Debit cards from Visa and MasterCard now ok for Sounder ticket vending machines

Debit cards with a MasterCard or Visa logo can now be used to purchase tickets for Sounder commuter rail on most of Sound Transit's ticket vending machines. Twelve of the machines are now fully operational, accepting cash, debit and credit cards with a Visa or MasterCard logo, and the two cash-only machines at Sumner Station will be online with debit and card service in the next few weeks. Three Sounder ticket vending machines are located at the King Street Station platform in Seattle; three at Auburn Station; five at the Tacoma Dome Station parking garage, two at Sumner Station and one at Sound Transit's Union Station headquarters.

In the first five weeks of service, Sounder logged 29,682 passenger boardings with an average of 1,290 passengers a day last week, easily surpassing the projected ridership of 1,000 passengers a day. The two weekday rush-hour trains to Tacoma, Sumner, Auburn and Seattle leave Tacoma at 6:20 and 6:50 in the morning and leave Seattle in the afternoon at 5:25 and 5:45. Service will begin in Kent, Puyallup and Tukwila by February.

Voter-approved in 1996, Sound Transit is on track to implement a three-county regional transit system plan known as Sound Move. Sound Move is a seamless blend of three transportation systems: Sounder commuter rail, running 82 miles from Everett to Tacoma/Lakewood; Link light rail, a 21-mile system connecting the cities of Seattle, Tukwila and SeaTac and a 1.6 mile system in Tacoma; and Regional Express, featuring 18 new ST Express limited stop, long-haul bus routes and numerous improvements to transit centers, park-and-ride lots and HOV lanes throughout the region.

Sounder's customer information line is 1-888-889-6368; for TTY hearing impaired users please call 1-888-713-6030 and the Sounder Web site is www.sounder.org. For general Sound Transit information please visit the Sound Transit Web site at www.soundtransit.org/, or call or write for more information at Sound Transit, Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104, 206-398-5000 or toll free 1-800-201-4900.

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Sound Transit plans, builds and operates regional transit systems and services to improve mobility for Central Puget Sound.