The Tacoma Link Light Rail Vehicles are Coming!

The vehicles were trucked via the Autobahn to the port at Antwerp where they were loaded on a ship owned by Star Shipping, AS of Bergen, Norway. The ship will set sail Friday morning local time and, depending upon weather (and other) conditions, will arrive at the Port of Tacoma in early September.

The ship will travel south to the Panama Canal, then North making ports of call at Long Beach, CA; Vancouver, WA and, finally, Tacoma.

Facts & Figures:
Three vehicles
Total cost: $9 million
Length: 66 feet
Weight: in excess of 50,000 pounds each
Capacity: 30 seats with a standing (crush) capacity of an additional 85.

The three vehicles slated for service on Tacoma Link (service beginning in 9/03) leaving the Skoda manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic en route to Antwerp, Belgium. If you look closely you can see a tag on one of the vehicle's windshields showing it is bound for Tacoma. Click here for more photos of the Tacoma Link cars.

# # #

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