King Street Station now boasts a new, improved ticket and baggage area, upgrading the facility to meet the present and future needs of rail and bus passengers to better serve Amtrak’s customers.
The area features new terrazzo flooring, salvaged marble wall panels, refurbished wood doors and upgraded lighting. New baggage carousels will facilitate baggage handling and Amtrak buses will load and unload passengers in a newly paved turnaround area on the west side of the station. A quiet, energy-efficient ground source heat pump system has also been installed to provide heating and cooling for this area, and Amtrak employees will enjoy a new office space.
“The beauty of this work is that we’re preserving the station’s historic elements while also adding modern passenger conveniences to better serve its customers,” explained Peter Hahn, director of the Seattle Department of Transportation.
Passengers will now enter the Amtrak ticketing and baggage area from a temporary entrance to the north of the current station entrance, but still located on the western side’s lower floor. There is a new taxi queuing area on South King Street, where there also are temporary 15-minute passenger load and unload spots, along with temporary ADA parking stalls to facilitate access to the station during construction. Passengers are advised to arrive at the station well in advance of the normally-recommended 30 minutes prior to departure and to be aware the ticketing area has been relocated. Parking in the area is severely limited which may require additional time to locate a parking space. Passengers may want to save time by being dropped off or taking transit to the station.
Restoration of interior and exterior historic architectural details including the waiting room’s ornamental plaster work is now underway, in addition to seismic upgrades.
King Street Station serves more than four million passengers a year with Amtrak trains, Amtrak Thruway Motorcoaches and Sounder commuter rail. The multi-year project is financed with a combination of funds from the city’s Bridging the Gap transportation initiative as well as state, federal and private sources.
For more information on King Street Station, please visit our website: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/kingstreet.htm.