Seattle’s Bellevue light rail opens
Posted on 29th April 2024 at 09:39
On 27 April in the US city of Seattle (Washington State) big crowds turned out to ride the first section of light rail to be built east of Lake Washington, opened for passenger service on an initial 106km (6.6 mile) section from South Bellevue to Redmond Technology.
The new line 2 has eight stations and service is provided every 10 minutes 05.07-21.55 using coupled sets of Siemens S700 LRVs. 6000 daily riders are expected. Groundbreaking was eight years ago and the USD 3.7bn 22.4km (14-mile) project will be completed in spring 2025 when the link to the existing line 1 will be completed (to International District/Chinatown in the city centre) and the line will be extended to Downtown Redmond at the other end.
Sound Transit Chair Dow Constantine said, 'This is a historic occasion for our region and the hundreds of thousands of people on the Eastside who will be able to use Link light rail to quickly and safely get to school, work, games, concerts, and more, without the hassles of traffic and parking. We are well on our way to a more connected Puget Sound region with the 1 Line extension to Lynnwood opening in August, and the 2 Line further expanding next year.
A light rail train at Bellevue. (Sound Transit)
Sound Transit System Expansion Committee Chair, Claudia Balducci added,
'This light rail line is going to change lives, It will connect people to education, jobs, recreation, and each other, helping expand access to opportunity across our region. For me, this is the culmination of years and years of work by many people and a realization of the promise we made to voters in 2008. For the Eastside, it’s the beginning of an incredible transformation that will benefit the community for decades to come.'
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