[mhays]

The Seattle metro has an extreme lack of rail ROW. There's literally one heavy rail route northward. It's along the waterfront (vs. in the middle of the population), heavily used by freight, and prone to small landslides in the winter despite some upgrades. Southward it's better but not that good either. As for eastward...that starts at Everett and Tacoma, not Seattle.

This means it's next to impossible to get expanded time for passenger rail service amidst the freight.