Once the driver exited the vehicle and was taken to the hospital, Sound Transit had to figure out how to remove the stuck car from the tracks. To do this, Sound Transit crews used a swing loader to pick the car up in a rope harness and carry it down to Walden St. Before the swing loader entered the track right of way, crews grounded the overhead wire. The swing loader then switched from it’s road wheels to rail wheels at Walden St and traveled north on the tracks to Mount Baker station. At the station, crews used ropes to create a harness for the car. The swing loader picked up the car and carried it back to Walden St.
Sound Transit crews removed the car less than two hours after it got stuck. That is an impressive response time, especially for a first-time event. 1 Line service resumed about an hour after the car was removed. On behalf of all Link passengers, thank you to the team for the quick response and creative problem solving. This was the first, and hopefully last, case of someone driving their car on the tracks at an elevated station.
The King County Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation for this case and will work out the necessary resolution between the driver, their car insurance, and Sound Transit. It is also worth discussing what can be done to prevent such an incident from occurring again in the future. The most obvious answer is to fully grade separate the tracks in the Rainier Valley. A 2023 study found that moving the Link tracks to an open trench is the most economical option for full grade separation at $1.1 billion (2023 dollars). Given Sound Transit’s current financial state, a grade-separation project is at least a few decades away. In the near term, MLK Way needs to be redesigned around the at-grade tracks. The current road is overbuilt, leading drivers to speed and drive recklessly (both on and off the road)…