I’ve always sort of wondered how they pick these schedules, because the Seattle->Tacoma morning train is butt-early. (And the evening train is similarly on the early side.) Getting to Tacoma at 7:10am and having to be back on the train at 4:45pm doesn’t exactly fit normal working hours. And even with the northbound morning train, it’s sort of ridiculous that the last train arrives in Seattle at 8:20. Don’t get me wrong, I think that it’s great having the Sounder, but I work w/ people who specifically aren’t considering the new reverse commute train because it’s just WAAAAAAAY too early.

The timetables are definitely a bit funky, especially for those who aren’t making the full Tacoma/Seattle commute. I was excited for the reverse commute train at first, though when I saw the time schedule and the 9.5 hour day for those in Tacoma (and MUCH longer for anyone between), I figured it’d be a flop of sorts.

I will say that the earlier train from Seattle was a smart addition… of the 30+ people that I work with that also ride the train, a fair number are now going to take the earliest train home.

thats awesome! I’m always excited to see transit options expanding. It’s too bad they didn’t do this during the I-5 construction. Yay for Erik for getting up that early.

I was also looking forward to this train, as I take the bus into Tacoma. The 4:45 departure time is too early to get from the office in the CBD to the dome district.

I would imagine more of these ‘reverse commute’ trains will be added in the comming years.

To a large degree, Burlington Northern (which owns the rail lines that ST operates Sounder on between Tacoma and Everett) calls the shots on the available times. ST continues to invest more than $400 million in additional rail capacity in the Tacoma – Seattle corridor. This investment includes adding a third track in most areas, computerized signaization, additional sidings etc. Once BN completes the track and signal improvements as called out and paid for by ST, there will be 9 headways daily between Tacoma and Seattle each morning and afternoon. This will greatly improve the options for Sounder commuters. The Everett to Seattle connection will only be southbound in the morning from Everett and Northbound to Everett in the afternoon.

Michael G: Precisely.

DavidS – Yes, HOV back-ups/low speeds often occur in the a.m. from Federal Way on (I know less about the p.m., as I usually wait out rush hour then). The stretch from 272nd to Sea Tac is probably the worst. It’s not uncommon for an express bus that should take 40-45 min. experience a 20-30 min delay due to traffic — definitely enough to reduce the use and appeal of “express” buses.

All the sounder trains are stored in Tacoma in the Evening. You know Eric, you didn’t need to take a bus to Seattle to get the first ‘reverse commute’ train back.. you could have ridden the 5am train up to Seattle… as it’s the same train.

As far as changing HOV restrictions from 2+ to 3+, I’d like to see some enforcement of the lane first. This morning, I had a 3+ carpool and I was driving behind a lone driver the entire way to Seattle. We weren’t sure there wasn’t a kid in teh back so I pulled up along side of them at one point and they were a single person… I should have called 1-800-BE A HERO.

I caught the reverse commute train home every evening last week (the morning train really is far too early, so I still catch the bus into Tacoma). I never saw more than a handful of people boarding, and I’m still the only person deboarding at Sumner Station. Hopefully more people catch on to it soon. It easily shaves off half an hour from my commute back home.