⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ Portland TriMet: MAX Red and Blue Line Trains at Washington Park

Welcome to the deepest transit station in North America.
The wonderfully unique platforms of TriMet's Washington Park station are 79 meters (260 feet) below the surface, making it one of the deepest stations in the world. It is also the only fully underground station in Portland's extensive light-rail system.
The station is so far below ground level that its high-speed elevators have to travel the equivalent of a 28-story building, which takes approximately 25 seconds. The station has no public stairs or escalators, which is probably for the better.
The station is built in the center of the Robertson tunnel, which connects central Portland with its western suburbs. The station is serviced by the Red and Blue Lines, which travel between Beaverton Transit Center and Portland Airport and Hillsboro and Gresham, respectively.
Trains can be heard from the platforms from over a mile away as they enter the tunnel (and in our humble opinion, Washington Park boasts the greatest train tunnel sounds we've ever heard; listen at 2:15 if you don't believe us).
The station opened in 1998, and might as well be the jewel in the crown of TriMet's light rail system. A geological timeline, visible at various parts of the video, is found along the platform walls. The walls closest to the tracks are exquisitely painted murals of various landscapes and wildlife. The yellow roof girders on the eastbound platform symbolize the sunrise, and the orange girders on the westbound platform are representative of the sunset (the platforms are nicknamed Sunrise and Sunset by TriMet.
The station boasts these elements because it is located next to some of Portland's top attractions: The Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center, Portland Children's Museum, Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and Hoyt Arboretum are all adjacent to the station in all different directions.
The station is largely made of rock, which when combined with the wind that the trains carry through the platforms, keeps the station at a year-round temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
The digits of Pi are also carved into the wall of the eastbound platform, but only the first 11 numbers are correct. That's really the only thing about this station that isn't perfect.

[@MJofLakelandX]

2:15 - 2:37 That propulsion sound was epic

[@BayAreaTransitNews]

Pretty much the greatest thing I've ever heard

[@redgamer-wu2bv]

i love portland so much im making it a goal to move there

[@nickstady1115]

you should!! I love it here!

[@davidnissim589]

This is the deepest underground train station in America.

[@rssoo]

Not for long, the grand station in NY is getting a 11 billion underground redevelopment becoming Americans deepest underground

[@adventuresofamtrakcascades301]

At least its the deepest Transit station in America.

[@hartstukken]

1:00 acceleration was something else

[@Andylong99]

I use 2 Ride that Trimet Max Red and blue train to the oregon Zoo 10 years ago :) when i was on an Extended Day Field Trip with my Special Ed Crew

[@docsrailroad]

Awesome video! I love this train station, there's truly nothing else like it.

[@GalenlevyPhoto]

I’ve been to that station a long time ago. Awesome! :)

[@SocksThePup]

1:59 That announcement chime sounds kinda like the one on the CAF H3s and metro buses in Houston

[@TheSearleFamily123]

FYI: Only types 5 and 6 on the MAX light rail have that "sweeping" sound, which is caused by a byproduct on how the virtual AC wave is created by the variable voltage/frequency drive. Little bit too much for me to explain here, but it's not to do with the train changing gear.

[@djijspeakerguy4628]

A lot of newer subway and light rail trains make that noise. Many of the New York City subway cars do it as well. And yes, it’s the drive circuit for the AC motors.

[@tkefan29]

This is an awesome station. Nice video!

[@Leonard_Wilson]

I’m shocked that a small city like Portland has such an amazing quasi-subway system.

[@martiboy6459]

Two things. 1. about 650,000 people in the city, and about 2 million in the metro area is not usually considered small. Second, it is not really a quasi-subway system, this is the only underground station in the light rail system there.

[@elizabethhenning778]

This one station is underground because this section of the MAX route was drilled through the steep hills that borders downtown Portland. The route is actually pretty level and on either side of the hills it's above ground. They were thinking about drilling another hole through the southern part of the hills to build a southwestern line, but that plan was scrapped, unfortunately.

[@elliott6988]

the portland metro area or PDX has over 3.1 million people as of 2022, so small? i don't think so

[@somethingclever1128]

shocked? many smaller cities have similar systems. just not you guys.

[@tkefan29]

First train in this video is a type 4 and 5 coupled together. I've never seen that before!

[@BayAreaTransitNews]

That combination is quite common around Portland now; you're bound to see at least a few if you go trainspotting.

[@TheSearleFamily123]

@@BayAreaTransitNews Same applies to the types 2 and 3 (aka the Siemens SD600/SD660) which can also couple with the Bombardier type 1 (and in fact, the Bombardier type 1 due to it not being accessible must at all times couple with a type 2 or 3. This also applies to the Boston MBTA Green Line types 7 and 8; as the type 7 is not accessible it is always coupled with a type 8, and sometimes two type 8s couple together).

[@noahmizrahi9834]

The guy sitting in front with the strange hair scares me

[@MrSquareart]

nice video!!!!!!!

[@mrbreadcrumb]

They have the exact same propulsion as the new MUNI LRVs. Interesting.

[@BayAreaTransitNews]

Both are modern train sets manufactured by Siemens, so it makes sense.

[@Galastin]

Yeah modern Siemens LRVs have a very distinctive sound

[@chromebomb]

ive never been to portland but ive been on seattle light rail

[@NoahMizrahi]

good bye to those old number 1 and 2 trains, Out with the old in with the new, may they rest in peace at da scrap yard

[@michealguillen8496]

Old light rail cars Sound like nyc r68 subway car goes bad motor

[@AVeryRandomPerson]

The oldest car shown in this video is around 20 years old. Most are Type 4 or 5s, built for the I-205 and Milwaukie MAX's respectively, with build dates of 2007-2009, and 2014-2015

[@misael.]

Wow that is the same model here in Houston TX H1 Siemens and H2 Siemens right?

[@portlandbusfan]

Portland MAX owns a fleet of Siemens S70 LRVs similar to the to the ones used in Houston. The H1 is based on Portland's Type 4 S70, and the H2s are based on the Type 5 S70s used in Portland.

[@misael.]

@@portlandbusfan Alr

[@kueller917]

Love the good footage I want to visit this one myself some day. Never found out though what made the tunnel have to be so deep?

[@BayAreaTransitNews]

The tunnel runs directly under a hill, and the station is located at one of the deepest points in the tunnel between Downtown Portland and its western suburbs.

[@ptld_train_horn]

It is damn near under the Portland zoo.

[@martiboy6459]

The station is right under a hill/mountain range, and at its highest the range is about 1000 feet above sea level, and about 950 ft above downtown.

[@elizabethhenning778]

It's actually a few hundred feet _above_ sea level! It's at the same elevation as the ground on either side of the hills.