Central Link |
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Sound Transit Central Link Vehicle |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Light rail |
| System | Link Light Rail |
| Termini | Westlake SeaTac/Airport |
| Stations | 13 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | July 18, 2009[1] |
| Owner | Sound Transit |
| Operator(s) | King County Metro |
| Character | Underground, at grade, elevated |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 15.6 mi (25.1 km)[2] |
| No. of tracks | 2 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Electrification | 1,500 V DC, Overhead catenary |
| Operating speed | 55 mph (89 km/h) |
Central Link is a light rail line running between downtown Seattle and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It is the initial phase of Sound Transit's Link Light Rail system. Service operates seven days a week, from 5 am to 1 am Monday through Saturday and from 6 am to midnight on Sundays. Trains are composed of two cars,[3] each with a capacity of 200 passengers—74 seated and 126 standing.[4] Opened on July 18, 2009, Central Link initially operated between downtown Seattle and Tukwila,[1] on a 13.9-mile (22.4 km) route. Service was extended by 1.7 miles (2.7 km) from Tukwila to SeaTac Airport on December 19, 2009.[5]
Contents |
The northern terminus is at Westlake Station near the intersection of Pine Street and 4th Avenue. Central Link trains operate inside the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, sharing the right-of-way with diesel-electric hybrid buses. The route serves four of the tunnel's five stations (Convention Place Station being the exception). After exiting the southern end of the tunnel at International District/Chinatown Station, the route joins the SoDo Busway (formerly 5th Avenue S.) as a traffic-separated surface route, where it has priority for all intersections. The route serves two stations on the busway and then rises to an elevated section through the SoDo neighborhood.
The route then enters a tunnel through Beacon Hill and makes one stop at the underground Beacon Hill Station. Exiting the tunnel, the route becomes grade-separated on an elevated bridge. It serves Mount Baker Station near Franklin High School before it becomes an at-grade surface route on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. and serves three stations in the Rainier Valley.
Continuing south on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., it again becomes grade-separated on an elevated guideway and runs alongside Boeing Access Road, E. Marginal Way S., Interurban Avenue S., SR 599, and I-5. Just north of SR 518, the route turns west and parallels SR 518. It stops at Tukwila International Boulevard Station before crossing International Boulevard and running in the center of the North Airport Expressway all the way to the southern terminus of SeaTac/Airport Station, an elevated station lying northeast of the parking garage, immediately west of International Boulevard.
| Station Name | Opening Year | City/Neighborhood | Location | Platforms | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of line; future extension (University Link) | ||||||
| Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel | ||||||
| Westlake | 1989 | Downtown Seattle | under 4th Avenue & Pine Street | Outside | Connections to monorail and streetcar. | |
| University Street | 1989 | Downtown Seattle | under 3rd Avenue & University Street | Outside | ||
| Pioneer Square | 1989 | Pioneer Square, Seattle | under 3rd Avenue & Cherry Street | Outside | ||
| International District/Chinatown | 1989 | International District / Chinatown, Seattle | under Union Station at 5th Avenue S. & S. Jackson Street | Outside | ||
| Connection to future extension (East Link) | ||||||
| Surface | ||||||
| Stadium | 2009 | SoDo, Seattle | SoDo Busway & S. Royal Brougham Way |
Center | Larger platform to serve Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field | |
| SODO | 2009 | SoDo, Seattle | SoDo Busway & S. Lander Street | Outside | ||
| Tunnel | ||||||
| Beacon Hill | 2009 | Beacon Hill, Seattle | under Beacon Avenue S. & S. Lander Street | Center | ||
| Elevated | ||||||
| Mount Baker | 2009 | Mount Baker, Seattle | Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. & Rainier Avenue S. | Outside | ||
| Surface (Martin Luther King Jr. Way) | ||||||
| Columbia City | 2009 | Columbia City, Seattle | MLK Jr. Way S. between S. Edmunds & S. Alaska Streets |
Outside | ||
| Othello | 2009 | New Holly, Seattle | MLK Jr. Way S. between S. Othello & S. Myrtle Streets |
Outside | ||
| Rainier Beach | 2009 | Rainier Valley, Seattle | MLK Jr. Way S. & S. Henderson Street | Center | ||
| Elevated | ||||||
| Tukwila International Blvd | 2009 | Tukwila | SR 518 & Tukwila International Blvd | Outside | 600-space park & ride lot | |
| SeaTac/Airport | 2009 | SeaTac | East of airport parking garage | Center | Pedestrian bridges to main terminal and kiss-and-ride center at International Blvd | |
| End of line; future extension (South Link) | ||||||
| Central Link route map | |
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Legend
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The fares for Link are distance-based: $2.00 base fare plus 5 cents per mile, rounded to the nearest 25 cents.[6] The maximum cost of a one-way ticket is $2.75, for a trip between Downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. Although Metro buses offer free rides in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (during the ride-free hours of 6 am to 7 pm), Central Link trains do not. Maintaining the ride-free area for light rail would have resulted in fares 25 cents higher.
Adult fares for Link are as follows:[6][7]
| Westlake | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2.00 | University Street | |||||||||||
| $2.00 | $2.00 | Pioneer Square | ||||||||||
| $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | International District/Chinatown | |||||||||
| $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | Stadium | ||||||||
| $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | SODO | |||||||
| $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | Beacon Hill | ||||||
| $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | Mount Baker | |||||
| $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 | Columbia City | ||||
| $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.00 | $2.00 | Othello | |||
| $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.00 | $2.00 | Rainier Beach | ||
| $2.75 | $2.75 | $2.75 | $2.75 | $2.50 | $2.50 | $2.50 | $2.50 | $2.25 | $2.25 | $2.25 | Tukwila International Blvd | |
| $2.75 | $2.75 | $2.75 | $2.75 | $2.75 | $2.50 | $2.50 | $2.50 | $2.50 | $2.50 | $2.25 | $2.00 | SeaTac/Airport |
Seniors (65+) and the disabled may obtain a permit allowing them to ride for a reduced flat fare of $0.75 per trip.[8] Youth (6–18) can ride for a flat fare of $1.25 per trip.[9]
Users of the ORCA Card have their transfer fares calculated automatically. Users of cash and paper tickets can't obtain transfer credit. Their tickets are valid for one ride only unless a Link Round Trip Ticket is purchased, which allows unlimited travel between the stations on the ticket for that service day.
Central Link to Bus or Vice Versa
Only ORCA Cards can be used without having to pay another fare between Central Link and buses in the following agencies: ST Express, King County Metro, Community Transit or Pierce Transit.
Central Link operates on the following schedule:[10]
| Time | Headway | |
|---|---|---|
| Monday through Friday |
5:00 am - 6:00 am | 15 |
| 6:00 am - 8:30 am | 7.5 | |
| 8:30 am - 3:00 pm | 10 | |
| 3:00 pm - 6:30 pm | 7.5 | |
| 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm | 10 | |
| 10:00 pm - 1:00 am | 15 | |
| Saturday | 5:00 am - 8:00 am | 15 |
| 8:00 am - 10:00 pm | 10 | |
| 10:00 pm - 1:00 am | 15 | |
| Sunday | 6:00 am - 8:00 am | 15 |
| 8:00 am - 10:00 pm | 10 | |
| 10:00 pm - 12:00 midnight | 15 |
The vehicles operate at a maximum and cruising speed of 55 mph (89 km/h), with an end-to-end travel time of 36 minutes over the 15.6-mile (25.1 km) route between Westlake and SeaTac/Airport.[11] Travel times are as follows;[11] all times measured in minutes.
| Westlake | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | University Street | |||||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Pioneer Square | ||||||||||
| 6 | 4 | 2 | International District/Chinatown | |||||||||
| 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | Stadium | ||||||||
| 10 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | SODO | |||||||
| 13 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 2 | Beacon Hill | ||||||
| 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | Mount Baker | |||||
| 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | Columbia City | ||||
| 22 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 5 | Othello | |||
| 25 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 4 | Rainier Beach | ||
| 34 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 20 | 17 | 12 | 9 | Tukwila International Blvd | |
| 36 | 34 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 27 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 2 | SeaTac/Airport |
The 36-minute travel time from Westlake Station to SeaTac/Airport Station was similar to the 32-minute scheduled travel time of the now cancelled King County Metro Route 194 bus from Convention Place Station to the airport.[12] Wait times are shorter and access is better, as light rail runs more frequently and during more hours of the day than Route 194 did, and serves more stops between downtown and the airport. Since light rail operates on its own right of way, it is not subject to delays due to traffic congestion.[4] King County Metro discontinued route 194 on February 6, 2010.[13] Riders who boarded Route 194 at the Kent/Des Moines or Star Lake (272nd) freeway stations and are destined north of the airport now have to board ST Route 574 and transfer to light rail at SeaTac/Airport Station. Expanded service on Sound Transit routes 577 and 578 now provide a direct connection between the Federal Way Transit Center and Downtown Seattle. Unlike the former route 194, routes 577 and 578 do not serve the Federal Way Park & Ride[14], but shorten the trip between Downtown and Federal Way by 26 minutes[14][12].
Ridership has been mostly rising since the line opened in July 2009 and had 12,000 boardings per weekday. Ridership has continued to rise each month, with average weekday ridership at 21,774 by May 2010.[15] The completion of the line to its ultimate destination, the airport, subsequent passengers from closing Route 194, and shifting of bus routes to feed into the light rail contributed to the increase. Sound Transit measures ridership by using the infrared sensors built into the doorways.[16]
Kinkisharyo-Mitsui was chosen to design and manufacture low-floor light rail vehicles and provide additional equipment and support. Thirty-five light rail cars were delivered between November 2006 and September 2008. Each vehicle is 95 ft (29.0 m) long, 8.7 ft (2.7 m) wide, 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, trains can be up to four cars long. Until University Link construction is completed, only three-car trains can be used[17] due to the length of the stub tracks at the north end interlocking. The maximum speed of the light rail vehicle is 65 mph (105 km/h).
An additional 27 LRVs are scheduled to be delivered to Sound Transit by Kinkisharyo at a rate of 1 a month, beginning in August 2010.[18]
The current plan is for 180 total units for the system by 2030.[19]
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