Dinner train leaving Renton; owner looking for new route

After 14 years of operating out of the Renton Depot, the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train announced Thursday it will leave the city by next July, and possibly close entirely, due to the widening of Interstate 405 in Bellevue that would put a break in the railway line.

Dinner train owner Eric Temple said the impending construction makes it impossible to start in Renton, where the train has been an integral part of the city's downtown revitalization since the early 1990s.

"I don't see any alternative at this point if the track is to remain severed at Bellevue across the 405," Temple said.

He said the train will continue to run until July 31, 2007, and he is working on finding alternative routes, either from Bellevue to Woodinville or from Woodinville to Snohomish.

The future of the popular train has been in question since King County began talking with the rail's owner, BNSF Railway, about purchasing the route for a future bicycle and pedestrian trail over a year ago. Those talks are still under way.

The state Department of Transportation construction is part of the $186 million Bellevue Nickel Project that widens the freeway between 112th Avenue Southeast and Southeast Eighth Street in Bellevue.

The rail runs over southbound I-405 on top of the Wilburton Tunnel and then under northbound I-405 about a quarter-mile from the Wilburton Trestle.

DOT officials said that they could either replace the tunnel with a wider one or get rid of it altogether.

They left the decision up to the land's owner, BNSF, said I-405 Project Manager Denise Cieri.

BNSF officials said they opted not to replace the tunnel because the 12 freight passengers, including Boeing and Weyerhaeuser, who currently use the line would not be affected as their shipments can be continued both north and south of the breakage.

The dinner train is BNSF's only customer that must go over the tunnel to operate. BNSF is working with the dinner train on finding an alternative route north of the Wilburton Tunnel, said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas.

"We've found it impractical to restore the track where it will be severed by the highway widening," Melonas said.

Not replacing the tunnel would save the state $30 million in construction costs, said DOT Deputy Regional Administrator Craig Stone.

The widening project is expected to start in the summer of 2007 and would be completed by the end of 2009, she added.

Although Temple supports the widening, he said, his company should receive "condemnation" funds for closing its Renton hub.

Since the dinner train started in 1992, it has run from the Renton Depot to Woodinville and back, carrying about 98,000 passengers last year.

"They've been a great corporate citizen in the renaissance of downtown, and we're going to miss them," said Renton's Chief Administrator Jay Covington. "It's a big hit to us."

Temple said he is optimistic that the dinner train will stay in business. He is in talks with the cities of Bellevue and Woodinville about moving the train's start to those locations.

Lisa Chiu: 206-464-3347 or lchiu@seattletimes.com