and train car equipment before grading the property to prepare for extensive pile driving necessary to provide proper building stabilization. 

According to the agency, Amtrak will conclude pile driving and mass excavation at the site by the end of 2025 before erecting the pre-engineered metal building in early 2026.

Amtrak’s Move to Add Airo Trains

Agency officials said similar investments are already under construction or soon to be underway at six Amtrak rail yards around the country.

Construction is underway in Seattle and Philadelphia, contracts were recently awarded for Boston and Washington, D.C., procurement for improvements is underway in New York City, and planning is progressing for Rensselaer, N.Y. 

While not visible to guests on their Amtrak journey, these upgrades are necessary to support the new Amtrak Airo trains coming to more than a dozen routes over the coming years. 

Each Amtrak Airo train will be operated as a single “trainset,” rather than individual railcars, and these new rail yard facilities will help create a consistent maintenance system that improves efficiencies and reduces turnaround times during repairs or inspections.