USA: A 12·8 km extension of Sound Transit’s Link light rail 2 Line was opened on March 28, connecting South Bellevue to Seattle’s International District and Chinatown.
The extension with two intermediate stops provides a link between Sound Transit’s 1 Line and 2 Line, which were previously unconnected. This enables 2 Line services to operate through onto 1 Line tracks as far as Lynnwood City Center.
The most notable infrastructure element of the extension is the crossing of the historic 1·8 km Homer M Hadley pontoon bridge over Lake Washington, where the tracks have been laid in a former road lane. According to Sound Transit’s Executive Director of Capital Project Delivery Michael Morgan, this makes it the world’s first light rail line to use a floating bridge.
Services operate between 05.00 and 00.00, with a peak hour headway of 8 min peak increasing to 10 or 15 min at other times of the day.
Built at a total cost of $3·7bn, the International District – Redmond Technology section of the 2 Line was delivered as part of the Sound Transit 2 light rail investment package. This was approved by voters in 2008.
The work was split into various lots. Contractors included the East Link Constructors joint venture of Kiewit and Hoffman, a Shimmick and Parsons joint venture, and a JV of Stacy and Witbeck with Atkinson, as well as Guy F Atkinson Construction and Max J Kuney.
‘The completion of light rail across Lake Washington is a historic moment for the region, and just in time for the World Cup’, said Washington state’s US Senator Maria Cantwell. ’This expanded service will integrate Seattle with the Eastside.
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Read our feature article about Sound Transit’s long-term light rail expansion programme in the January 2026 issue of Railway Gazette International.
