Seattle opens light rail across floating bridge

After an 09,00 ribbon-cutting, on 28 March Seattle light rail line 2, that has been operating as an isolated line in the eastern suburbs since 2024, from Redmond to South Bellevue, was extended by eight miles (12.8km) across Lake Washington to reach a city centre junction with line 1 at International District/Chinatown. Trains on line 2 then duplicate line 1 by running north to Lynnwood City Center, doubling the frequency on this section. Line 2 crosses Lake Washington on a floating bridge attached to the existing interstate highway 90. There are two intermediate stations, at Mercer Island and at Judkins Park (west of the bridge). This brings the system to 58 miles (93km) and is believed to be the first light rail crossing a lake on a floating bridge. Sound Transit provides service every eight minutes at peaks and every 15 minutes off-peak. The original fleet of 62 Kinkisharyo LRVs has been supplemented by 152 Siemens S700 cars, with 10 more on order for delivery in 2027. A new fleet is being planned to replace the original cars in the 2030s and allow for expansion 

 

It has been 30 years since voters approved plans to build the Seattle light rail system and almost 22 years since it first opened in 2003. Over the years line 1 has been expanded north to Lynnwood and south to the airport and Angle Lake. Annual patronage is about 37.8M. If Sound Transit can adhere to its promised timescale (line 2 was six years late in completion and USD 60M over budget), then future extensions will reach West Seattle (2032), Tacoma (2035), Everett (2037), Ballard (2039) and Issaquah and Kirkland (2044), creating a 116 mile (187km) system.