Why an Operations and Maintenance Facility South?

The video of the March 12th Sound Transit System Expansion Committee showed them unanimously approving the following:

For recommendation to the Board

B. Motion No. M2026-11: Authorizes the chief executive officer to (1) execute a progressive design‑build contract with Hoffman Construction Company of Washington for all phases of design and construction of the Operations and Maintenance Facility South Buildings and Yard and to exercise the option to include all phases of the OMF South Main Line and Test Track, and to advance certain individual early work construction packages as needed and (2) to authorize funding for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of OMF-South Buildings and Yard and the Main Line and Test Track and for amounts for early works packages under of the Contract, for a total authority to contract in the amount not to exceed $318,205,477, with an approximate 10% contingency of $31,794,523, totaling $350,000,000, contingent upon adoption of Resolution No. R2026‑05.

 

C. Resolution No. R2026-05: Amending the Adopted 2026 Budget to progress the Operations and Maintenance Facility South project by a) increasing the authorized project allocation by $350,000,000 from $524,729,393 to $874,729,393 and b) increasing the adopted 2026 annual project budget by $32,000,000 from $175,471,265 to $207,471,265.

 

The presentation detailed the OMF South Project Scope as a Progressive Design Build approach used by other organizations, potential cost savings  and OMF South Delivery Steps. The presentation took about 7 minutes and the discussion another 5. The result being the expansion committee unanimously recommended Sound Transit authorize spending nearly $875 million on a facility that will begin maintaining light rail trains in 2032.  

Typical of Sound Transit the committee never asked a critical question, Sound Transit already has a OMF in the Bel-Red area on east side.  It began with an April 2018 “ground breaking” and Sound Transit plan to spend $450 million on the OMF.  When completed in 2020, the  OMF would “assure a safe, clean, and comfortable ride for passengers, with light rail cars cleaned every night and regularly pulled out of service to perform routine maintenance”.  That it could do so on a light rail car fleet  of the 214 vehicles needed to accommodate ST3 light rail extensions. 

It's not clear when the OMF was completed or what it ended up costing. It is presumably being used to maintain the current 2 Line trains. However, its purported 214-vehicle capacity could surely provide needed light rail train vehicle maintenance and  would presumably do so until 2032 when OMF South could begin service. 

The bottom line is the Sound Transit Board needs to ask why an “Operations and Maintenance Facility South?”