Light Rail Service is Almost Here

Construction of Sound Transit’s Central Link light rail segment is rapidly moving toward completion. On track to start service in 2009, light rail will connect Downtown Seattle to SeaTac. The light rail system is projected to carry more than 42,500 daily passengers by the year 2020. Below is a list of recent accomplishments:

• The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel reopened to buses Monday, September 24. Light rail and buses will operate together starting mid 2009.
• Construction of the maintenance base and the SODO and Stadium Stations is complete.
• Track work next to E-3 busway in south downtown is complete and light rail vehicles are being tested on it.
• Construction on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South (MLK) is drawing to a close. Track and street work is complete and the Columbia City, Othello and Rainier Beach Stations will be finished by the end of 2007.
• Excavation of the Beacon Hill Station is complete as well as the southbound light rail tunnel bore. The northbound tunnel bore should be finished by the end of 2007.
• Construction of the aerial Mt. Baker Station will be completed in 2008.
• Final design is underway to extend light rail service to Capitol Hill and the University of Washington. Construction is scheduled to start in 2008, with construction completed for service beginning in 2016.
• Visit Sound Transit's system expansion web site to learn more about how the agency is tackling questions about the future of the region's transit system

For more detailed information, please visit Sound Transit’s website at www.soundtransit.org or contact Alex Wiggins, the City’s Light Rail Community Liaison, at alex.wiggins@seattle.gov or (206) 684-7842.