Link light rail

Link light rail
Clockwise from top: the 1 Line near Mount Baker station, the T Line at Convention Center station, and the 1 Line at Othello station in Seattle
Overview
Owner	Sound Transit
Locale	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Transit type	Light rail
Number of lines	3
Number of stations	39[1]
Daily ridership	78,600 (weekdays, Q4 2023)[2]
Annual ridership	27,338,200 (2023)[3]
Website	soundtransit.org
Operation
Began operation	August 22, 2003 (2003-08-22)
Operator(s)	Sound Transit, King County Metro
Number of vehicles	217
Technical
System length	36.6 mi (58.90 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line; 1,500 V DC (1 Line) 750 V DC (T Line)
System map Legend 1 Line & 2 Line Lynnwood City Center (2024) Mountlake Terrace (2024) Shoreline North/185th (2024) Shoreline South/148th (2024) Northgate Roosevelt U District University of Washington Montlake Cut Capitol Hill Westlake University Street Pioneer Square International District/Chinatown Judkins Park (2025) Homer M. Hadley Mem. Bridge over Lake Washington Mercer Island (2025) East Channel Bridge over Lake Washington South Bellevue East Main Bellevue Downtown Wilburton Operations and Maintenance Facility East Spring District BelRed Overlake Village Redmond Technology Marymoor Village (2025) Downtown Redmond (2025) Stadium SODO SODO Operations and Maintenance Facility Beacon Hill Mount Baker Columbia City Othello Rainier Beach Duwamish River Tukwila International Boulevard SeaTac/Airport Angle Lake Kent Des Moines (2026) Star Lake (2026) Federal Way Downtown (2026) T Line Stadium District S 4th Tacoma General Old City Hall 6th Ave Theater District Hilltop District Convention Center St Joseph Union Station S 25th Tacoma Dome All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit

Link light rail is a light rail rapid transit system serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is managed by Sound Transit in partnership with local transit providers, and consists of three non-connected lines: the 1 Line (formerly Central Link) in King County, which travels for 26 miles (42 km) between Seattle and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport; the 2 Line in King County's Eastside region between Bellevue and Redmond; and the T Line (formerly Tacoma Link) in Pierce County, which runs for 4 miles (6.4 km) between Downtown Tacoma and Tacoma Dome Station. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 23.9 million, or about 78,600 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily on the 1 Line. Trains run at frequencies of 6 to 24 minutes.

The Link light rail system was originally conceived in the 1980s following several earlier proposals for a heavy rail system that were rejected by voters. Sound Transit was created in 1993 and placed a ballot measure to fund and build the system, which was passed on a second attempt in 1996. Tacoma Link began construction first in 2000 and opened on August 22, 2003, at a cost of $80 million. Central Link construction was delayed because of funding issues and routing disputes, but began in November 2003 and was completed on July 18, 2009, for $2.4 billion. Central Link trains initially ran from Downtown Seattle to Tukwila International Boulevard station before being extended south to the airport in December 2009, north to the University of Washington in March 2016, and further south to Angle Lake station in September 2016. An extension to Northgate station opened on October 2, 2021.

The first phase of the 2 Line opened on April 27, 2024, between South Bellevue and Redmond Technology stations. It is scheduled to be extended west to Seattle and east to Downtown Redmond by 2025. Sound Transit plans to expand the Link light rail network to 116 miles (187 km) and 70 stations by 2044, using funding approved by voters in 2008 and 2016 ballot measures. Suburban extensions to Lynnwood and Federal Way are scheduled to open between 2024 and 2026 after construction delays. Later projects will expand the system to cover the metropolitan area from Everett to Tacoma, along with branches to Kirkland, Issaquah, and the Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard and West Seattle.