By 2035, an extension of the Link light rail system will connect Tacoma Dome Station to Federal Way, Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, and Downtown Seattle.

Plans for a commuter rail line between Seattle and the Tacoma Dome area date back to the late 1980s, using existing tracks owned by the BNSF Railway.

[4] Pierce Transit approved construction of a $36.7 million,[5] 1,200-stall park and ride garage near the Tacoma Dome in 1994, in anticipation of future commuter rail service.

[6] Construction on the garage began in July 1996,[7] and the transit center complex opened on October 25, 1997, replacing a smaller park and ride lot.

[8] Sounder commuter rail service at Tacoma Dome Station began on September 18, 2000, using a temporary platform near Puyallup Avenue two blocks north of the parking garage.

[22] The station also served as the terminus of the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, which ran south from Freighthouse Square toward Lake Kapowsin near Mount Rainier.

Sound Transit began construction on an extension to Lakewood in 2009,[24] after years of delays due to cost increases and a lack of dedicated funding.

[25][26] 1.2 miles (1.9 km) of new tracks were built between Tacoma Dome Station and the existing Lakewood Subdivision, including an overpass over Pacific Avenue, as part of the extension.

[31][32] The new station would be built as part of the Point Defiance Bypass project, which would create an inland route for trains traveling between Tacoma and Lacey that would have reduced interference from freight traffic and mudslides.

[33][34] The bypass and new station were funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and construction of the new tracks was formally approved by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) in early 2013.

[35] Freighthouse Square was selected as the preferred site by WSDOT and the FRA in October 2012, ahead of a parking lot to the west of Pacific Avenue.

[36] A preliminary design for the new station was unveiled in December 2013, replacing 150 feet (46 m) of Freighthouse Square's west end with a structure clad in red corrugated metal.

[65] The restoration of Amtrak service on the Point Defiance Bypass was tentatively scheduled for 2020, after agreements with local officials and the arrival of new Talgo trainsets, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[79] The Sounder and Amtrak concourses are located on the south side of the street within Freighthouse Square,[15] a former Milwaukee Road freight depot built in 1909 and later renovated into a shopping center.

Entitled "Gertie's Ghost", it is a 20-short-ton (18 t) steel structure that consists of eight octopus tentacles and was created by Oakland-based artists Sean Orlando and David Shulman.

[88] It is served by 13 daily round-trips on Sounder commuter trains on the S Line, which run north to King Street Station in Seattle and south to Lakewood on weekdays.

[87][91] BoltBus service from the station began in March 2019 and served routes to Portland, Seattle, Bellingham, and Vancouver, British Columbia, until it was discontinued by Greyhound in 2021.