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Amtrak opens Seattle maintenance facility built for its new Airo trains

Amtrak opens Seattle maintenance facility built for its new Airo trains

Built World

$250 million building finished two years after construction began and $50 million under budget

Today: ENR details the build

Overview

Updated 2 hours ago

Amtrak's new Seattle maintenance building is 700 feet long and holds an entire Airo trainset under one roof. Crews cut the ribbon on Oct. 23, 2026, after a two-year build that came in $50 million under its $250 million budget.

The building changes how Amtrak services trains in the Pacific Northwest. The legacy shop required splitting a train apart and moving cars between buildings. The new facility inspects and repairs a full trainset on three tracks without separating it.

Why it matters

A Cascades trainset can now be serviced in one place instead of several, and Amtrak has a design it can copy at six other yards.

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Key Indicators

$250M
Facility cost
Final cost of the maintenance and inspection building.
$50M
Under budget
Savings against the original contract, which Amtrak says will fund other rail investments.
700 ft
Building length
Long enough to fit a full Airo trainset inside.
~100,000 sq ft
Floor area
Nearly 100,000 square feet of maintenance space.
3
Tracks inside
Three tracks for inspection, servicing and heavy maintenance.
400+
Piles driven
Some as deep as 140 feet, plus 140 drilled piles for the parking deck.

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People Involved

TG
Teffin George
Senior program director, Amtrak
Leading Amtrak's Seattle yard modernization
SP
Sean Philbrick
Project manager, Amtrak
Overseeing equipment installation at the new facility
DB
Dan Brown
Project manager, PCL Construction
Completed the design-build contract
RH
Roger Harris
Former chief executive, Amtrak
Left Amtrak; spoke about the project during 2025 construction

Organizations Involved

Amtrak
Amtrak
National passenger railroad
Owner and operator of the new facility

The federally chartered passenger rail company that runs Amtrak Cascades and is replacing its legacy fleet with Airo trainsets.
PCL Construction
PCL Construction
Design-build contractor
Completed the Seattle facility

The contractor that built the Seattle maintenance building and delivered it $50 million under budget.
TKDA
TKDA
Engineering and architecture firm
Lead design partner

The lead design firm on the Seattle maintenance facility.
Parsons Corporation
Parsons Corporation
Engineering and construction firm
Construction manager

Construction manager on the Seattle facility.
AECOM
AECOM
Infrastructure consulting firm
Led construction-phase services

Provided construction-phase services on the Seattle maintenance building.
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
Freight railroad
Adjacent track owner; coordinated signal relocation

The freight railroad whose tracks border the Seattle yard and whose signal hub had to be moved.

Timeline

2024 2027

7 events Latest: Today
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Track modifications scheduled to finish

    Upcoming Construction

    Amtrak expects all Seattle yard construction to be complete next year.

  2. ENR details the build

    Today Report

    Engineering News-Record reports the two-year build, the $50 million savings and the remaining track work.

  3. Amtrak cuts ribbon on Seattle facility

    Opening

    The $250 million building opens in phases through the end of 2026.

  4. Airo trainset debuts on Cascades

    Service

    Amtrak's new Airo fleet enters passenger service on the Amtrak Cascades route.

  5. Seattle yard car wash completed

    Construction

    Amtrak finishes a car wash, one of several smaller yard upgrades before the main building.

  6. Construction begins on Seattle maintenance building

    Construction

    PCL starts work on the pre-engineered metal building after relocating Amtrak and BNSF equipment.

  7. PCL wins design-build contract

    Contract

    PCL takes the Seattle job, originally valued at $300 million.

Scenarios

1

Seattle yard track work finishes on schedule in 2027

Likely Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Amtrak senior program director Teffin George, via Engineering News-Record

Track modifications and extensions are the last piece of the Seattle project. If they finish as planned, the yard's capacity matches the new building's ability to hold a full trainset. A slip would leave the building ready before the tracks that feed it.

2

Amtrak awards a Portland light-maintenance contract

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Teffin George at ENR's Seattle Infrastructure Forum

Amtrak was bidding a design-bid-build contract to make its Portland station a light-maintenance facility. An award would extend the maintenance network south of Seattle and reduce how far trains travel for basic work.

3

Eugene gets a dedicated layover track

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Teffin George at ENR's Seattle Infrastructure Forum

Amtrak was bidding work for a dedicated layover track at its Eugene station, estimated at about $5 million. The track would give Cascades trains a place to sit between runs at the southern end of the route.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2013-2025

Seattle Rail Yard incremental upgrades (2013-2025)

Amtrak completed smaller maintenance facility improvements, new administrative building space and a car wash at the Seattle yard in phases. Each added capacity without replacing the yard.

Then

The yard kept operating while pieces were upgraded.

Now

The smaller projects set up the larger maintenance building that opened in 2026.

Why this matters now

The new facility is the largest step in a decade-long series of upgrades at the same yard, not a standalone project.

2020s

Amtrak's seven-yard maintenance modernization (2020s)

Amtrak is upgrading maintenance facilities at seven rail yards across the East Coast, the Midwest and Seattle. The program is meant to support the current fleet and the next generation of trains.

Then

Seattle is one site in a national construction program.

Now

The program's design choices, including full-trainset buildings, could spread to other yards.

Why this matters now

Seattle's building is a test case for whether the all-under-one-roof design works in practice.

September 2026

Airo fleet debut on Cascades (September 2026)

Amtrak's new Airo trainsets entered service on the Amtrak Cascades route. The trains are maintained as full sets rather than as individual cars.

Then

The railroad needed a shop that could hold an entire trainset.

Now

Maintenance practice shifts from moving single cars to servicing whole trains.

Why this matters now

The Seattle building exists because the Airo fleet is maintained differently from Amtrak's legacy cars.

Sources

(8)
+2
Engineering News-Record Amtrak Media PCL Construction Construction Dive MyNorthwest Planetizen Amtrak New Era Engineering News-Record