Commuter rail opened 2000. Light rail opened 2009, now two seperate lines with 33 stops. Light rail line serving Tacoma opened 2003. Network managed by the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority. See Seattle & Tacoma network map.
The Sounder commuter service between Tacoma and Seattle was inaugurated in 2000, and extended northwards to Everett in 2003. Extension south to DuPont on the Point Defiance Bypass line is due in 2036.
Tacoma’s Line T opened August 2003 (2·6 km, 6 stops). This streetcar was formerly called the Tacoma Link. It is operated by Sound Transit, running from the Sounder station at Tacoma Dome north to Theater District. The Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension opened on September 16 2023, continuing from here to St Joseph on the southwest side of the city centre (3·8 km, 6 stops). Brookville has supplied five additional LRVs.
Seattle’s 1 Line (formerly Central Link) opened July 2009 (22·2 km, 12 stops), since extended south to Sea-Tac Airport in December 2009 (2·7 km, 1 stop), north in tunnel to University of Washington (5 km, 2 stops) on March 19 2016, and south to Angle Lake (2·5 km, 1 stop) on September 24 2016. Work on a further extension north to Northgate began in 2012; this opened on October 2 2021 (6·9 km, 3 stops). Construction of the Lynnwood Link north from Northgate (13·6 km, 4 stops) began in 2019-20, with the extension opening on August 30 2024.
Work on the East Link line began in 2016. This will cross to Mercer Island via the floating bridge, then run northeast to Bellevue and Redmond (23 km, 12 stops). A central section of this route, 2 Line, was opened on April 27 2024 (10·6 km, 8 stations), and extended northeast to Downtown Richmond on May 10 2025 (5·5 km, 2 stations). A connecting link to central Seattle via Mercer Island and the floating bridge is now due to open in 2026.
The Federal Way Link extension south from Angle Lake (12·6 km, 3 stops) also began construction in 2019-20.
Later voter-approved light rail extensions include: Tacoma (2030); West Seattle (2030), Ballard (2035), Everett (2036) and a new line from South Kirkland to Issaquah (2041).
- Address
- 401 South Jackson Street
Seattle, WA 98104
USA - Phone
- +1 206 398 5000
- main@soundtransit.org
- Website
- www.soundtransit.org
Traffic
| Year | Passenger journeys (million) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Light rail (Line 1) | Tram (Line T*) | Commuter rail (Sounder) | |
| *Line T is in Tacoma, currently isolated from Line 1 | |||
| 2024 | 30·438 | 0·920 | 1·875 |
| 2023 | 27·338 | 0·285 | 1·630 |
| 2022 | 23·906 | 0·252 | 1·209 |
| 2021 | 11·755 | 0·326 | 0·736 |
| 2020 | 9·661 | 0·428 | 1·274 |
| 2019 | 25·076 | 0·925 | 4·618 |
| 2018 | 24·416 | 0·898 | 4·647 |
| 2017 | 23·002 | 0·973 | 4·446 |
| 2016 | 19·121 | 0·938 | 4·163 |
| 2015 | 11·530 | 0·973 | 3·852 |
| 2014 | 10·950 | 0·964 | 3·361 |
| 2013 | 9·681 | 1·000 | 3·036 |
| 2012 | 8·700 | 1·024 | 2·812 |
Network data
Seattle: light rail – 1 Line / 2 Line
- Gauge
- 1435 mm
- Length
- 69·5 km
- Electrification
- 69·5 km - 1·5 kV DC
- Rolling stock
- 214 LRV/tram cars
Tacoma: tram – Line T
- Gauge
- 1435 mm
- Length
- 6·8 km
- Electrification
- 6·8 km - 750 V DC
- Rolling stock
- 8 LRV/tram cars
Commuter rail (Sounder)
- Gauge
- 1435 mm
- Length
- 132 km
- Rolling stock
- 11 Diesel locomotives
58 Passenger coaches
