| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Seattle, Washington |
| System | Amtrak Empire Builder Amtrak Cascades Sounder commuter rail |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1905 |
| Owner | BNSF Great Northern Railway (original) |
| Operator | BNSF |
| Character | passenger, freight |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 1 mile (1.6 km) |
| No. of tracks | 2 |
| Gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Tunnel clearance | 28 feet (8.5 m) |
The Great Northern Tunnel is a 1-mile (1.6 km) double tracked railway tunnel under downtown Seattle, Washington, completed by the Great Northern Railway in 1905, and now owned by the BNSF Railway and is on its Scenic Subdivision. At the time it was built, the tunnel was the highest and widest in the United States at 28 feet (8.5 m) high and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide.[1]
The southern portal is just north of King Street Station. The northern portal is located in Victor Steinbrueck Park, below the Alaskan Way Viaduct, between Virginia and Pine Streets. The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel passes four feet below the Great Northern Tunnel.[2]
Freight and passenger trains use this tunnel today, including Amtrak routes to Chicago ("Empire Builder") and Vancouver, B.C. ("Cascades"), as well as Sound Transit's Seattle-Everett "Sounder" commuter train.