Over the past few months, Link riders have experienced a significant number of planned disruptions and service impacts.
These delays and disruptions are deeply inconvenient for passengers, but they’re also critical to the future of our system – and we wanted to take some time to go over the projects we’ve completed and the work we’ve got planned.
Overview
Link light rail has been disrupted for three distinct reasons over the last few months: system expansion, critical repair work, and state of good repair work.
System expansion work has focused on two main projects: integration of the 2 Line, and construction at Pinehurst Station.
Our critical repairs, conducted on Feb. 1 and 2, delivered immediate results. By fixing damage to the Overhead Catenary System (OCS), we were able to save passengers travelling through University of Washington station more than two minutes per trip.
State of good repair work has been less exciting but just as important – we’ve been replacing switches, cleaning storm sewers, and conducting other essential but boring projects that must be completed to keep the system operational.
System expansion
Most of the work we’ve been performing has been focused on our biggest and most critical planned expansion of the Link light rail system to date: the expansion of service across Lake Washington.
Over the past several weekends, we’ve performed work tying together the system that powers trains, conducted critical safety communications system testing, signal testing, and hit another huge milestone by running trains for the first time from the existing alignment up towards Judkins Park Station.
At the same time, we also had crews working nights and weekends to install the roofing system at Pinehurst Station, a project made more complicated by the unseasonably cold weather and consequential need to run ice trains.
That work, which is now scheduled to be completed by March 9, will not be the only service impact necessary to complete Pinehurst Station.
Future single tracking and other impacts may be required for future construction milestones, most significantly the installation of four sets of stairs that will provide access from the street to the elevated platform.
Critical repairs
In September, a broken pantograph struck and damaged the OCS that provides power to the trains at the University of Washington interlocking.
Emergency repairs were conducted immediately to restore service, and a slow order was placed on trains travelling northbound through University of Washington station until repairs could be made.
Full repairs, which included replacing 400 feet of contact wire, were conducted during of the weekend disruptions in February, restoring full train speed and improving system reliability.
The damaged University of Washington OCS was not the only issue resulting in a slow order that will require a disruptive repair. Trains are currently travelling with speed restrictions heading southbound through Chinatown/International District station due to a cracked rail in the southbound tunnel bore.
Because the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel was originally designed for buses, rails in the tunnel are embedded in the ground.
While a rail break on more traditional track requires simply replacing the rail, crews in the tunnel must also contend with concrete curing and other construction elements required to remove, replace, and re-embed the rail, a process that will require an extended closure of the SB tunnel.
State of good repair
While many of our weekend closures, both past and future, are dedicated to specific extensions, repairs, or other projects, there is an entirely different reason why trains may sometimes be disrupted: planned system maintenance.
It’s hard to believe, but Link light rail itself is already 16 years old. Many elements of the system predate our trains, and all sections regardless of age require consistent maintenance to ensure the system is as safe and reliable as possible.
Last weekend, for example, trains were replaced by buses between Capitol Hill and SODO to allow crews to clean and inspect storm sewers, replace MOXA switches, conduct a fiber optic cable inspection, and run through a checklist of other projects along the alignment.
While none of these projects are specifically related to system expansion, these types of disruptions are and will continue to be essential to the sustainability of our collective investment in Link light rail.
Thank you
We know these disruptions impact thousands of riders, and we do not take lightly the impact of suspending train service.
All of these projects are carefully considered and packaged together to take full advantage of disruptions, and while we work closely with our partners to provide shuttles and direct passengers to alternative options, we know you’d prefer to be on a regularly operating train – and we’d prefer you be there too.
Thank you for your continued understanding as we work to build, repair, and maintain our system for generations to come.