The Eastside Rail Now group is campaigning for a transit plan that would bring commuter trains to the combined campus of Cascadia Community College and the University of Washington, Bothell.

Access to the schools would come by way of an offshoot from the Eastside rail corridor, which runs from Renton to Snohomish.

The plan hinges on a three-way deal that gives King County access to easements after the Port of Seattle purchases part of the railroad from BNSF for $107 million.

The county would pay $1.9 million for its part and then use the property to accommodate a hiking and biking trail, as well as possible Sound Transit train service.

A purchase-and-sale agreement is currently in place for the Eastside rail swap, and a closing is set to take place by the end of 2008, pending federal approval.

The county and port will have 18 months after the ink dries to determine how the corridor should be used.

King County Executive Ron Sims initially proposed tearing out the rail infrastructure and replacing it with only a recreation trail.

He backed off that plan amid mounting pressure from commuter-rail advocates, including many members of the King County Council.

Bob Ferguson, who represents Bothell and Kenmore on the County Council, was among the transit proponents who won the day.

“The executive was pushing really hard on the trail-use-only idea, and we were outlining our position that we needed dual-use,” he said. “With the transportation needs we have in this region, let’s just say I didn’t stay up too many nights wondering which side I was on.”

Sims stated in April with a letter to the County Council that planning will take place to ensure that “no trail can proceed that does not protect the transportation uses.”

The Sound Transit board of directors has agreed to provide $50 million for a demonstration project that would bring commuter trains to the Eastside rail corridor as part of the region’s next mass-transit expansion proposal.

Those funds would be restricted to projects along Interstate 405 if the concept falls through.

The Sound Transit board must decide what its next package will look like by Aug. 12 in order to make the November ballot.

The agency’s most recent transit-expansion proposal would extend Link light rail north to Seattle’s Roosevelt and Northgate neighborhoods, across the Interstate 90 bridge to Bellevue and Redmond’s Overlake area, and south from Sea-Tac International Airport to Highline Community College.

The plan also calls for increased service for commuter trains and Express buses.

Eastside Rail Now has proposed a different plan that would eliminate the I-90 line in exchange for small diesel trains running along the BNSF corridor between Renton and Snohomish.

A new section of track would extend to Cascadia and UW-Bothell, potentially helping the schools meet their goals for increased enrollment.

Eastside Rail Now has also suggested that Sound Transit should expand light rail all the way to Everett.

“The ballot package should be designed so that light rail is approved from Tacoma to Everett and we get service along I-405,” said the group’s president, Will Knedlik. “Our main concern is that if you only build part of the system, you may never get the political will to get another favorable vote.”

Sound Transit has been shying away from expansive projects ever since voters defeated the 20-year, $47 billion roads-and-transit package last November.

But Knedlik’s group contends that its plan is cheap and capable of providing service almost immediately, at least along I-405.

Sound Transit has estimated the construction costs for expanding light rail to the Eastside at $1.2 billion, which is over $110 million per mile.

Knedlik claims the BNSF line could be upgraded for commuter service at around $800,000 per mile.

Sound Transit spokeswoman Linda Robson says that isn’t a fair comparison.

“It’s a different kind of construction with a different kind of result,” she said

Expanding Sound Transit’s Link system to the Eastside would require new rail lines across the I-90 bridge and other fixed bridges.

Sound Transit has obtained exclusive use of right of way for this extension, making it possible to run a train in either direction every four minutes.

“There are very few examples in the world of that level of service,” said Sound Transit Program Manager David Beal.

Knedlik claims the trains would be running empty at that frequency.

“We think it’s risky and indeed silly to do what they’re proposing to do,” he said.

Visit www.eastsiderailnow.org and www.soundtransit.org for additional information about transit-expansion proposals.