The future is Link

Sound Transit has made considerable progress towards finishing the construction of its new Central Link light rail line, which when completed, will run from SeaTac International Airport into downtown Seattle.

Earlier this month the agency unveiled its new light rail cars, which are due to begin service when the line opens in 2009. Here's a glimpse:



More information about Link:

Light rail is fast, frequent and reliable. It will operate free of delays from congestion and weather. Trains will run every few minutes, 20 hours a day. The projected 2020 daily ridership for the 15.6-mile light rail segment that is currently under construction between downtown Seattle and the airport is 45,000. The University Link project alone will likely increase the regional light rail system’s 2030 ridership to more than 114,000 a day.

Each new Link light rail car has:

• capacity for 200 riders, 74 seated
• comfortable seats with cloth covers
• low floors for easy, level boarding
• 4 wide doors on each side
• spaces for 4 wheelchairs and 2 bicycles
• air conditioning
• a maximum and cruising speed of 55 mph

Link light rail cars are:

• 95 feet long, 8.7 feet wide, and 12.1 feet tall
• able to operate in trains of 1 to 4 cars
• reversible, with driver cabs at both ends
• double articulated, with 3 sections riding on 6 axles
• powered by electricity using a 1500-volt DC traction power system
• able to operate at street level, on elevated trackways, and underground.

Over thirty more cars are due for delivery to Sound Transit in the coming months. The cars are serviced and stored at the agency's Operations & Maintenance facility in south Seattle. They will begin carrying riders in two years.