Continual mudslides prevent passenger rail north of Seattle
SEATTLE - Mud, rocks and trees keep sliding onto the railroad tracks between Seattle and Everett, all but halting passenger service there since Thanksgiving.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas says there were two slides Wednesday night and another one at 8:20 a.m. Thursday near Mukilteo.
Crews have cleared the tracks for freight trains but Amtrak and Sound Transit Sounder trains have to wait 48 hours for safety. Rail passengers are bused in the meantime.
The soonest passenger rail traffic can resume north of Seattle is Saturday morning. Sound Transit's Northline Sounder run won't restart until Monday at the earliest.
Melonas says there have been 77 mudslides in the area and one in British Columbia since Thanksgiving Day, preventing 95 percent of the passenger rail service north of Seattle.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas says there were two slides Wednesday night and another one at 8:20 a.m. Thursday near Mukilteo.
Crews have cleared the tracks for freight trains but Amtrak and Sound Transit Sounder trains have to wait 48 hours for safety. Rail passengers are bused in the meantime.
The soonest passenger rail traffic can resume north of Seattle is Saturday morning. Sound Transit's Northline Sounder run won't restart until Monday at the earliest.
Melonas says there have been 77 mudslides in the area and one in British Columbia since Thanksgiving Day, preventing 95 percent of the passenger rail service north of Seattle.
I'm surprised there's any mud up there still left to slide...
So I'm wondering if we are eventually going to be hearing from passengers of ST demanding credit, especially if they bought a monthly pass at the rate of the train & end up having to take the bus instead.
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Train from Everett to Seattle is $4.50, while the bus from Everett to Seattle is $3.50 each way.  Monthly pass $162 for $4.50 value & $126 for $3.50 value.
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I'm thinking that people don't want to give ST an extra $36 for nothing
Tough year for north bound rail.
@Citizen#3457899654
I thought you might not have read my reply to your comments about tenure, so here it is:
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Could you please explain to me what tenure means as related to the K-12 teachers of Washington State? Iâve been at this profession for nearly two decades and have yet to experience this concept of tenure. For the first three years a teacher can be ânon-renewedâ (fired) for any reason without cause. After that it just takes a little effort from the principal to remove an incompetent teacher. Step one: Observe and document that the teacher is not meeting the Teaching for Learning Standards. This can be done in as little as a one hour formal observation. Step two: Teacher is placed on a Plan of Improvement. Here the teacher meets with a mentor in the field to see if there is a chance for improvement.  This often lasts 60-90 days. Step three:  An outside expert, chosen by the District Administration, offers their opinion after review and observation. Based on this the district will choose to fire or retain said teacher. The Union supports this process and assists in removing a great many poor teachers each year. This entire process is skipped if a teacher is accused of physical or sexual misconduct. They are placed on paid leave until the accusations are confirmed or disproved. Teachers are considered guilty until proven innocent.
@thebigteacher @Citizen#3457899654 What exactly does this have to do with this particular article?
 @choliscott  @thebigteacher Not much. He was ranting about Unions and tenure in an earlier article but was unable or unwilling to respond to my post, so I gave him another shot.
Most of the Seattle/Everett portion has Puget Sound on one side and steep hills on the other; it's not as simple as just set up a "slide retention system". AND, who is ultimately responsible? BNSF for having a hill next to their property, or the people who own the property that's moving...Oh yeah, it's Mother Nature that's responsible. We going to sue her too?
@PacificNWlover The real problem is that by devoloping along hillsides is the removal
of the natural foilage that held the hillsides together. I believe that to stem the slides both
parties have to manage the problem of drainage better by putting in proven technology
of terracing, retaining walls and of most importance draingage. BNSF should not have
to be worried about the hillsides under developed hillsides and home owners ,cities
and counties should expect BNSF to take care of the areaes where they cut into the
hillsides. I agree sueing wont help , but it does have a dramatic effect that is a bit much.
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@hwystar71 History lesson here. The RR were here before the houses were. Did not have issues until the whiteman came. Leave the trees alone and you will have a stable hill side. The home owner want a view and cutdown trees. When the trees comedown so will the hill.
Stupid mud. Why does it keep sliding down the hill, anyway????
Terrace, drainage and make BSNF pay for it. If they want to run the trains on a coast line
then make it their responsiability to take care of it.
                                            BNSF.............oops
Here is a letter you may copy and send to Cantwell, (http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/)Â Murray (http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm)Â and your representative.Â
Senator;
There have been numerous problems with the BNSF rail route from Seattle to Everett such that the Sounder commuter train has suffered numerous cancellations. (http://www.komonews.com/news/local/North-Sounder-trains-canceled-through-Wednesday-185370022.html) There was also a freight derailment in recent weeks. BNSF seems reluctant to proactively address this problem, seeming to be content to remove the mud after each slide and take their chances.
Here is where you can help. The state seems powerless to do anything about this dangerous situation, so I am appealing to you to get the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board)to condemn this route to ALL train traffic until such time as BNSF constructs a viable slide retention system to protect these tracks from the mud slides. Until BNSF loses the revenue from freight traffic, they will not find the desire to do anything about these slides other than mopping them up each time.
A real danger to the public is that if a slide happens to derail a hazardous shipment, a disaster of severe impact to the public could take place. Imagine an ammonia leak, a propane shipment explosion, or a toxic chemical spill and the impact it would have on the public, of whom you are sworn to look after the safety and welfare. In summary, I advocate that you act to have the NTSB condemn this route to ALL rail traffic until the slide problem has been permanently resolved.
Thank you for your service.
Constituent
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 @Glassman Why should BNSF pay for something that isn't their fault. Until the communities/cities fix their drainage problems you could spend billions of dollars and still not have solved the problem. Just applied a band-aid to it.
 @Sirmicro Northern Pacific (now BNSF) was given that land in a sweetheart deal back in the first of the last century through land grants for the purpose of developing a railroad infrastructure. It has been their responsibility to maintain the line ever since under the railroad act that gave them the land.
If they were to construct a retaining wall with those 6X4X4 blocks, or concrete riprap bars, they could resolve the problem, but they are reluctant to spend any more than is minimally required to keep the line open for freight.Â
The slides ARE their fault, in that they BUILT the line in a KNOWN slide area and have done nothing to resolve the drainage issue.
 @EMDF9A     You are correct, sir, and I stand corrected.
@Glassman @Sirmicro Although I agree with Glassman's approach to try and get our elected representatives involved in solving this mess, I do have one teeny tiny bit of a correction to his statement
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"Northern Pacific (now BNSF) was given that land in a sweetheart deal back in the first of the last century through land grants for the purpose of developing a railroad infrastructure."
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Although the NP was indeed a land grant railroad, its charter having been signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the rail line in question was never NP, but rather part of James J. Hill's privately funded Great Northern. Ther GN and NP (and three other routes) merged in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern. Subsequent mergers in the 1980s and 1990s produced what is today's BNSF.
 @Glassman  @Sirmicro Glassman,
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While the Fed did indeed give the RR's land grants many years ago, the Fed marked that debt paid after WW II because of the RR's efforts during WW I & II in moving troops & equipment and other needed supplies.
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 @Nightshift  @Glassman Sorry, sir, you are mistaken. Those houses followed long after the rails went in. The real problem is that the slides have been happening since before the RR was built. The RR has been content to just clean them up.
@Glassman If you check out the history of this area, the problems started when people built houses above the bluffs and forced the water to go else where. Scaring the public isn't going to solve the problem.
@Sirmicro @Glassman I agree with Glassmans approach, part of a viable
slide retention plan would and should include BSNF sueing cities, counties and
home owners for not providing proper slide retention of the properties that border
the railroad right of ways ... It works both ways.
I realize I'm most likely thinking logically, but just how much taxpayers money does this specific route warrant before the bizarre notion of re-routing this rail line, even have a chance of being considered?
@Yadayada When the RR sells the property, the tax payers will have to make up for the lost tax revenue. Look up the King County IMAP Program and see how much the RR pays in property taxes.
 @Yadayada BNSF owns the lines and as I understand, they are the ones on the hook for paying the most for cleanup since their freight trains go through there.
@Jalharad @Yadayada I would assume that BNSF would have to pay for it, since I believe that ST is paying for the usage of the line