202-432: The 1 Line , formerly Central Link , is a light rail line in Seattle , Washington, United States, and part of Sound Transit 's Link light rail system. It serves 23 stations in King and Snohomish counties, traveling 33 miles (53 km) between Lynnwood City Center and Angle Lake stations. The line connects Lynnwood , Mountlake Terrace , Shoreline , the University District , Downtown Seattle ,
404-500: A Seattle Landmark by the city's Landmarks Preservation Board. Metro's decision in 1974 to rebuild and expand the entire trolleybus system included the replacement of the entire trolleybus fleet. All remaining 59 vehicles from the 1940s fleet were permanently retired when the system shut down for rebuilding at the end of the service day on January 20, 1978. Most were kept in storage until late 1981, when 55 were declared surplus and designated for auction or donation to museums. Following
606-502: A turnstile barrier at stations. Fares can be purchased as paper tickets at ticket vending machines at stations, credit or passes loaded on an ORCA card , or through a mobile ticketing app. Fare ambassadors check for valid fares while aboard trains or in the fare-paid zone of stations; passengers who do not present a valid ticket or validated ORCA card are offered educational materials and warnings. Until 2021, fare inspectors and transit police officers checked fares and issued warnings or
808-1324: A " light metro " hybrid by transit experts due to its grade separated sections and use of longer trainsets than typical American light rail systems. It is 33.15 miles (53.35 km) long and includes 7 miles (11 km) of at-grade tracks; these at-grade tracks include some segments along freeways that are separated from intersecting roads. Stations on the 1 Line are spaced approximately one mile (1.6 km) apart in most areas and are built with 380-foot-long (120 m) platforms to accommodate four-car train sets. Some stations are grade separated, with underground or elevated platforms connected to surface entrances by stairs, escalators, and elevators, while others were built at street level. The line's stations include bus connections, ticket vending machines , real-time arrivals information signs, public art , and bicycle parking. Stations are also designed with clear sight lines on platforms, emergency phones and lights, and are monitored with surveillance cameras. All stations are connected to local bus routes, including parallel King County Metro , Community Transit , and Sound Transit Express services that stop at multiple Link stations. Metro Flex, an on-demand ride-hail shuttle service operated by King County Metro and Via , launched in 2019 at five stations in
1010-724: A "light rail" vehicle (it is a heavy rail vehicle), and is only included for comparison purposes. Low-floor LRVs have the advantage of a low-floor design, allowing them to load passengers directly from low-rise platforms that can be little more than raised curbs. High-floor light rail systems also exist, featuring larger stations. Historically, the track gauge has had considerable variations, with narrow gauge common in many early systems. However, most light rail systems are now standard gauge . Older standard-gauge vehicles could not negotiate sharp turns as easily as narrow-gauge ones, but modern light rail systems achieve tighter turning radii by using articulated cars . An important advantage of
1212-520: A $ 124 citation to passengers who did not present a valid form of payment. Following the dismissal of fare inspectors, an estimated 42 percent of passengers in January 2022 did not pay their fare. A new program led by fare ambassadors was approved in September 2022, enacting a multi-step system with monetary penalties beginning with the third violation and a $ 124 infraction for a fifth violation. Fares are
1414-479: A 1944 Pullman-Standard. To this day, each of the coaches remain in Metro's historic fleet . No. 643's original number, 905, was restored in 2018. For the reopening of the rebuilt and expanded system in 1979–1981, Metro purchased 109 40-foot-long (12 m) trolleybuses from AM General . They were the system's first wheelchair lift -equipped trolleybuses. The vehicles were delivered in 1979 and first entered service with
1616-539: A 1996 ballot measure and construction began in 2003, after the project was reorganized under a new budget and truncated route in response to higher than expected costs. The light rail line, which followed decades of failed transit plans for the Seattle region, opened on July 18, 2009, terminating at Westlake in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and Tukwila International Boulevard near Sea–Tac Airport. It
1818-565: A 2002 Gillig. No. 604, a 1940 Twin Coach 41GWFT and No. 648, a 1944 Pullman-Standard have been preserved at the Oregon Electric Railway Museum , but since the facility does not have trolleybus wire, they are not able to operate there. Seattle's trolleybus fleet is operated out of Atlantic Base in SoDo , one of seven bus garages (known locally as bases) owned by the agency. Atlantic Base
2020-517: A 2005 splitting of route 7 into routes 7 and 49), all of which continue to use articulated trolleybuses today. These were the first articulated trolleybuses in North America, other than single experimental vehicles or manufacturer demonstrators on loan, and they began to enter service in April 1987. The construction of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel under 3rd Avenue beginning in 1986 forced many of
2222-471: A 600-stall park and ride facility, and turns south into the median of the Airport Expressway towards SeaTac . Light rail trains continue along the east side of Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, stopping at SeaTac/Airport station near the airport's terminals, before reaching Angle Lake station , where it terminates. The 1 Line, while officially a "light rail" line, has also been described as
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#17328516767872424-454: A PCF-Brill—a type of trolleybus that had not been in the fleet in more than a decade. Brill #798 returned from the by-then-defunct Trolleyland Museum ( Centralia, Washington ) in April 1975. Metro immediately repainted it into its original Seattle Transit System paint scheme only used during the 1940s, and it returned to regular service in November 1975. In 1978, Brill 798 was officially designated
2626-458: A bus, there will be even more capacity when there is a combination of cars and light rail. Table 3 shows an example of peak passenger capacity. The cost of light rail construction varies widely, largely depending on the amount of tunneling and elevated structures required. A survey of North American light rail projects shows that costs of most LRT systems range from $ 15 million to over $ 100 million per mile. Seattle's new light rail system
2828-403: A chaotic breakdown inflow and a dramatic drop in speed (a traffic jam ) if they exceed about 2,000 vehicles per hour per lane (each car roughly two seconds behind another). Since most people who drive to work or on business trips do so alone, studies show that the average car occupancy on many roads carrying commuters is only about 1.5 people per car during the high-demand rush hour periods of
3030-458: A combined frequency of four minutes at peak and five minutes off-peak between International District/Chinatown and Lynnwood City Center stations on both lines. The northern terminus of the 1 Line is Lynnwood City Center station , located at the southern end of Downtown Lynnwood next to Interstate 5 in Snohomish County . The line leaves Lynnwood southwest on an elevated guideway that follows
3232-1102: A common right-of-way (however, Link converted to full separation in 2019). Some systems, such as the AirTrain JFK in New York City, the DLR in London, and Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur , have dispensed with the need for an operator. The Vancouver SkyTrain was an early adopter of driverless vehicles, while the Toronto Scarborough rapid transit operated the same trains as Vancouver, but used drivers. In most discussions and comparisons, these specialized systems are generally not considered light rail but as light metro systems. Around Karlsruhe , Kassel , and Saarbrücken in Germany, dual-voltage light rail trains partly use mainline railroad tracks, sharing these tracks with heavy rail trains. In
3434-406: A consulting firm in 1975 to carry out the technical aspects of the design. On January 21, 1978, the system was shut down, and while passengers rode diesel-powered coaches, crews began installing new overhead wire, switches, and a new power distribution system. In 1977, Metro placed an order for 109 AM General trolleys, the first new trolleybuses for the city since the 1940s. The first of these
3636-614: A contract with Sound Transit that was renewed in 2019 and is set to expire at the end of 2023. In September 2016, Sound Transit approved a $ 554 million order to Siemens Mobility for 122 S700 "Series 2" light rail vehicles to serve planned extensions to Northgate, Lynnwood, the Eastside, and Federal Way. Another 30 vehicles were added to the order in April 2017, bringing the total to 152 vehicles. The first Series 2 car arrived at Sound Transit's maintenance facility in June 2019, featuring
3838-438: A decade on the streets of Seattle the buses became less reliable and more expensive to maintain. By the end of the decade, Metro started to look at purchasing an all-new trolley fleet. King County Metro's plan to replace the trolley fleet came into question as the nationwide economic downturn caused a steep and prolonged drop in the sales tax revenues that Metro used to fund its operations. As part of an effort to cut costs across
4040-455: A delay to the project, Metro indicated that the remaining work to convert route 48 to trolleybuses was planned to take place in 2021 and 2022, for opening in May 2023, but new delays were encountered subsequently, and by 2022 the projected date for the conversion of route 48 to trolleybuses had been pushed back to mid-2026. The Move Seattle ballot measure approved by voters in November 2015 includes
4242-671: A flat rate of $ 3 for adults, $ 1 for passengers eligible for reduced fares, and free for people 18 years old or younger. Until 2024, the fares were calculated based on distance traveled and ranged from $ 2.25 to $ 3.50 for adults. ORCA card users were required to tap a reader before and after riding a train to calculate the fare. Reduced fares are available to elderly passengers, persons with disabilities, and low-income passengers enrolled in ORCA Lift. Transfers from other modes, including buses, water taxis , and streetcars , are only accepted using ORCA cards. Since September 2022, fares for passengers under
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#17328516767874444-432: A form of positive train control to prevent trains from exceeding the set speed limit for a given area. Trains are supplied electricity through an overhead catenary that is energized at 1,500 V DC and converted to three-phase alternating current through on-board inverters . While other North American light rail systems use 750 V DC technology, Sound Transit chose to use 1,500 V DC to reduce
4646-416: A light rail train may have three to four cars of much larger capacity in one train under the control of one driver, or no driver at all in fully automated systems, increasing the labor costs of BRT systems compared to LRT systems. BRT systems are also usually less fuel-efficient as they use non-electrified vehicles. The peak passenger capacity per lane per hour depends on which types of vehicles are allowed on
4848-435: A live rail. In outer areas, the trams switch to conventional overhead wires . The Bordeaux power system costs about three times as much as a conventional overhead wire system and took 24 months to achieve acceptable levels of reliability, requiring the replacement of all the main cables and power supplies. Operating and maintenance costs of the innovative power system still remain high. However, despite numerous service outages,
5050-448: A long, new route to Ballard . These included former routes 3-North Queen Anne – Jefferson Park and 4-East Queen Anne – Montlake, which STS had closed in 1970. The Downtown-to-Queen Anne portions of those routes were reinstated with the same route numbers. The Jefferson Park trolleybus route was reinstated as route 1, connected to route 1-Kinnear, but extended from Spokane Street to Dawson Street, 1.1 mi (1.8 km) farther south than
5252-536: A longer distance. Light rail cars are often coupled into multiple units of two to four cars. Light rail systems may also exhibit attributes of heavy rail systems, including having downtown subways, as in San Francisco and Seattle . Light rail is designed to address a gap in interurban transportation between heavy rail and bus services, carrying high passenger numbers more quickly than local buses and more cheaply than heavy rail. It serves corridors in which heavy rail
5454-631: A low-floor design, a wheelchair ramp (instead of a lift) and air conditioning. The new trolleybuses are built with motors from Škoda and a Vossloh Kiepe electric drive system, including an auxiliary power unit (lithium ion phosphate batteries) that allow buses to operate off-wire for at least 3 miles, a first for Metro. For the opening of the system in 1940, the Seattle Transit System purchased trolleybuses from two different manufacturers. The Twin Coach Company provided 135 vehicles, while
5656-631: A more diverse range of design characteristics than LRT, depending on the demand and constraints that exist, and BRT using dedicated lanes can have a theoretical capacity of over 30,000 passengers per hour per direction (for example, the Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit system operates up to 350 buses per hour per direction). For the effective operation of a bus or BRT system, buses must have priority at traffic lights and have their dedicated lanes, especially as bus frequencies exceed 30 buses per hour per direction. The higher theoretical of BRT relates to
5858-424: A new driver's compartment, and new LED destination signs to replace the flip-dot signs and LED turn signals and tail lights to replace incandescent ones. These converted Breda coaches were renumbered 4200-4258 and replaced the aging MAN articulated trolleybuses. The unique fleet of converted Breda coaches and Gillig coaches with recycled 1979 propulsion systems saved money for Metro in the early 2000s, but after
6060-525: A new operations and maintenance facility in Bellevue. To maintain eight-minute frequencies with four-car trains, some vehicles will be parked outside of the SODO facility and evening service is planned to be reduced; some bus service on the corridor is planned to be retained to accommodate overflow passengers. The line is planned to later have trains every eight minutes at peak and ten minutes mid-day and on weekends, with
6262-523: A new tunnel through Downtown Seattle, will split the corridor between two lines: the 1 Line, operating from Ballard to Tacoma via the Rainier Valley and Sea-Tac Airport; and the 3 Line, operating from Lynnwood (and later Everett ) to West Seattle. Two infill stations along the current route of the 1 Line are planned to open in 2031 at South Graham Street in the Rainier Valley and Boeing Access Road in northern Tukwila. Other transit in
1 Line (Sound Transit) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6464-677: A planned expansion of the RapidRide system. Four of the seven future RapidRide corridors are proposed to use electric trolleybus technology, utilizing the existing network of trolley wire and in some cases expanding it: Additionally, the G Line (Downtown Seattle – First Hill – Central District via Madison Street, projected to open in 2024) had long been planned to use trolleybuses, using already-existing wire currently used by Route 12 plus some new sections of wire, but in March 2019 SDOT announced that hybrid buses would be used instead. The reason for
6666-630: A portion of busy Route 8 to operate with trolleybuses) and electrifying Yesler between 2nd and 9th Avenues, and on 9th Avenue from Yesler to Jefferson (which would allow Routes 3 and 4 to travel on a less congested path between Downtown and Harborview Medical Center ). As of March 2017 , 15 trolleybus routes operate in Seattle. In the following table, routes are ordered by number, principal streets traveled on are italicized and major destinations and neighborhoods are listed. " Night Owl " service operates on routes 3, 7, 36 & 49. Additionally, special diesel "Night Owl" routes run over portions of some of
6868-447: A regenerative braking system will allow coaches to capture the energy generated during braking and feed it back into the overhead wires. The Xcelsior trolleybuses have a distinct purple and yellow livery, that distinguish them from Metro's hybrid diesel-electric and diesel-powered buses. The initial order was for 86 of the 40-foot coaches (model XT40) and 55 of the 60-foot, articulated coaches (model XT60). The order would have decreased
7070-407: A result, has many of the operating characteristics of a metro system rather than a light rail system. A capacity of 1,350 passengers per train is more similar to the heavy rail than light rail. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is an alternative to LRT and many planning studies undertake a comparison of each mode when considering appropriate investments in transit corridor development. BRT systems can exhibit
7272-438: A situation similar to the 1970s and pressure from the public, King County Metro commissioned an independent evaluation of the trolleybus system. That 2011 evaluation disproved the audit's findings on the trolleybus system. The report found that the 2009 audit did not consider that a longer life-span could be expected for new trolleybuses (15 years) compared to hybrid diesel-electric buses (12 years) and did not take into account that
7474-467: A southward turn over East Marginal Way South. The 1 Line continues south over the Duwamish River, traveling non-stop through Tukwila on a 4.7-mile (7.6 km) elevated guideway. The guideway runs along the west sides of State Route 599 and Interstate 5 towards Southcenter Mall , where it turns west along State Route 518 . The line passes through Tukwila International Boulevard station, home to
7676-560: A surface alignment. The line continues at-grade until it approaches the elevated Northgate Station , located adjacent to Northgate Mall . From Northgate station, the line continues south elevated before diving into the Northgate Link tunnel in the Maple Leaf neighborhood. The 3.4-mile (5.5 km) tunnel travels southeast through Roosevelt , serving a station near Northeast 65th Street, and south to U District station before reaching
7878-530: A top speed of 55–71.5 miles per hour (88.51–115.1 km/h) depending on the system, while the trains on the all-underground Montreal Metro can only reach a top speed of 72 kilometres per hour (44.74 mph). LACMTA light rail vehicles have higher top and average speeds than Montreal Metro or New York City Subway trains. Many light rail systems—even fairly old ones—have a combination of both on- and off-road sections. In some countries (especially in Europe), only
8080-474: A tramway, a light metro, and, in a narrow sense, rapid transit. This is especially common in the United States, where there is not a popularly perceived distinction between these different types of urban rail systems. The development of technology for low-floor and catenary-free trams facilitates the construction of such mixed systems with only short and shallow underground sections below critical intersections as
8282-594: A trolleybus service in 1963. Other corridors were also considered but ultimately rejected for trolleybus service, including Aurora Avenue . By 1981, Metro started to consider the future of the remaining 1940s trolleybuses, which had been in storage since the beginning of the system rehabilitation in 1978. A group of employees founded the Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association (MEHVA) in December 1981 to preserve, restore and operate some of
1 Line (Sound Transit) - Misplaced Pages Continue
8484-588: Is 70 percent low-floor, while the remaining 30 percent is raised above the floor and accessed via stairs. Railcars include four doors on each side, fold-up seating areas for wheelchairs, and two bicycle hooks above luggage storage areas. 1 Line trains are typically arranged into three-car and four-car sets, but until 2021 all trains were two or three cars long. The trains have a top speed of 58 miles per hour (93 km/h), but typically operate at 35 mph (56 km/h) on surface sections and 55 mph (89 km/h) on elevated and tunneled sections. Link uses
8686-475: Is No. 636, a 1943 Twin Coach 44GTT (a different model than No. 643). MEHVA did not preserve one of Metro's MAN articulated trolleybuses, but one of those vehicles – No. 4020 – joined the collection of the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM), near Chicago, and is able to operate under the museum's trolleybus wire. IRM has also preserved two other Seattle trolleybuses, No. 633, a 1940 Twin Coach and No. 4123,
8888-462: Is a generic international English phrase for types of rail systems using modern streetcars/trams, which means more or less the same thing throughout the English-speaking world . Light rail systems can range from trams runnig in streets along with other traffic, to semi-metro systems having portions of grade separated track. People movers are even "lighter", in terms of capacity. Monorail
9090-509: Is a separate technology that has been more successful in specialized services than in a commuter transit role. The use of the generic term light rail avoids some serious incompatibilities between British and American English . The word tram , for instance, is generally used in the UK and many former British colonies to refer to what is known in North America as a streetcar , but in North America tram can instead refer to an aerial tramway , or, in
9292-602: Is a significant amount of overlap between the technologies; similar rolling stock may be used for either, and it is common to classify streetcars or trams as a subcategory of light rail rather than as a distinct type of transportation. However, some distinctions can be made, though systems may combine elements of both. Low-floor light rail lines tend to follow a reserved right-of-way and with trains receiving priority at intersections, and tend not to operate in mixed traffic, enabling higher operating speeds. Light rail lines tend to have less frequent stops than tramways, and operate over
9494-580: Is along 23rd Avenue through the Central District . As part of a project to improve the arterial, SDOT is adding new, stronger streetlight poles that will be capable of supporting the weight of trolley wire. The new poles will enable the electrification of route 48, which runs on 23rd Avenue through the Central District and has two segments without wires totaling 1.7 miles (2.7 km), the rest shared with other existing trolleybus routes. In 2019, after
9696-560: Is by far the most expensive in the US, at $ 179 million per mile, since it includes extensive tunneling in poor soil conditions, elevated sections, and stations as deep as 180 feet (55 m) below ground level. This results in costs more typical of subways or rapid transit systems than light rail. At the other end of the scale, four systems (Baltimore, Maryland; Camden, New Jersey; Sacramento, California; and Salt Lake City, Utah) incurred construction costs of less than $ 20 million per mile. Over
9898-426: Is especially important for wheelchair access, as narrower gauges (e.g. metre gauge) can make it challenging or impossible to pass the tram's wheels. Furthermore, standard-gauge rolling stock can be switched between networks either temporarily or permanently, and both newly built and used standard-gauge rolling stock tends to be cheaper to buy, as more companies offer such vehicles. Overhead lines supply electricity to
10100-498: Is expensive. Similarly, the most expensive US highway expansion project was the " Big Dig " in Boston, Massachusetts, which cost $ 200 million per lane mile for a total cost of $ 14.6 billion. A light rail track can carry up to 20,000 people per hour as compared with 2,000–2,200 vehicles per hour for one freeway lane. For example, in Boston and San Francisco, light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour, respectively, in
10302-575: Is hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail. A system described as a light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called "light rail" are very similar to rapid transit ; in recent years, new terms such as light metro have been used to describe these medium-capacity systems. Some "light rail" systems, such as Sprinter , bear little similarity to urban rail, and could alternatively be classified as commuter rail or even inter-city rail. In
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#173285167678710504-549: Is impractical. Light metro systems are essentially hybrids of light rail and rapid transit. Metro trains are larger and faster than light rail trains, with stops being further apart. Many systems have mixed characteristics. Indeed, with proper engineering, a rail line could run along a street, then go underground, and then run along an elevated viaduct. For example, the Los Angeles Metro Rail 's A Line "light rail" has sections that could alternatively be described as
10706-526: Is measured by on-board infrared passenger counters that automatically record the number of people entering and leaving the train. As of 2022, approximately 32 percent of Series 1 vehicles have automatic passenger counters, while all Series 2 vehicles were installed with them. Ridership on the 1 Line has risen significantly from the beginning of service in 2009, when it averaged 15,500 per weekday. In 2010, ridership fell below projected levels due to an economic downturn , with only 21,611 daily riders on
10908-480: Is one of the highest capacity ones, having been upgraded in a series of expansions to handle 40,000 passengers per hour per direction, and having carried as many as 582,989 passengers in a single day on its Line 1 . It achieves this volume by running four-car trains with a capacity of up to 1,350 passengers each at a frequency of up to 30 trains per hour. However, the Manila light rail system has full grade separation and as
11110-487: Is planned to open in 2026. The 2 Line , planned to connect Seattle to the Eastside suburbs, will form a multi-line network via its connection with the 1 Line in 2025. Further expansion under Sound Transit 3 will divide the current corridor between two lines, the 1 Line from Ballard to Tacoma and the 3 Line from Everett to West Seattle . Public transit service within Seattle began in 1884, with
11312-429: Is reduced to every 15 minutes during the early morning and late night hours of all days. End-to-end travel from Lynnwood to Angle Lake stations takes 73 minutes, while trips between SeaTac/Airport station and Downtown Seattle take 38 minutes. The SeaTac–Westlake corridor was formerly served by King County Metro bus route 194, which took 32 minutes to travel between the two areas, and used bus stops that were closer to
11514-544: Is still served by trolleybuses today on route 12). The system expanded again during World War II , when the Office of Defense Transportation gave Seattle more trolleybuses to meet increased wartime transportation demands, bringing the fleet to 307 coaches. Ridership reached an all-time high 130 million riders in 1944. After the war, ridership on the trolleybus system declined as many American families began purchasing automobiles. The city's aging trolleybuses were spiffed up, and
11716-548: The Beacon Hill tunnel and station began in 2005, and two tunnel boring machines were launched in early 2006 to bore the twin tunnels between SoDo and the Rainier Valley. The SODO and Stadium stations were completed in May 2006, and light rail testing in the SoDo area began the following March. Testing was extended to the re-opened downtown transit tunnel in September 2007, initially limited to weekends without bus service, and further to
11918-520: The Capitol Hill Block Party . A new record of 136,800 boardings was set on July 23 and became the 12th day in July 2023 with more than 100,000 boardings. In September 2024, the line's average Saturday ridership had reached 82,000 boardings, surpassing the weekday average of 79,000 riders. The 1 Line uses a proof-of-payment system, requiring valid payment before boarding and lacking
12120-535: The Cádiz TramBahia , where trams share track with commuter and long-distance trains from the main terminus in the city and curve off to serve cities without a railway connection. Some of the issues involved in such schemes are: There is a history of what would now be considered light rail vehicles operating on heavy rail rapid transit tracks in the US, especially in the case of interurban streetcars . Notable examples are Lehigh Valley Transit trains running on
12322-526: The Federal Transit Administration , was the first modern expansion of trolley wire (excluding the downtown bus tunnel) and incorporated public art as required by city ordinances. Between 2001 and 2003, Metro purchased 100 Gillig Phantom coaches to replace the AM General trolleys. These coaches were delivered as "gliders," meaning that while they looked complete from the outside, internally
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#173285167678712524-492: The J. G. Brill Company provided 100. All but the first Brill vehicles were built, under license, by Pacific Car and Foundry (PCF), in the nearby city of Renton , and are commonly referred to as PCF-Brill vehicles or simply Brills. Strong ridership growth during World War II , when the city's economy was booming, brought a need for additional vehicles. Forty-two more Twin Coach trolleybuses were bought in 1942–1943, followed by 30 Pullman-Standard vehicles in 1944. These were
12726-735: The London Underground and the New York City Subway . Conventional rail technologies including high-speed , freight, commuter , and rapid transit urban transit systems are considered "heavy rail". The main difference between light rail and heavy rail rapid transit is the ability for a light rail vehicle to operate in mixed traffic if the routing requires it. The world's first electric tram operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg , Russia , invented and operated on an experimental basis by Fyodor Pirotsky in 1880. The first tramway
12928-624: The Netherlands , this concept was first applied on the RijnGouweLijn . This allows commuters to ride directly into the city center, rather than taking a mainline train only as far as a central station and then having to change to a tram. In France, similar tram-trains are planned for Paris, Mulhouse , and Strasbourg ; further projects exist. In some cases, tram trains use previously abandoned or lightly used heavy rail lines in addition to or instead of still in use mainline tracks. In 2022, Spain opened
13130-831: The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa, Ontario , Canada, the River Line in New Jersey , United States, and the Sprinter in California , United States, which use diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars. Light rail is different from the British English term light railway , long-used to distinguish railway operations carried out under a less rigorous set of regulations using lighter equipment at lower speeds from mainline railways. Light rail
13332-673: The Philadelphia and Western Railroad high-speed third rail line (now the Norristown High-Speed Line ). Such arrangements are almost impossible now, due to the Federal Railroad Administration refusing (for crash safety reasons) to allow non-FRA compliant railcars (i.e., subway and light rail vehicles) to run on the same tracks at the same times as compliant railcars, which includes locomotives and standard railroad passenger and freight equipment. Notable exceptions in
13534-588: The Rainier Valley , and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport . The 1 Line carried over 26 million total passengers in 2023, with an average of nearly 80,000 daily passengers on weekdays. It runs for 20 hours per day on weekdays and Saturdays, with headways as low as six minutes during peak hours , and reduced 18-hour service on Sundays and holidays. Trains are composed of three or more cars that each can carry 194 passengers, including 74 in seats, along with wheelchairs and bicycles. Fares are paid through
13736-719: The University of Washington campus . The tunnel travels southeast under the campus to University of Washington station, located near Husky Stadium , from which it heads south in the University Link tunnel , crossing under the Montlake Cut of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and State Route 520 before taking a turn to the southwest. The tunnel climbs Capitol Hill and passes under Interlaken Park and Volunteer Park before turning due south to enter Capitol Hill station on
13938-474: The median of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, running at-grade with signal priority at 28 street crossings. The 1 Line passes through the Rainier Valley and serves three at-grade stations, Columbia City , Othello , and Rainier Beach , before leaving Seattle. The line enters Tukwila and crosses west over Interstate 5 and a mainline railroad at Boeing Access Road, near Boeing Field , before making
14140-530: The medians of roads . If run in streets , trains are usually limited by city block lengths to about four 180-passenger vehicles (720 passengers). Operating on two-minute headways using traffic signal progression, a well-designed two-track system can handle up to 30 trains per hour per track, achieving peak rates of over 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction. More advanced systems with separate rights-of-way using moving block signaling can exceed 25,000 passengers per hour per track. Most light rail systems in
14342-505: The 1 Line travels south through SoDo along the east side of the SODO Busway . The SoDo section has two stations, Stadium and SODO , and includes several gated crossings . From SODO station, the track ascends to an elevated guideway traveling east along South Forest Street, passing the line's railyard and maintenance facility. The elevated trackway passes over Airport Way and comes to rest on an embankment under Interstate 5, entering
14544-481: The 1.3-mile (2.1 km) transit tunnel. However, almost two decades later, some of the Breda vehicles were converted to electric-only and used on the surface trolleybus routes. The first of four prototype Breda dual-mode buses was delivered in November 1988. For the 232 production-series vehicles, Breda shipped the bodies from Italy to the Seattle area and then completed their assembly and fitting-out at space it leased in
14746-656: The 1960s and Seattle voters in the early 2000s. The Forward Thrust Committee of the late 1960s proposed a 47-mile (76 km) rapid transit system, to connect Downtown Seattle to Ballard , the University District , Lake City , Capitol Hill , Bellevue , and Renton . The federal government offered to fund two-thirds of the rail system's capital costs, approximately $ 770 million (equivalent to $ 5.15 billion in 2023 dollars), if $ 385 million (equivalent to $ 2.58 billion in 2023 dollars) in local property taxes were approved by voters. The rapid transit initiative
14948-410: The 1970 conversions" of routes 3 and 4 to motor buses, leading city officials to begin working to ensure that the system would survive under Metro. Furthermore, the city was interested in expanding the system, in light of the fuel shortages and price increases observed during the 1973 oil crisis , and in 1974 it formally asked Metro to add 27.5 route mile and up to 63 vehicles. The proposed expansion
15150-619: The 1970s was proven to have been a technical failure by the following decade. After World War II, the Germans retained many of their streetcar networks and evolved them into model light rail systems ( Stadtbahnen ). With the exception of Hamburg , all large and most medium-sized German cities maintain light rail networks. The concept of a "limited tramway" was proposed by American transport planner H. Dean Quinby in 1962. Quinby distinguished this new concept in rail transportation from historic streetcar or tram systems as: The term light rail transit
15352-619: The 2021 opening of the Northgate Link Extension and reopening of offices, which allowed it to exceed pre-pandemic levels. The line set a single-day record of 115,600 boardings on July 11, 2023, during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park . This record was surpassed twice by the end of the month due to several simultaneous weekend events, including Taylor Swift 's The Eras Tour concerts at Lumen Field , Mariners games at T-Mobile Park, and
15554-482: The 20th century and rejected by city officials or voters due to their cost or other factors. In 1911, urban planner Virgil Bogue proposed a 41-mile (66 km) system of subway tunnels and elevated railways as the centerpiece to a comprehensive plan for the city, which was rejected by voters. The Seattle Center Monorail , originally built for the 1962 World's Fair , has been the subject of several unsuccessful expansion proposals backed by Governor Albert Rosellini in
15756-634: The AM General coaches was placed into the new Gillig bodies along with new electronics from Alstom , saving approximately $ 200,000 per coach. But as the trolleybuses aged, Metro said the 1979 propulsion systems had become less reliable and more expensive to maintain. Installation of the part-new, part-overhauled propulsion equipment was carried out by Metro's own maintenance employees. The first two Gillig trolleybuses, not yet equipped with propulsion, arrived in June and August 2001. The first propulsion set arrived on August 23, and Metro began installing it immediately. These two vehicles, Nos. 4100–4101, later became
15958-472: The Beacon Hill tunnel. The Beacon Hill tunnel travels approximately one mile (1.6 km) under Beacon Hill , serving a station at Beacon Avenue South. Trains exit the tunnel on the east side of the hill, turning southeast and approaching the elevated Mount Baker station at the intersection of Rainier Avenue South and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. Light rail trains descend from Mount Baker station onto
16160-514: The City Council and Metro chose a plan that would use articulated, dual-mode buses that would run as trolleybuses in the tunnel and as diesel buses outside the tunnel. Metro borrowed a prototype Renault articulated, dual-mode bus from its French manufacturer in 1982–1983 to evaluate the technology and gain experience with it. The vehicle was operated in regular service on every trolleybus route and several motorbus routes, between November 1982 and
16362-517: The Federal Transit Administration provides fixed guideway funding for the overhead trolley wire. The report concluded that the annualized life-cycle cost for each trolleybus is $ 11.8 million per year, compared to $ 15.5 million per year for a hybrid diesel-electric coach, a savings of $ 3.7 million per year. After the results of the evaluation, Metro placed an order in June 2013 with New Flyer for 141 Xcelsior trolleybuses to replace
16564-491: The French city of Bordeaux , the tramway network is powered by a third rail in the city center, where the tracks are not always segregated from pedestrians and cars. The third rail (actually two closely spaced rails) is placed in the middle of the track and divided into eight-metre sections, each of which is powered only while it is completely covered by a tram. This minimizes the risk of a person or animal coming into contact with
16766-591: The Gillig and Breda trolleybuses. The Xcelsior XT40 and XT60 are the first trolleybuses in King County Metro's fleet to have a low-floor design , a wheelchair ramp (instead of a lift), air conditioning and an auxiliary power unit (that allow buses to operate off-wire for at least 3 miles). Metro says that the New Flyer buses use 25 to 30 percent less energy than the electric trolley buses they replaced, partly because of
16968-542: The Monday, June 27, 2022. The wire that had been used by route 70 on 15th Avenue NE north of NE 45th Street is disused, but Metro has proposed that it be used for route 48 when that route is electrified. In recent years, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and King County Metro have presented proposals to expand trolleybus service throughout Seattle by building new wire. The largest project currently underway
17170-814: The Rainier Valley after the completion of the Beacon Hill tunnel in 2008. The elevated guideway in Tukwila, including crossings over major freeways and the Duwamish River , was completed in 2007 after the installation of 2,457 precast concrete segments and balanced cantilever bridges . During construction in the Rainier Valley, Sound Transit and the City of Seattle offered $ 50 million in mitigation funds and development opportunities to affected businesses. Construction of light rail along Martin Luther King Jr. Way South also resulted in utility lines being moved underground, improved sidewalks, street crossings, and landscaping. Central Link
17372-814: The Rainier Valley and Tukwila. It accepted Metro fares and was subsidized by the Seattle city government. As of 2024, there are seven stations that have public park and ride facilities; for other stations, Sound Transit and local governments encourage alternative means of transportation to and from stations, including bus riding, walking, or bicycling. 1 Line trains run 20 hours per day from Monday to Saturday, from 5:00 am to 1:00 am, and 18 hours on Sundays and federal holidays , from 6:00 am to midnight. Trains operate most frequently during weekday peak periods , running every eight minutes from 6:00 am to 9:30 am and from 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Trains run every 10 minutes during midday and evening hours on weekdays and all day on weekends. Train frequency
17574-499: The Rainier Valley began in March 2002, but two legal battles delayed the start of construction. In November 2002, the King County Superior Court ruled in favor of Sound Transit in a lawsuit filed by light rail opponents, alleging that it lacked the authority to shorten a voter-approved line. The approval of Tim Eyman 's Initiative 776 threatened to repeal motor vehicle excise taxes needed to fund Sound Transit's budget, but
17776-841: The Rainier Valley was replaced after premature wear and cracking was discovered. On April 27, 2023, the ceiling of Westlake station was punctured during surface construction and necessitated two weeks of service disruptions in Downtown Seattle, including a forced transfer at Pioneer Square station . A grade crossing at Royal Brougham Way (adjacent to Stadium station) was replaced in August 2023 due to ground settling that had caused it to sink by 3 inches (7.6 cm). The project required trains to single-track and run with extensive delays, which continued during work at Othello and Rainier Beach stations that lasted until mid-September. The Lynnwood Link Extension opened on August 30, 2024, adding four stations to
17978-585: The Rainier Valley. A new designation, the 1 Line (colored green), was announced in April 2020 and took effect in September 2021. In January 2020, Sound Transit began a ten-week construction project called "Connect 2020" that required trains to single-track in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. The closure of tracks for work on the East Link Extension where it meets the existing tracks at International District/Chinatown necessitated
18180-526: The Seattle suburb of Issaquah . That was done to comply with the Buy America Act , requiring that at least half the value of foreign-built transit vehicles be U.S. content. Prototypes 5000–5002 (No. 5003 was kept in Italy) temporarily entered service on regular Metro routes in January 1990 – initially diesel routes, but on trolleybus route 43 a month later – to enable Metro to accrue experience with them prior to
18382-642: The US are the NJ Transit River Line from Camden to Trenton and Austin's Capital MetroRail , which have received exemptions to the provision that light rail operations occur only during daytime hours and Conrail freight service only at night, with several hours separating one operation from the other. The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa also has freight service at certain hours. With its mix of right-of-way types and train control technologies, LRT offers
18584-455: The US as a whole, excluding Seattle, new light rail construction costs average about $ 35 million per mile. By comparison, a freeway lane expansion typically costs $ 1.0 million to $ 8.5 million per lane mile for two directions, with an average of $ 2.3 million. However, freeways are frequently built in suburbs or rural areas, whereas light rail tends to be concentrated in urban areas, where right of way and property acquisition
18786-634: The United States and in North America . In Britain, modern light rail systems began to appear in the 1980s, starting with the Tyne and Wear Metro from 1980 and followed by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London in 1987, continuing into the 1990s including the establishment of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992 and the Sheffield Supertram from 1994. Due to varying definitions, it
18988-583: The United States are limited by demand rather than capacity (by and large, most American LRT systems carry fewer than 4,000 persons per hour per direction), but Boston's and San Francisco's light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour per track during rush hour. Elsewhere in North America, the Calgary C-Train and Monterrey Metro have higher light rail ridership than Boston or San Francisco. Systems outside North America often have much higher passenger volumes. The Manila Light Rail Transit System
19190-472: The United States, "light rail" has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of passenger rail systems. Light rail corridors may constitute a fully segregated corridor, a dedicated right-of-way on a street, an on-street corridor shared with other traffic, a corridor shared with other public transport, or a corridor shared with pedestrians. The most difficult distinction to draw is that between low-floor light rail and streetcar or tram systems. There
19392-730: The United States, light rail operates primarily along exclusive rights-of-way and uses either individual tramcars or multiple units coupled together, with a lower capacity and speed than a long heavy rail passenger train or rapid transit system. Narrowly defined, light rail transit uses rolling stock that is similar to that of a traditional tram, while operating at a higher capacity and speed, often on an exclusive right-of-way. In broader use, it includes tram-like operations mostly on streets. A few light rail networks have characteristics closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail , yet only when these systems are fully grade-separated are they referred to as light metros . The term light rail
19594-567: The United States: Light rail Light rail (or light rail transit , abbreviated to LRT ) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology while also having some features from heavy rapid transit . The term was coined in 1972 in the United States as an English equivalent for the German word Stadtbahn , meaning "city railway". Different definitions exist in some countries, but in
19796-576: The University Link extension in 2009 and were delivered from 2010 to 2011. The 1 Line fleet is stored and maintained at a 26-acre (10.5 ha) operating base in SoDo, between SODO and Beacon Hill stations. It opened in 2007, at a cost of $ 74 million to construct, and has a capacity of 105 light rail vehicles, including nine bays inside the 162,000-square-foot (15,100 m) maintenance building that can hold 16 vehicles. 1 Line trains are operated and maintained by King County Metro under
19998-415: The ability of buses to travel closer to each other than rail vehicles and their ability to overtake each other at designated locations allowing express services to bypass those that have stopped at stations. However, to achieve capacities this high, BRT station footprints need to be significantly larger than a typical LRT station. In terms of cost of operation, each bus vehicle requires a single driver, whereas
20200-574: The active fleet to only 53 coaches by 1971. In 1974, when a few Twin Coaches returned to service, the entire remaining fleet of 57 was renumbered into the series 600–656, comprising 34 of the 1940 Twins (600–633), eight of the slightly larger 1943 Twins (634–641) and all 15 of the 1944 Pullmans (642–656). Not long afterward, a shortage of serviceable vehicles prompted Metro Transit to re-acquire four trolleybuses that previously had been donated to museums. These included two Twins, one Pullman and, most notably,
20402-697: The age of 19 have been free as part of a statewide transit grant. The original "Series 1" fleet used on the 1 Line consisted of 62 low-floor light rail vehicles manufactured in Japan by Kinkisharyo . The Kinkisharyo vehicles, built through a joint venture with Mitsui & Co. , have 74 seats and can carry 194 seated and standing passengers at standard capacity; a maximum " crush load " of 252 passengers per car can be carried by Link trains for short distances. Individual railcars are 95 feet (29.0 m) long and 8.7 feet (2.7 m) wide, sporting dual cabs that allow cars to travel in either direction. The interior
20604-514: The agency, a 2009 King County Auditor's Office report recommended replacing the trolleybuses with hybrid diesel-electric coaches. The audit concluded that electric trolley fleet costs $ 31.2 million a year to own and operate while the hybrids would cost $ 22.6 million per year, a savings of $ 8.7 million per year. The auditor acknowledged that the report did not consider the value of the overhead wire or social and environmental considerations, such as increased tailpipe emissions or increased noise. Facing
20806-608: The campus. On March 23, 2020, King County Metro indefinitely suspended several bus routes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included route 47. Route 47 is still suspended as of May 2024. With the opening of the Northgate Link Light Rail extension on October 2, 2021, routes 43, 44, 49, and 70 were planned to be revised in the University District to serve the new U District station , but implementation of
21008-862: The case of the Disney amusement parks , even a land train . (The usual British term for an aerial tramway is cable car , which in the US usually refers to a ground-level car pulled along by subterranean cables .) The word trolley is often used as a synonym for streetcar in the United States but is usually taken to mean a cart, particularly a shopping cart, in the UK and elsewhere. Many North American transportation planners reserve streetcar for traditional vehicles that operate exclusively in mixed traffic on city streets, while they use light rail to refer to more modern vehicles operating mostly in exclusive rights of way, since they may operate both side-by-side targeted at different passenger groups. The difference between British English and American English terminology arose in
21210-561: The change was that Metro, who is tasked with acquiring the vehicles for the G Line, was unable to find any North American manufacturer willing to build articulated trolleybuses with doors on both sides – a G Line project requirement – that could handle the very steep grades on the westernmost portion of the line (18–19%). SDOT has also identified several possible future trolley wire expansions in its Transit Master Plan, including two key projects: electrifying Denny Way between Uptown and Olive Way (which would allow
21412-515: The city to retire the debts from the streetcar and cable car system. Management of system was turned over to an independent commission and renamed the Seattle Transit System (STS). The commission immediately began construction on overhead wire and ordered 235 new trolleybuses, the first of which started arriving in March 1940. The first trolleybus went into revenue service April 28, 1940, on route 13 which ran along 19th Avenue in Capitol Hill (which
21614-419: The claims of management, concluding that trolleybuses perform better than diesel powered buses on Seattle's hills and that operating costs were comparable (except for overhead wire maintenance). By 1970, the Seattle Transit System was facing mounting financial problems, leading voters to eliminate the commission and turn over operation of the system to the city. Voters spoke once again in 1972 when they approved
21816-421: The closure of Glasgow Corporation Tramways (one of the largest in Europe) in 1962. Although some traditional trolley or tram systems continued to exist in San Francisco and elsewhere, the term "light rail" has come to mean a different type of rail system as modern light rail technology has primarily post-WWII West German origins. An attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle in
22018-415: The coach lacked a propulsion system. Metro removed the motors, propulsion controls and other components from the AM General trolleys, sent them to Alstom to be refurbished and then reinstalled them into the new Gillig bodies along with new fiberglass trolley poles from Vossloh Kiepe . The repurposing of the propulsion system from the AM General trolleybuses saved $ 200,000 per coach, totaling $ 20 million for
22220-478: The construction of a temporary center platform at Pioneer Square for use by through-riding passengers. Sound Transit deployed four-car trains running every 13–15 minutes and implemented restrictions on carrying bicyclists on trains through downtown. The project was completed in late March after a week-long delay in testing, but the frequency restrictions remained due to the COVID-19 pandemic and local shutdowns. Service
22422-415: The day. This combination of factors limits roads carrying only automobile commuters to a maximum observed capacity of about 3,000 passengers per hour per lane. The problem can be mitigated by introducing high-occupancy vehicle ( HOV ) lanes and ride-sharing programs, but in most cases, policymakers have chosen to add more lanes to the roads, despite a small risk that in unfavorable situations an extension of
22624-750: The direct translation, which is city rail (the Norwegian term, by bane , means the same). However, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead. Light in this context is used in the sense of "intended for light loads and fast movement", rather than referring to physical weight. The infrastructure investment is also usually lighter than would be found for a heavy rail system. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in its Glossary of Transit Terminology, defines light rail as: ...a mode of transit service (also called streetcar, tramway, or trolley) operating passenger rail cars singly (or in short, usually two-car or three-car, trains) on fixed rails in
22826-491: The downtown transit tunnel were temporarily limited to single-track operations and divided into two lines at Pioneer Square station. As part of the Sound Transit 2 program, the 1 Line will be extended south to Federal Way by 2026. In 2032, the 3 Line to West Seattle will begin service, temporarily operating between Alaska Junction and SODO station. The opening of an extension to Ballard by 2039, traveling via
23028-832: The east side of Broadway . The tunnel makes a gradual turn to the west, dipping as far south as East Union Street, and crosses under Interstate 5 at Pine Street. It merges into the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel within the Pine Street Stub Tunnel, where it formerly merged with buses from Convention Place station . The downtown transit tunnel, formerly shared between light rail trains and buses, travels west under Pine Street through Westlake station and south on 3rd Avenue through Symphony and Pioneer Square stations in Downtown Seattle . The tunnel ends at International District/Chinatown station , adjacent to King Street Station (served by Amtrak and Sounder commuter rail ), and
23230-496: The end of 1983. Metro ultimately awarded a contract for an order of 236 dual-mode buses to Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie in October 1986, at a cost of $ 133 million, subsequently approved by the federal government's UMTA in November. Metro did not intend to use these vehicles on any of its surface trolleybus routes, only on the planned "tunnel routes", which were effectively diesel-bus routes and only used trolley propulsion inside
23432-413: The entire fleet. After the Breda coaches used in the transit tunnel were replaced by hybrid electric buses , Metro converted 59 coaches into electric-only trolleybuses between 2004 and 2007. As a part of the conversion, Metro removed the diesel motors from the coaches and installed new Vossloh-Kiepe current collection equipment, fiberglass trolley poles to replace the steel poles, new interior upholstery,
23634-456: The estimates were found to be unrealistic by auditors in November 2000. New executives, hired by Sound Transit to replace previous program directors, presented a revised plan with an opening date pushed back three years to 2009 and a $ 3.8 billion (equivalent to $ 6.39 billion in 2023 dollars) cost estimate. Planning of the Portage Bay tunnel between Capitol Hill and the University District
23836-416: The extension opened. The line was extended 1.6 miles (2.6 km) south from Sea-Tac Airport to Angle Lake station on September 24, 2016, including the opening of a 1,120-stall park and ride . The escalators at Capitol Hill and University of Washington stations experienced several major failures and shutdowns in the two years since the University Link extension was opened. These failures were attributed to
24038-467: The first low-floor trolleys in Metro's fleet and the first to be air-conditioned. Two prototype buses, XT40 Nos. 4300 and 4301, were delivered in October 2014 for evaluation and testing. Delivery of the production-series vehicles began in 2015, starting with the 40-foot units, the first of which entered service in August 2015. The prototype XT60 articulated unit was received by Metro on June 1, 2015, and
24240-550: The first Gilligs to enter service, on January 22, 2002. The 98 production-series vehicles were delivered between 2001 and early 2003. The last day of service for any AM General trolleybuses was March 27, 2003, and the last Gillig entered service on April 15, 2003. To replace the MAN articulated trolleybuses, Metro converted 59 of the 236 Breda dual-mode buses to trolley-only propulsion in 2004–2007, renumbered 4200–4258 and began using them for regular service on surface trolleybus routes for
24442-639: The first Xcelsior XT40 coaches entered service on August 19, 2015, followed by the first Xcelsior XT60 on January 29, 2016. After years of planning, King County Metro installed a new section of trolley wire near Seattle Pacific University in North Queen Anne and placed it into service in March 2017. Before this project, coaches used on Routes 3 and 4 laid over in residential areas of Queen Anne. This new wire allowed Routes 3 and 4 to join Route 13 in serving Seattle Pacific University, providing more frequent service to
24644-432: The first time. In the downtown tunnel, new hybrid electric buses had started to replace the dual-mode buses in June 2004, and the last use of a dual-mode bus in the tunnel occurred on January 24, 2005, on which date only a single dual-mode bus was in service (#5169 on routes 71/72/73). Before deciding to proceed with this conversion program, Metro made a trial conversion. Between fall 2001 and early 2002, dual-mode bus 5101
24846-489: The formation of the Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association in that year, Metro agreed to preserve examples of all four types – including the single Brill, #798 – for eventual restoration and operation by MEHVA. The preserved vehicles were No. 798, the 1940 PCF-Brill; No. 622 (originally No. 905, and given an earlier number, 643, after restoration), a 1940 Twin Coach 41GWFT; No. 636, a 1943 Twin Coach 44GTT; and No. 655 (restored to its original number, 1005, after restoration),
25048-448: The installation of standard commercial escalators instead of stronger escalators designed for transit stations. A new escalator contractor was selected to provide preventative maintenance in lieu of a proposed replacement plan; new stairways and connecting passageways were also opened to allow for alternative access. The Tukwila section of the line was shut down over one weekend in October 2018 for major repairs after cracks were discovered in
25250-438: The introduction of the city's first horse-drawn streetcar line. The system had been replaced with a network of electric streetcars and cable cars by the end of the decade, which spurred the development of new streetcar suburbs across modern-day Seattle. Interurban railways to Everett , Tacoma , and the Rainier Valley were established after the turn of the century, giving the region an intercity passenger rail system to feed
25452-497: The last new trolleybuses acquired until the late 1970s. The fleet's size peaked at that time, at 307, making Seattle's trolleybus fleet the 12th-largest in the United States. With the abandonment of several trolleybus routes in 1963, the remaining Brill trolleybuses were retired. The system was reduced to only about half its former size. Additional route closures in 1965 (route 11-East Madison) and 1970 (routes 3-North Queen Anne–Jefferson Park and 4-East Queen Anne–Montlake) reduced
25654-453: The late 19th century when Americans adopted the term "street railway", rather than "tramway", with the vehicles being called "streetcars" rather than "trams". Some have suggested that the Americans' preference for the term "street railway" at that time was influenced by German emigrants to the United States (who were more numerous than British immigrants in the industrialized Northeast), as it is
25856-524: The latter is described as light rail. In those places, trams running on mixed rights-of-way are not regarded as a light rail but considered distinctly as streetcars or trams. However, the requirement for saying that a rail line is "separated" can be quite low—sometimes just with concrete "buttons" to discourage automobile drivers from getting onto the tracks. Some systems such as Seattle's Link had on-road mixed sections but were closed to regular road traffic, with light rail vehicles and buses both operating along
26058-455: The light rail concept was the "Shaker Heights Rapid Transit" which started in the 1920s, was renovated in 1980-81 and is now part of RTA Rapid Transit . Many original tram and streetcar systems in the United Kingdom , United States , and elsewhere were decommissioned starting in the 1950s as subsidies for the car increased. Britain abandoned its tram systems, except for Blackpool , with
26260-491: The line as it crossed into Snohomish County . It cost $ 3 billion to construct the 8.5-mile (13.7 km) extension and is expected to carry 50,000 daily passengers. On the same day, University Street station was renamed to Symphony to reduce confusion with the stations serving the University of Washington campus. The full 2 Line between Seattle and the Eastside was planned to open before Lynnwood and provide access to
26462-436: The line to 14 miles (23 km), between Downtown Seattle and a southern Tukwila station near Sea-Tac Airport. The remaining routes to the airport and University District were sent back to the planning stage, and re-organized into separate light rail projects. In November 2001, Sound Transit approved construction of the shortened Central Link light rail project, calling for a summer 2002 groundbreaking. Property acquisition in
26664-407: The line. Ridership increased significantly in the following years, surpassing 25,000 daily riders in 2012, 30,000 in 2014, and 35,000 in 2015. The opening of the University Link extension in March 2016 increased daily ridership by 66 percent in its first month of operation, and averaged 66,203 daily riders during the last quarter of the year. A single-day ridership record of 82,361 estimated boardings
26866-485: The merger of the now city-owned Seattle Transit System and the privately held Metropolitan Transit Corporation into a single, countywide transit system under the auspices of the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle (better known as Metro). Metro had promised voters that it would keep the trolleybus system if the transfer of the transit system to Metro was approved. There had been "prolonged and vocal [public] opposition to
27068-495: The name "Central Link". In 1999, Sound Transit selected the alignment for the light rail project, consisting of a line between the University District and Sea-Tac Airport, with surface segments passing through Tukwila , the Rainier Valley, and SoDo , and tunnels under Beacon Hill , First Hill , Capitol Hill, and Portage Bay . The Central Link project was originally planned to open in 2006 and projected to cost $ 1.9 billion (equivalent to $ 3.41 billion in 2023 dollars), but
27270-455: The number of electrical substations , which are spaced approximately one mile (1.6 km) apart. Sound Transit placed its initial order of 31 light rail vehicles in 2003, and added four more vehicles in 2005 for the extension to SeaTac/Airport station. The cars were assembled in Everett, to comply with Buy America requirements, and delivered from 2006 to 2008. Another 27 vehicles were ordered for
27472-449: The number was much smaller in subsequent years, with three or four per year. Since the early 1990s, MEHVA has normally operated two vintage-trolleybus excursions per year: a four-hour daytime trip and a 2 ½-hour evening trip, and this pattern continues as of 2017. Operation of historic trolleybuses has also taken place for special events, such as the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Seattle trolleybus system, in April 2000. In
27674-465: The old and new systems. Since the 1980s, Portland, Oregon , has built all three types of system: a high-capacity light rail system in dedicated lanes and rights-of-way, a low-capacity streetcar system integrated with street traffic, and an aerial tram system . The opposite phrase heavy rail , used for higher-capacity, higher-speed systems, also avoids some incompatibilities in terminology between British and American English, for instance in comparing
27876-531: The old route had run. The former route 4-Montlake was revived as route 43, Downtown–Montlake–University District and extended west with a new, never-before-existing section of trolleybus route between the University District and Ballard. Former route 9-Broadway was also replaced by route 7 and extended across the University Bridge to the University District, returning trolleybus service to much of former route 7-15th Avenue NE, which had been abandoned as
28078-431: The old vehicles. In June 2013, Metro placed an order with New Flyer for 141 Xcelsior trolleybuses. Eighty-six were to be 40-foot vehicles (model XT40) and 55 were to be 60-foot, articulated vehicles (model XT60). Because of the expansion of service made possible by Seattle's new transportation benefit district, in early 2015 the order was increased to 110 model XT40 buses and 64 model XT60 buses. The Xcelsior trolleys are
28280-459: The opening of the University Link extension . The line was extended north to University of Washington station , via Capitol Hill station , on March 19, 2016, via a $ 1.8 billion, 3.15-mile (5.07 km) tunnel. The extension opened six months ahead of its scheduled date, and the opening celebrations drew 67,000 people during the first day of service. Sound Transit deployed additional three-car light rail trains to cope with higher ridership after
28482-676: The opening of the DSTT. The first production-series vehicle was accepted in March 1990. By the opening of the DSTT, on September 15, 1990, 55 Breda dual-mode buses had been accepted for service, and all Bredas were used exclusively on "tunnel routes" from then on. The next major change to the trolleybus fleet occurred in the early 2000s, as the AM Generals and MANs would both be due for replacement around that time. In 2001–2003, Metro acquired 100 new 40-foot-long (12 m) Gillig Phantom trolleys, to replace its 109 AM General trolleys. The drive train of
28684-466: The overhead wire expanded in 1962 to serve the World's Fair , but citywide the Seattle Transit System was increasingly abandoning the trolley routes. One year later in 1963, the commission retired 175 trolleybuses and tore down the overhead wire in the north end of the city and West Seattle . A group of citizens protested the abandonment of the trolley routes with an initiative to voters in 1964, but it failed at
28886-480: The peak direction during rush hour. Trolleybuses in Seattle The Seattle trolleybus (or trolley ) system forms part of the public transportation network in the city of Seattle, Washington , operated by King County Metro . Originally opened on April 28, 1940, the network consists of 15 routes, with 174 trolleybuses operating on 68 miles (109 km) of two-way parallel overhead lines . As of
29088-595: The plan's timeline to open by 2000. In 1990, the state legislature endorsed the creation of a regional transit board composed of politicians from King, Pierce , and Snohomish counties, with the goal of implementing the regional transit plan. Several members of the Seattle City Council endorsed the rail plan on the condition that it pass through the Rainier Valley, by then an economically disadvantaged and majority-minority neighborhood. The Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, later renamed Sound Transit ,
29290-456: The planning of future Link light rail extensions, scheduled to open in stages between 2021 and 2040. The Northgate Link extension opened on October 2, 2021, and extended the 1 Line by three stations to the north end of Seattle. It was followed by the 2 Line in 2024, a new line to Bellevue and Redmond , that will be extended west to Seattle in 2025. During construction related to the 2 Line (then called East Link) in early 2020, trains within
29492-435: The polls. By the end of the 1960s, the trolleybus system had been reduced to just 59 coaches operating on 30 miles of overhead wire. Seattle Transit System management defended the move claiming cost savings from using diesel-powered buses, the high cost of electrifying new routes and the lack of any new trolley coaches on the market. Under fire from the public, the commission ordered an independent study. That study contradicted
29694-404: The production-series vehicles began arriving in December 2015, with the first day of service for the type being January 29, 2016. The New Flyer trolleybuses gradually replaced the older vehicles in 2015 and 2016. The last day of service for Breda trolleybuses was October 27, 2016, after more than 26 years of use (the first 15 as dual-mode buses). The last day of service for any Gillig trolleybuses
29896-460: The project's total price to $ 117 million below the $ 2.44 billion budget. The opening of light rail service to the Rainier Valley spurred new transit-oriented development , which had initially stalled during the Great Recession but recovered in the mid-2010s. Central Link train service was increased to a frequency of 6 minutes during peak hours, from 7.5 minutes, in 2015 to prepare for
30098-485: The rails on the 1,200-foot (370 m) bridge crossing Interstate 5 . Central Link was renamed to the "Red Line" as part of a systemwide rebranding in September 2019 by Sound Transit to prepare for the arrival of East Link (the Blue Line). Two months later, the agency announced that it would consider a new name after complaints due to the similarity of the "Red Line" with redlining , which historically affected residents of
30300-603: The rapid transit system was granted to Atlanta, Georgia , forming the initial funding for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority 's rail system. Following the failed Forward Thrust initiatives, Metro Transit was created in 1972 to oversee a countywide bus network, and plan for a future rail system. In the early 1980s, Metro Transit and the Puget Sound Council of Governments (PSCOG) explored light rail and busway concepts to serve
30502-516: The region, ultimately choosing to build a downtown transit tunnel that would be convertible from buses to light rail at a later date. The PSCOG formally endorsed a light rail plan in 1986, recommending a system be built by 2020, and include a line between Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport , with routing alternatives that served the Rainier Valley. A 1988 advisory measure on light rail planning was passed in King County , encouraging Metro Transit to accelerate
30704-447: The regional ORCA card , paper tickets, or a mobile app. Sound Transit uses proof-of-payment to verify passenger fares, employing fare ambassadors and transit police to conduct random inspections. Until August 2024, fares were calculated based on distance traveled. All stations have ticket vending machines , public art , bicycle parking, and bus connections, while several also have park-and-ride lots. Voters approved Central Link in
30906-426: The relocation of sensitive equipment at four facilities. The Northgate extension opened on October 2, 2021, adding three stations to the line's north end. Service on the 1 Line was disrupted several times in 2022 and 2023 by emergency repairs and maintenance projects that necessitated section closures and single-tracking with reduced frequencies. The tactile strip on the edge of platforms at several stations in
31108-417: The reopening of the first two routes (2 and 10), on September 15, 1979. The last units entered service with the opening of the last two routes (7 and 43), on May 23, 1981. With electrification of motor bus routes 15 and 18 planned, in 1984 Metro placed an order with MAN , of Germany, for 46 articulated (bending) trolleybuses. Although Metro's fleet already included about 350 articulated diesel buses from
31310-540: The required clearance height can be reduced significantly compared to conventional light rail vehicles. Reference speed from major light rail systems, including station stop time, is shown below. However, low top speed is not always a differentiating characteristic between light rail and other systems. For example, the Siemens S70 LRVs used in the Houston METRORail and other North American LRT systems have
31512-432: The right-of-way that is often separated from other traffic for part or much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley [pole] or a pantograph ; driven by an operator onboard the vehicle; and may have either high platform loading or low-level boarding using steps." However, some diesel-powered transit is designated light rail, such as
31714-415: The road network might lead to increased travel times ( Downs–Thomson paradox , Braess's paradox ). By contrast, light rail vehicles can travel in multi-car trains carrying a theoretical ridership up to 20,000 passengers per hour in much narrower rights-of-way , not much more than two car lanes wide for a double track system. They can often be run through existing city streets and parks , or placed in
31916-401: The roads. Typically roadways have 1,900 passenger cars per lane per hour (pcplph). If only cars are allowed, the capacity will be less and will not increase when the traffic volume increases. When there is a bus driving on this route, the capacity of the lane will be higher and will increase when the traffic level increases. And because the capacity of a light rail system is higher than that of
32118-475: The route changes was postponed indefinitely (the changes being shown in updated schedules but with the four routes "rerouted" to continue following their old routings starting on the same day, October 2) because of delays in preparing a new bus-only lane on NE 43rd Street and installing overhead trolley wires along the new routing. The new loop, along NE 43rd Street and 12th Avenue NE, opened for service with buses on Saturday, June 25, 2022, and with trolleybuses on
32320-613: The same as the German term for the mode, Straßenbahn (meaning "street railway"). A further difference arose because, while Britain abandoned all of its trams after World War II except in Blackpool , eight major North American cities ( Toronto , Boston , Philadelphia , San Francisco , Pittsburgh , Newark , Cleveland , and New Orleans ) continued to operate large streetcar systems. When these cities upgraded to new technology, they called it light rail to differentiate it from their existing streetcars since some continued to operate both
32522-408: The same manufacturer, these were its first articulated trolleybuses. Moreover, they were the first such vehicles in North America. A prototype was delivered in January 1986, and the remaining 45 followed in 1987. They began to enter service in April 1987. The planned conversion of routes 15 and 18 to trolleybuses was later deferred, as funds needed to be diverted to the downtown tunnel project, and
32724-534: The same seating capacity but a wider central walkway and other new features. The first Siemens cars entered service on May 14, 2021. A satellite maintenance facility in Bellevue was opened in 2021 to accommodate 96 more vehicles, including part of the new fleet and older Series 1 vehicles undergoing retrofit work. A third facility is planned to be built near Federal Way to support future system expansion. Sound Transit's expansion ballot measures, passed as Sound Transit 2 in 2008 and Sound Transit 3 in 2016, enabled
32926-411: The shuttle and other bus services to the airport. Sound Transit added lubrication equipment and rubber mats to segments in Tukwila and the Rainier Valley in 2010 to reduce noise levels that had reached up to 83 decibels , surpassing federal safety standards and triggering noise complaints from nearby residents. A contract dispute with the Rainier Valley construction contractor was settled in 2011, bringing
33128-408: The standard gauge is that standard railway maintenance equipment can be used on it, rather than custom-built machinery. Using standard gauges also allows light rail vehicles to be conveniently moved around using the same tracks as freight railways. Additionally, wider gauges (e.g. standard gauge) provide more floor clearance on low-floor trams that have constricted pedestrian areas at the wheels, which
33330-440: The streetcar lines. The interurban system failed to compete with the increasing popularity of automobile travel, capped by the completion of U.S. Route 99 in the late 1920s, and was shut down. By 1941, the streetcars had also been acquired by the municipal government and replaced with a trolleybus network . Various proposals for a rapid transit system in Seattle, to replace the streetcar—and later bus—networks, were presented in
33532-428: The surface to follow the eastern edge of Interstate 5 and serve Shoreline North/185th station . It then continues south until it reaches the elevated Shoreline South/148th station ; the latter Shoreline station will serve as a transfer to the future Stride S3 Line . The line leaves Shoreline elevated into Seattle, passing through provisions made for a future infill station at Northeast 130th Street before descending to
33734-551: The system was a success with the public, gaining up to 190,000 passengers per day. Automatic train operation is employed on light rail networks, tracking the position and speed of a train and hence adjusting its movement for safety and efficiency. One line of light rail (requires 7.6 m, 25' right of way) has a theoretical capacity of up to 8 times more than one 3.7 m (12 foot) lane on a freeway, excluding busses, during peak times. Roads have ultimate capacity limits that can be determined by traffic engineering , and usually experience
33936-523: The terminal. The bus route ran at less frequent intervals, was subject to traffic delays, and had shorter hours of operation. The final four northbound trips during late night service terminate at Beacon Hill station instead of continuing through Downtown Seattle to allow for overnight maintenance to begin earlier on some sections; prior to 2024, these trains terminated at Stadium station. 1 Line trains carried over 26.88 million total passengers in 2023, averaging 78,944 riders on weekdays. Ridership
34138-400: The third quarter of 2024, the system carries riders on an average of 39,500 trips per weekday, comprising about 18 percent of King County Metro's total daily ridership. Of the four trolleybus systems currently operating in the U.S. , the Seattle system is the second largest (by ridership and fleet size), after the San Francisco system . The first trolleybus to operate on Seattle's streets
34340-540: The total number of trolleybuses in the fleet by 18 coaches since at the time the order was placed, Metro was planning to cut service (as a part of the cost-saving measures amid the economic downturn). Instead, the agency ended up expanding service after Seattle voters approved a transportation benefit district. As a result, the order was increased to 110 model XT40 buses and 64 model XT60 buses in early 2015. Two prototype Xcelsior XT40 trolleybuses (Nos. 4300 and 4301) were delivered in October 2014 for evaluation and testing and
34542-499: The trams, making it safe on city streets. Several systems in Europe and a few recently opened systems in North America use diesel -powered trains. When electric streetcars were introduced in the late 19th century, conduit current collection was one of the first ways of supplying power, but it proved to be much more expensive, complicated, and trouble-prone than overhead wires . When electric street railways became ubiquitous, conduit power
34744-474: The trolley routes, during the overnight hours. Notes: The Metro trolleybus fleet presently comprises two types, 40-foot (12 m) and 60-foot (18 m) articulated buses . These buses accrue a total of 3.7 million miles each year (62.8% on 40-foot buses, 37.2% on 60-foot buses) and are the cleanest and quietest buses in Metro's fleet. Metro's current trolleybuses are New Flyer Xcelsior coaches that were delivered beginning in 2015. These 174 coaches have
34946-490: The trolleybus fleet with 100 standard 40-foot Gillig vehicles and 59 articulated Breda vehicles. Those vehicles were predicted to reach the end of their cost-effective service lives around 2012–2014, and in 2009 Metro proposed abandoning the trolleybus system when the last Gillig and Breda trolleybuses were retired. However, additional studies and strong public opposition to the proposal ultimately resulted in Metro's decision to purchase another fleet of new trolleybuses to replace
35148-435: The trolleybus routes to be rerouted to 1st Avenue for several years. Once construction was finished, the trolleybuses returned to Third Avenue and the tunnel opened on September 15, 1990. The tunnel introduced the dual-mode Breda DuoBus 350 (ADPB 350) coaches that operated on overhead wire underground, which drove the center axle, and diesel on the surface, which drove the rear axle. The Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle
35350-455: The vast majority of light rail systems. This avoids the danger potentially presented by an electrified third rail . The Docklands Light Railway uses an inverted third rail for its electrical power, which allows the electrified rail to be covered and the power drawn from the underside. Trams in Bordeaux , France, use a special third-rail configuration where the power is only switched on beneath
35552-475: The vintage coaches. Under the agreement, Metro maintained ownership of the historic fleet , providing insurance coverage, storage space, work space and spare parts on an 'as available' basis. The first trolleybus to be restored by MEHVA was 1944 Pullman-Standard No. 1005, and regular public excursions around the trolleybus system with No. 1005 began in 1985. In the summer of the following year, MEHVA scheduled three four-hour excursions and six one-hour trips, but
35754-445: The western edge of Interstate 5 from 208th Street Southwest until it enters Mountlake Terrace at 212th Street Southwest. There, it descends to the surface—aside from an elevated section over 220th Street Southwest—and continues following Interstate 5 until it crosses over the highway to serve Mountlake Terrace station . From Mountlake Terrace, the line crosses south over State Route 104 into Shoreline and King County , descending to
35956-434: The widest range of latitude of any rail system in the design, engineering, and operating practices. The challenge in designing light rail systems is to realize the potential of LRT to provide fast, comfortable service while avoiding the tendency to overdesign that results in excessive capital costs beyond what is necessary to meet the public's needs. The BART railcar in the following chart is not generally considered to be
36158-436: The years since MEHVA has continued to add additional trolley and motor buses to the historic fleet. Sixty-foot-long articulated trolleybuses were added to the fleet in 1986–87. The 46 coaches, designed by MAN of West Germany and built at a North Carolina MAN plant, were assigned to the busy routes 7 and 43, equivalent to present-day routes 7, 49, 43 and 44 (before a 1993 splitting of route 43 into routes 43 and 44, and
36360-448: Was November 29, 2016. The Metro Employees Historic Vehicle Association (MEHVA) has preserved and restored several vintage trolleybuses from the system's past fleet. These include No. 798, a 1940 PCF - Brill ; No. 643 (originally No. 905), a 1940 Twin Coach 41GWFT; No. 1005, a 1944 Pullman-Standard; No. 1008, a 1979 AM General; No. 5034, a 1990 Breda dual-mode bus; and, No. 4195, a 2002 Gillig. Also preserved by MEHVA, but not restored,
36562-455: Was coined in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA; the precursor to the Federal Transit Administration ) to describe new streetcar transformations that were taking place in Europe and the United States. In Germany, the term Stadtbahn (to be distinguished from S-Bahn , which stands for Stadtschnellbahn ) was used to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt
36764-463: Was completed in early 1941 and was built specifically to house and maintain trolleybuses. The system originally had two garages, called "stations" by Seattle Transit. Jefferson Station, a former streetcar barn built in 1910 or 1907 and located in Seattle's Central District , opened for trolleybuses in 1940. Atlantic Station, at the same location as today's Atlantic Base, opened in 1941. Following service reductions in 1963 and 1970, Jefferson garage
36966-483: Was converted to electric-only, and it entered service on the surface trolleybus system in February 2002. Later, when Metro decided to proceed with a conversion program of several vehicles, it adopted a planned fleet-number series of 4200–4258, and No. 5101 was renumbered 4200 in 2004. The retirement of the MAN trolleys began in 2004, and the last day of service for the type was July 25, 2007. The mid-2000s transition left
37168-418: Was created in 1993 to write and present a regional transit plan for voter approval. The agency proposed a 70-mile (110 km) light rail network as the centerpiece of a $ 6.7 billion transit ballot measure, with a surface line through the Rainier Valley and tunnels between Downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill, and the University District. The ballot measure failed to pass on March 14, 1995, and the light rail line
37370-422: Was declared unconstitutional in February 2003. Another routing change requested by the City of Tukwila, placing light rail tracks along freeways in lieu of International Boulevard, was approved by Sound Transit and the Federal Transit Administration in 2002, moving the project closer to construction. Sound Transit received its $ 500 million federal grant agreement in October 2003, and a groundbreaking ceremony
37572-425: Was delivered in April 1979. The first routes were back in trolley service on September 15, 1979. Over the next two years, more routes were placed back into service as construction was completed and new coaches delivered. By the summer of 1981, the entire trolley system was back up and running. In addition to modernization, the 1978–1981 rebuilding included expansion, resurrecting several closed routes and adding
37774-461: Was disbanded in 1994 after the public voted to merge it with the King County government. After the merger, Metro Transit became a division of King County's Department of Transportation. In September 1997, King County Metro expanded the trolleybus system, electrifying Route 70 between downtown and the University District via Eastlake Avenue E. The $ 19 million project, primarily funded by a grant from
37976-479: Was extended south to SeaTac/Airport in December 2009, north to the University of Washington in March 2016, and south to Angle Lake in September 2016. The line was temporarily renamed the Red Line until its designation was changed to the 1 Line in 2021, coinciding with an extension to Northgate. The first cross-county extension, north to Lynnwood, opened in August 2024. A further southern extension to Federal Way
38178-584: Was funded by the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure in 2008 and began construction in 2012. The 3.5-mile (5.6 km) tunnel was excavated between July 2014 and September 2016 using two tunnel boring machines, creating a pair of bores between the extension's three stations. The southernmost section of the extension passes under the University of Washington campus and required several mitigation measures to reduce electromagnetic interference for laboratory equipment, including rubber dampeners on floating slabs of track and
38380-404: Was held in SoDo on November 8, 2003. Construction contracts for various segments were awarded in 2004 and 2005, coming six percent under Sound Transit's estimates, and work began along all parts of the system. The first rails were installed on August 18, 2005, in the SoDo area; a month later, the downtown transit tunnel closed for a two-year renovation to accommodate light rail service. Excavation of
38582-476: Was in 1937. It was brought to the city for a demonstration to gain public support for a plan to replace the debt-ridden streetcar and cable car system with a "trackless trolley" system. The demonstration was a success, but still reeling from the impacts of the Great Depression , Seattle voters rejected the plan in a municipal election on March 9, 1937. In 1939, Seattle received a federal loan that allowed
38784-662: Was introduced in North America in 1972 to describe this new concept of rail transportation. Prior to that time the abbreviation "LRT" was used for " Light Rapid Transit " and " Light Rail Rapid Transit ". The first of the new light rail systems in North America began operation in 1978 when the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta , adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by Calgary, Alberta , and San Diego, California . The concept proved popular, with there now being numerous light rail systems in
38986-445: Was later scaled-back slightly, but the final plan agreed to by the City and Metro would eventually see the system expand from 55 vehicles to 109 and from 32 route miles to 55 by 1981, in addition to replacement of all of the old fleet and infrastructure with new. The new Metro Transit began operation on January 1, 1973, and in 1974 it began working on fleshing-out the plans to rehabilitate and expand Seattle's trolleybus network, hiring
39188-434: Was opened on July 18, 2009, with a community celebration that attracted more than 92,000 riders over the first weekend of free service. Trains began operating on the 13.9-mile (22.4 km) segment between Westlake and Tukwila International Boulevard stations, along with a bus shuttle to serve Sea-Tac Airport from Tukwila. The 1.7-mile (2.7 km) extension to SeaTac/Airport station opened on December 19, 2009, replacing
39390-413: Was placed on the ballot in February 1968, but fell short of supermajority needed to pass. A second attempt in May 1970, with $ 440 million (equivalent to $ 2.66 billion in 2023 dollars) in local funding and $ 870 million (equivalent to $ 5.27 billion in 2023 dollars) in federal funding, failed amid a local economic downturn caused by layoffs at Boeing . The federal funding earmarked towards
39592-544: Was reduced to every 30 minutes in April and partially restored in September to every 8 minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes during most other hours. The first of the new "Series 2" light rail vehicles, based on the Siemens S700 , entered service in May 2021. The third expansion of the 1 Line, a 4.3-mile (6.9 km) northern extension from University of Washington station to the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle,
39794-602: Was set on April 8, 2016, credited to a Seattle Mariners home opener and the Emerald City Comic Con . The record was surpassed five months later on September 30, estimated at 101,000 riders, due in part to home games for the Washington Huskies football team and Seattle Mariners. Ridership fell to 9.7 million total passengers in 2020, a decline of 61 percent from 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other service reductions. Link ridership grew following
39996-431: Was shortened to 25 miles (40 km), between the University District and Sea-Tac Airport. Voters approved the $ 3.9 billion package on November 5, 1996, along with increases to sales taxes and motor vehicle excise taxes across the regional transit district. Sound Transit considered several routing options during a series of public hearings and studies early into the project's environmental impact study, which adopted
40198-481: Was suspended due to higher than expected contractor bids, attributed to difficult soil conditions. Sound Transit adopted the revised budget and schedule in January 2001, including provisions to re-study routing options between Downtown Seattle and the University District, along with a $ 500 million federal grant agreement to fund the construction of an "initial segment" for the project. The initial segment identified and approved by Sound Transit later that year shortened
40400-610: Was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. It initially drew current from the rails, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. The first interurban to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. An early example of
40602-440: Was ultimately canceled. The arrival of the new articulated trolleybuses instead led to some AM General trolleybuses being placed into storage. All 46 MAN trolleybuses were taken out of service in November 1987 because of a braking problem, and remained out of service for a full year while Metro worked on solving the problem. They began to return to service in November 1988. For the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) project,
40804-517: Was used in those cities that did not permit overhead wires. In Europe, it was used in London, Paris, Berlin, Marseille, Budapest, and Prague. In the United States, it was used in parts of New York City and Washington, D.C. Third rail technology was investigated for use on the Gold Coast of Australia for the G:link light rail, though power from overhead lines was ultimately utilized for that system. In
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