Central Link

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Central Link
The first trains on a test run in the tunnel.
Info
Type Light rail
System Link Light Rail
Status Under construction
Terminals Sea-Tac Airport
Westlake Center
No. of stations 4 (10 under construction)
Operation
Opened July 2009
Owner Sound Transit
Operator(s) Sound Transit
Character Underground, at grade, elevated
Technical
Line length 15.7 mi (25 km)
No. of tracks 2
Gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
Electrification Overhead catenary
Operating speed 55 mph (89 km/h)


Central Link is a 15.7-mile (25.3 km) light rail line running between downtown Seattle and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, Washington. It is currently under construction, and represents the initial phase of the Sound Transit agency's Link Light Rail system.

Contents

[edit] Routing

The southern terminus of Central Link at Sea-Tac Airport will be an elevated station lying north of the parking garage. The garage's return-to-terminal ramps have been demolished to make way for the light rail station.

The route travels north on a grade separated viaduct/bridge along the North Airport Expressway, crosses over State Route 518, travelling on the north side of the highway. It then runs alongside Interstate 5, SR 599, Interurban Blvd., and Boeing Access Rd..

Entering Seattle proper, the line becomes an at-grade surface route on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S through the Rainier Valley. When it nears Franklin High School the route again becomes grade separated, rising on an elevated bridge before entering a tunnel through Beacon Hill, leading to another elevated section through the SoDo district. The route then joins the E-6 Busway (formerly 5th Avenue S) as a grade separated surface route.

Central Link trains will then enter the transit tunnel, sharing the right-of-way with diesel-electric hybrid buses. The route ends at Convention Place Station near the intersection of Pine Street and 9th Avenue.

Future plans for Central Link call for extending the route north from Convention Place in a tunnel to the University of Washington, and then to Northgate, and eventually to Lynwood and Everett. In the south it would be extended to S. 200th Street, approximately 3,000 meters beyond the airport station, and eventually to Federal Way and Tacoma.

[edit] Stations

Name Opening Year City/Neighborhood Location Other
Central Link (Airport-Downtown Seattle)
Elevated
Sea-Tac Airport 2009 Seatac North of parking garage pedestrian bridges to main terminal & kiss-and-ride center at Int'l Blvd
Tukwila Int'l Blvd 2009 Tukwila SR 518 & Int'l Blvd 600-space park & ride lot; free shuttles to/from the airport until Airport section is complete
Boeing Access Road N/A Tukwila I-5 & Boeing Access Rd station deferred indefinitely
Surface (Martin Luther King Jr. Way)
Rainier Beach 2009 Rainier Valley, Seattle MLK Jr. Way & S Henderson St
Othello 2009 New Holly, Seattle MLK Jr. Way between
S Othello St & S Myrtle St
Columbia City 2009 Columbia City, Seattle MLK Jr. Way between
S Edmunds St & S Alaska St
Elevated
Mount Baker 2009 Mount Baker, Seattle MLK Jr. Way & Rainier Ave
Tunnel
Beacon Hill 2009 Beacon Hill, Seattle Underground station at
Beacon Ave S & S Lander St
Surface
SODO 2009 SoDo, Seattle SODO Busway & S Lander St
Stadium 2009 SoDo, Seattle SODO Busway &
S Royal Brougham Way		 larger platform to serve Safeco Field and Qwest Field
Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel
International District		 1989 International District
/ Chinatown, Seattle		 under Union Station
Pioneer Square		 1989 Pioneer Square, Seattle under 3rd Ave & Cherry St
University Street		 1989 Downtown Seattle under 3rd Ave & University St
Westlake Station		 1989 Downtown Seattle under Pine St & 4th Ave connections to monorail and streetcar.
End of line; future extension (University Link)

[edit] Equipment

Light rail train testing in SoDo.
Light rail train testing in SoDo.

Kinkisharyo-Mitsui was chosen to design and manufacture low-floor light rail vehicles and provide additional equipment and support. Thirty-five Electric Multiple Units are to be delivered between November 2006 and September 2008. As of June 2008, twenty-five of these vehicles are at the facility and many are testing in Seattle, with additional vehicles in final assembly in Everett. Each vehicle is 95 feet (30 m) long, accommodate 200 people each (74 seated), and double-ended to allow travel in either direction. Two-car trains will be used initially, but as ridership increases, can run up to four-cars long. The maximum speed of the light rail vehicle is 65 mph (105 km/h). Sound Transit will operate these vehicles at a maximum and cruising speed of 55 mph (89 km/h), with an estimated end-to-end travel time of 30 minutes over the 15.7 mile route.[1][2]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Link Light Rail Train Specifications. Sound Transit. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  2. ^ Link Light Rail Fact Sheet (pdf). Sound Transit (December 2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.

[edit] External links

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Italics denote proposed or under construction lines