Three down, three to go.
We’re halfway through the biggest consecutive stretch of light rail extension openings in Sound Transit’s history to date! In fall 2023, Tacoma’s T Line doubled, the 2 Line opened on the Eastside in Spring 2024, and 1 Line service reached Snohomish County with the Lynnwood Link Extension opening this fall.
Read on for the latest updates on the next three extensions scheduled to open, plus a new station in North Seattle, within the next two years.
The 2 Line to Downtown Redmond
We’re already gearing up for spring, when the 2 Line will grow by 3.4 miles and add two new stops at Marymoor Village and Downtown Redmond.
Right now crews are putting the finishing touches on both stations, and we recently installed new public art at Marymoor Village Station. Check out photos and learn more about artist Yegizaw Michael’s work here.
You might’ve seen trains on the tracks in this area lately, performing live wire testing. This phase is about to wrap up, and then we’re planning to begin the “pre-revenue” stage in January.
This is when we simulate service to make sure all the components of our stations, tracks, utilities, and vehicles work together correctly before we welcome passengers aboard.
Stay tuned for an official Downtown Redmond opening date announcement early in the new year. We can’t wait to celebrate more Link service on the Eastside this spring!
The 2 Line across Lake Washington
We know that opening the I-90 portion of the East Link Extension — adding 2 Line service to Judkins Park and Mercer Island and connecting Eastside communities with the rest of the regional light rail network — is a huge milestone that residents on both sides of Lake Washington are clamoring for.
It’s also a critical connection for our whole system, opening up access to our Operations and Maintenance Facility East. That will allow us to store and service more light rail vehicles, provide more frequent service on both the 1 and 2 Lines, and support our 2026 extension to Federal Way.
As we’ve shared in the past, construction quality issues have delayed this section of the East Link project, which led to us opening the first eight stations of the 2 Line in Bellevue and Redmond this spring.
Over the summer and fall, construction crews on the I-90 segment made the most of dry weather and plentiful daylight hours, completing reconstruction work on the concrete structures that support the tracks. Check out photos and video here.
To simplify how we manage the contractors’ remaining work and help us take full advantage of every schedule day, we’ve divided the remaining 7.4 miles of alignment into three smaller segments.
Segment 1, from South Bellevue Station to the west end of the Mercer Island Tunnel, is the most advanced right now. Trains started systems testing there in November, and it’s been going well. This phase includes testing power, signals, train control, and communications systems, plus passenger information systems and video displays at Mercer Island Station.
The second segment is from International District/Chinatown Station to the east end of the Mount Baker Tunnel. In this section, civil contractors Kiewit-Hoffman JV are working to complete their final tasks before handing off to the follow-on systems contractor Mass Electric to begin electrical systems testing. Right now we expect that to begin in January.
Segment three runs from the Mount Baker Tunnel to the Mercer Island Tunnel, including the Homer M. Hadley floating bridge itself. Crews are working to complete several simultaneous tasks on this segment before systems testing can begin, including finishing polyurea coating on concrete to minimize stray electrical current, aligning the track in its final position, and completing the overhead catenary system.
We’ve taken a range of actions to mitigate delays on this work and start systems testing as soon as possible.
As one example, we’re using our own survey team to help identify issues and collaborate with the contractor on the floating bridge track, which we’re surveying to make sure the track is within 1/8th of an inch of its designed location, ensuring a smooth ride. That’s a pretty tall order when each of the 18 pontoons of the floating the bridge individually act like ships, rolling, yawing, and twisting due to thermal changes, wind, waves, and vehicle traffic.
It’s an “all hands on deck” situation, and we’re up to the challenge.
Overall, our target is for trains to be on the floating bridge in Q1 2025, and to start pre-revenue service (which includes training for operators and maintenance staff, and continued testing to ensure stations, tracks, utilities, and vehicles work together as expected) in Q2, leading to a late 2025 opening.
The testing is a key step to ensure that all the systems work together and that we can weave 2 Line trains into the 1 Line seamlessly. We’re working hard to finish everything up by the end of 2025 and will know more in the summer.
Extending the 1 Line to Federal Way
The 7.8-mile, three-station Federal Way Link Extension has been making great progress in recent months and is on track for its planned 2026 opening.
This summer contractors finished the innovative, record-breaking bridge designed to safely span over some unstable soil conditions near a wetland area in Kent.
If you drive I-5 frequently, you’ve probably noticed the progress elsewhere along the tracks too, like poles and cables going up for the overhead catenary system, or the colorful, organically inspired glass art at Star Lake Station.
We've also had trains out conducting late-night live wire testing recently on the tracks on the north end of the alignment.
And transit riders in the area will soon get to take advantage of the new bus loop at Federal Way Transit Center, which will open in March in conjunction with the annual Spring Service Change. This new loop is designed to support easy transfers between buses and the elevated light rail station when Link service begins.
A new station in North Seattle
The NE 130th St. Infill station will add a 1 and 2 Line stop in Pinehurst, between Northgate and Shoreline South stations. This new station is also scheduled to open in 2026.
NE 130th St. is our first of three stations being added to existing lines. Thanks to the Sound Transit Board accelerating the project schedule, we finished much of the construction before 1 Line service launched to Lynnwood. Now completing the remaining work there in the months ahead will mean balancing passenger impacts with critical construction tasks and contractor safety.
Our next big task at NE 130th will be installing the station roof early in 2025.
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