Tag Archives: transit

Bittersweet Day as FWLE Opens

December 6^th, 2025, was the day that the Federal Way Link Extension opened as part of Sound Transit’s light rail system in the Puget Sound region. When I moved back to the UK at the beginning of the year, I had thought I would be able to get back for the opening events which I had anticipated would be in early 2026 after another extension opened. As it happened, they were able to open ahead of that other section, and a December date was chosen. The timing of this – along with some other concerns – meant I wasn’t able to go back.

I first got involved with the project in 2017. I had just joined SNC-Lavalin, which was to become AtkinsRéalis, and we started discussions with Mott MacDonald about partnering for the project management role. The rest of that year was spent on preparing the proposal and then the interviews and the result was our selection. Things kicked off in 2018, and we had some immediate ups and downs. However, we got on track pretty quickly and built a strong team between the two partners and our associated sub consultants.

I was not involved in the day-to-day activities of the project, and our team deserve all of the credit. I was on the board of the joint venture, but I did get to spend a lot of time down with the project team and I made sure to regularly get out on site and see what was happening so I could be up to date with the progress as well as the issues that were being experienced. Aside from that, I found it very interesting to see the construction process underway as I was learning a lot myself.

The early stages of the project do not make it apparent how much is happening. Clearing out the land that will be used and prepping for construction is so important but not very glamourous. Then the large structures started to come together. The construction was phased with the northern sections happening before the southern. We re-routed a state route to build the section just south of the airport and then built a whole new road bridge which is now part of the SR509 project that WSDOT is building.

Stations were built at three locations. These were large structures but also included significant parking garages which came with very different but no less difficult issues to solve. The agency makes a big deal on the architecture side of the stations, and they were all to a style but with individual finishes and artwork to reflect the region. Heading up the tower crane at one of the stations gave me a chance to see the wider location from a perspective that few get to experience.

The largest part of the cost of building a light rail system like this is the civil works. Moving large amounts of earth and building concrete structures requires a lot of people and plenty of time. However, the most complex part of the process is installing and commissioning the systems. This includes the track, the power and the signalling elements. Once the civil works are complete, to the passers-by it might look like things are done. However, there is much still to be achieved. Getting the track laid and properly aligned is a major effort. I found the complex track-work to be a fascinating thing to see. Powering up the system was also a big deal, but the overhead wires are dependent on the track location so can’t be done until the track is complete.

The latter stages include getting trains down the track to check for clearances before they can be powered up and operate under their own steam. That was being done at the time I left the country. I didn’t get to see the full tests of trains on the track. That all happened through 2025 and then it was in to trial running to demonstrate not only the capability of the various systems but also the ability to meet the required running times and the integration into the existing operations on the network. I was sorry to miss all of that.

This addition to the system will provide better connectivity to the southern part of the region and the launching point for the next extension which will go down to Tacoma. If you are stuck on I-5 heading northbound early in the morning and you see the train zipping by, maybe you will consider an alternative way to head into Seattle? If you do, I hope you get the train with the livery our project team paid to have added.

Lighting the Christmas Train

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Get to the run up to Christmas and, if you have a heritage railway near you, there is a good chance they will be advertising that they have illuminated trains in operation. The trains will have lights all across the outside and probably within the carriages too. I’m sure they are fun to ride on but, from my point of view, seeing the outside lights is more appealing than being inside.

The Watercress Line is close to Winchester, and they had an illuminated service. In fact, they had more than one. My mum was visiting, and she was also interested in the lights so, late in the afternoon, since it was already getting dark at that time, we popped out to see the train go by. Sure enough, we soon saw it coming up the hill out of Alresford. There is a long stretch where the trees have been trimmed back when you get a good view of it coming our way. Even with the lights, the exposure is still a stretch for the camera. It did okay, though, and a bit of noise reduction software helps.

As they came around the corner into the straight heading at us, the lights would illuminate the embankment on either side of the cutting. There was also a strong yellow glow which, I assume, came from the firebox. The colours were constantly changing and it looked really impressive as the loco pulled hard up the bank. I think that they had swapped to a smaller loco because they had a diesel on the back of the train to support.

We were going to head straight home but one of the other people there told us there was a second train coming down from Alton a little while later. While it was getting a bit chilly and definitely dark, we figured there was no harm in hanging around. We did get the second train as it came down the cutting and then headed back the way the previous train had come. Going that way, they are going downhill so the loco is barely working to get them home. No plumes of smoke and thundering noise.

The Funicular Collection Continues and One That Isn’t Anymore

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I do not travel around looking for funicular railways (yet!), but I do seem to come across them on my regular travels. My visit to Scarborough has already shown up on this blog as a result of the shots I got while there on my cycling trip. However, I had excluded the funiculars. I say funiculars because I saw two although only one was operational – well, it would have been but not at the time I was there.

The working railway takes you down the cliffs from the town to the waterfront. Not a long run but I imagine it gets a few customers when the peak season is underway. I paid it a bit of attention as I walked around the town first thing in the morning. Then, I walked along the shore towards the spa and saw another track. This one has clearly been deactivated but the core infrastructure was still visible. I don’t know when it was taken out of service. This got me wondering whether there were even more in Scarborough when it was at its peak of popularity.

Showing Visitors HydroFLEX

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2025 is 200 years after the Stockton and Darlington Railway first operated. While some might debate what the first true railway was, the UK industry is celebrating this year as Rail200. There are events taking place across the country throughout the year. One of these was held at the Severn Valley Railway at Kidderminster and we took one of our trains to be part of the display. This was our HydroFLEX unit, and I went along to support the visitor tours.

HydroFLEX is the first UK hydrogen fuel cell powered unit that is cleared for mainline running. We use it to test the technology and learn what is involved in a hydrogen fuel cell train. There are multiple technologies that will be needed to decarbonise the railway, and this is one of the ways forward that is being explored. We had it open to view at Kidderminster and had a steady stream of visitors coming to look at it. They had lots of interesting questions and some interesting opinions on all sorts of things – many not to do with hydrogen power!

The train is a converted Class 319 – a type I used to ride frequently when Thameslink operated them, and we lived along the Brighton mainline. Three of the vehicles are basically unchanged other than interior changes including a boardroom configuration. The fourth car is the one where everything is different. It has four fuel cells that provide power along with a battery under the vehicle. These fuel cells generate a lot of heat along with the electricity, so large cooling fans are incorporated.

The fuel cells are supplied by high pressure hydrogen tanks. There are 36 of these tanks made from spun aluminium wrapped in Kevlar. We would take visitors through this vehicle to see the changes that make it a hydrogen powered unit along with all of the safety systems. It is a cramped space, so we had to pre-book visitors five at a time. We could have shown many more people if we could have fitted them in because demand was high.

It is really interesting to be involved in a technology demonstrator of this sort. Our team has worked so hard on creating and developing this unit and we have learned so much that will hopefully be taken forward to trial operations and will then feed into the design of a production train. The train regularly goes out on the mainline so you can see it if you are in the right place at the right time.

Trains Are Back on the Pier

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The rebuilding of the Island Line on the Isle of Wight has been a drawn-out process. New (sort of) trains and a rebuild of the track to increase capacity took place a while back. More recently, the tracks up Ryde Pier were closed for refurbishment. That meant the trains did not go all the way to the ferry. That has now been completed and, while I was out watching the hovercraft, I was pleased to see the trains back on the pier. I hadn’t planned for photographing them but why not while I was there.

Some of Lyon’s Trams Look Cool

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I was in Lyon for a couple of days for a work trip. Lyon has an extensive tram network, but they don’t just have regular looking trams. They are clearly bothered about design and style – this is France after all – and so the cabs of some of the trams are far cooler than the average. I don’t know how much extra it costs to get a custom cab design, but I think it is worth it when they make the system look better.

Paint Shows the History of This Unit

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A work trip took me to one of our partners involved in overhauling a train for us. No need to identify the train or who was working on it. However, part o the scope is a repaint and the vehicle I was looking at had undergone surface preparation before going to the paint booth. The thing that caught my eye was the different layers that had been abraded as the team prepared it. The train is over 20 years old, and you could see the various different liveries that it had been given in the changes of colours cutting down towards the underlying metal. In close up, I liked the abstract nature o the patterns and colour combinations. For those that know the unit, they could probably identify the history of its various liveries.

Retro Livery on an Old 455

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When I was a youth in the ‘80s, I remember new trains showing up in the area where my dad lived. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with the details of the classes of train, but I could recognise the differences as things changed. The big deal with these new trains was that they had sliding doors rather than the older slam doors. In the years to come, I came to know that these were known as Class 455s.

It is now 2025 and some of them are still in service. A lot of them have already been replaced and the new trains to replace the remainder have been built but their service entry has been a protracted process. Meanwhile, one of the units has been repainted to be in something close to the colours that it wore when it was introduced. You can’t have exactly the old BR livery because modern access requirements mean contrasting colours are needed for doors but, otherwise, it is close. I had been wondering whether I would see it soon one morning on my way to London and, lo and behold, as I got off my train, it was on an adjacent platform. Not sure that I will get a chance to get a better shot of it so glad to have caught this one.

Crewe Seems to be Home to Old Locos

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It has been a long time since I was last at Crewe, and I recently found myself back up there on a delightfully sunny day. In days gone by, Crewe would always be a location that had a variety of unusual rolling stock parked up and, apparently, that hasn’t changed. The interesting change is that, in the old days, a lot of the oddities looked like they had seen better days. This time everything looked in great condition.

There was an HST set that seemed to be marked up for excursions to Scotland. It was painted in a scheme like the old Blue Pullman sets. I don’t know the service details, but it looked like it was set up nicely. There were some old locos too. A Class 90 was gleaming in a great paint finish but the one that really caught my eye, even if it was a bit poorly located for getting a photo, was the Class 89.

This is a unique loco. Built in the 80s, it was never selected for production. I remember seeing it when I lived in Huntingdon when it would be used on the east coast main line. I understand it had been stored for a long time but now it seems like it has been well restored, and I am told that it will be running in service before too long. I have no idea how difficult it is maintaining a one off electric loco but I wish them well.

Lynnwood Link Opening Day

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Sound Transit has a series of extensions to the Link light rail system coming online at the moment. In September 2024, it was the turn of the Lynnwood Link Extension to open. This was not one we were involved with, but I was keen to see the new extension come online and also to catch up with some colleagues that would be there.

The sun was shining so it was a great day for an event. There were plenty of dignitaries there for the opening and a lot of speeches. Each station was going to be holding celebrations throughout the day, but I decided against taking a ride on the first day. There were so many people there to see it open and the line to board the trains was lengthy. Let everyone have fun and I can check it out another time. (As a side note, I still haven’t ridden the line. I kept meaning to do it and now the chances that I will are diminished.)

I did watch the first few services come and go and the teams all boarded along with media before the rest of the riders could then have their go. I understand the extension has been very popular both for commuters and those heading downtown for events like games and shows. The parking garage can get quite full from what I am told. Great to see this new extension getting well utilized and, when the Eastlink connection opens and additional vehicles can access this section of the system, the frequencies should improve too.