If you’ve been eagerly awaiting light rail’s arrival to Snohomish County later this year, the wait is almost over.
In fact, the Link 1 Line extension is set to welcome passengers aboard on Friday, Aug. 30—just in time to whisk thousands of new riders past that holiday weekend traffic.
In the meantime, you can expect to see a lot more activity on the Link 1 Line extension, because we’ll be entering the “pre-revenue service” phase of testing in early May.
This period includes training for operators and maintenance staff, plus continued testing to ensure stations, tracks, utilities, and vehicles work together as expected in preparation for the start of service.
This highly anticipated 8.5-mile extension will add four new stations north of the current 1 Line endpoint at Northgate: Shoreline South/148th, Shoreline North/185th, Mountlake Terrace and Lynnwood City Center.
What to expect
As we’ve shared in the past, another light rail project—the full 2 Line, from downtown Seattle to Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond—was originally scheduled to open before Lynnwood Link, but it’s now targeting 2025.
Why does opening order matter? Because the 2 Line connection over Lake Washington will allow trains to access to our new storage and maintenance base in Bellevue. And that connection is critical to achieving the frequency we’d originally planned for Lynnwood (trains arriving as often as every 4 minutes in peak periods).
So with only half the planned storage and maintenance capacity until the full 2 Line opens, we’ll be working creatively to provide as much 1 Line service as possible.
A few weeks ago, we shared more about how we plan to do that. With some schedule adjustments, new storage solutions, and extra bus options, we’ll be able to retain current Link service levels and limit crowding during the busiest times of day.
That will mean trains continuing to arrive about every 8 minutes—even as the 1 Line will grow 35% longer overnight.
Read our Platform post from March 7 to learn more about the benefits of this strategy and temporary trade-offs to keep in mind.
More options for getting where you need to go
Link service reaching Lynnwood will be a major milestone for people who live and work in North King and Snohomish counties.
With lots of community feedback, Sound Transit and our partners at Community Transit and King County Metro have worked together closely to re-envision how Link light rail, Swift bus rapid transit, and local bus service can work together as an efficient, cohesive network once Lynnwood Link opens—both in the near-term, while Link service is initially constrained, and later, after the 2 Line opens and capacity to Lynnwood increases.
For now, Sound Transit plans to keep ST Express Route 510 in service from Everett-Seattle, running in the peak direction every 15 minutes, to provide riders additional options and interim capacity. We’ve also proposed a new temporary Route 515 from Lynnwood, with peak-direction service every 10 minutes.
These ST Express routes will continue until the 2 Line opens and we can double Link service between Lynnwood and Seattle, with 15 trains per hour (every 4 minutes) during peak hours.
Shortly after Lynnwood Link opens, on Sept. 14, Community Transit and King County Metro will enact their annual fall service changes, where bus service will shift to better connect with light rail.
While these service changes were originally scheduled for Aug. 31, our partners agreed to shift them back by two weeks to allow for a smooth launch of extended 1 Line service before bus routing changes occur.
Community Transit’s fall service change will include Swift Orange and Blue Line and local bus route connections to Link stations. Learn more about CT’s “Transit Changes in 2024 and Beyond” plan on their website.
King County Metro is likewise planning route changes to communities within North Seattle, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell, and Mountlake Terrace. You can learn more on KCM’s Lynnwood Link Connections site.
Shifting to simpler, one-tap fares
The Lynnwood Link opening will also mark a shift in Sound Transit’s fares for many passengers, in both price and structure.
In December 2023, the Sound Transit Board approved a new flat fare of $3.00 per trip for adults, to take effect when Lynnwood Link opens. (Until then, fares will continue to range between $2.25 and $3.50 for adults traveling one way, based on distance.)
After Lynnwood opens, you’ll no longer have remember to “tap off” with your ORCA card at the end of your trip.
The new fare structure won’t affect low-income adult (ORCA LIFT) fares or senior/disabled fares, which will remain $1 flat fares. Youth age 18 and under will continue to ride free with a Youth Transit Pass.
Stay tuned for more
We’ll share lots more details about what you can expect in the weeks to come, as we celebrate the first eight 2 Line stations opening from Bellevue to Redmond on April 27 and ramp up for Lynnwood Link.
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*Editor's note: This post was updated since its original publication on March 29.