Riding LINK Light Rail in Seattle for the First Time
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- Опубликовано: 12 янв 2024
- LINK is the light rail system that serves the Seattle, Washington Area. The first section opened in 2009. Though there is currently only one line, over the next few years, extensions and new lines will help form LINK into a large, robust regional transit network. This is our first time exploring the system, and we will be taking a look at several underground stations, the former shared tunnel with buses, and the brand-new Siemens S700 light rail vehicles.
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My favorite thing about Link (1 Line) is that it goes directly from SEA-TAC airport right to the heart of Seattle. (I also appreciate Denver for having an airport train connection.)
Being from a city like Orlando, I really do appreciate a good airport rail connection. Seattle and Denver don't disappoint
Just discovered the channel! I live in Seattle and it's always fun to see our transit system on screen! I'm excited for the 2-Line crossing the I-90 bridge. It's supposed to be the first light rail system to cross a pontoon bridge! A lot of thought went into designing a piece of railway that could flex with the bridge's movements.
I will have to consult many of my more STEM-oriented friends if I come back to ride the 2 line. I have no idea how you can make a train work on a floating bridge 😂
@@Thom-TRA I study Urban Planning so we talked quite a bit about it, although not in scientific depth. The most important things were rubberized railroad ties to absorb the floating motion of the bridge, and a special kind of epoxy to fasten them in place.
Thanks! Best of luck with your studies
I was a bit mistaken, the rubber also isolates electric current from flowing roguely in our famous rain.
@@matthewb5364 that’s probably a good idea lol 🌧️
The Capitol Hill neighborhood is named such because of James A. Moore. And no, it has no connection to the one in DC. James A. Moore was a real estate developer who platted much of the area, and he wanted the Washington state government to move the capital from Olympia to Seattle, so he named it Capitol Hill in 1901 after the neighborhood of his wife's hometown Denver. Before this, it was called Broadway Hill. The art above the platform at Capitol Hill station is called Jet Kiss by Mike Ross and was installed in 2015 before the station opened in 2016. The piece consists of two actual decommissioned US Navy A-4 Skyhawk fighter jets, which were disassembled and painted magenta and yellow.
The two fighter jets were acquired from a scrapyard in Arizona, and were sent to Ross's studio in Oakland, California for disassembly and reconfiguration. The choice of magenta and yellow paint for the jets was a move to offset the city's stereotypical overcast skies. The choice of jets is a reference to the city's aviation history. Originally the concept was a dogfight, but this received backlash in the late 2000s when they were selecting artists and was changed to a non-aggressive and bird-like arrangement, in reference to the official City Bird, the Great blue heron. The A-4 Skyhawk was developed in the 1950s and were the principal light aircraft used during the Vietnam War.
I never realized they were real planes!
Wow, I live here in Seattle and I didn't know that about the planes in the Capitol Hill station.
The Link has revolutionized getting around Seattle (and down to the airport). Keep on building, Sound Transit!
Link is actually quite special among light rail systems because it is the only light rail in the United States that uses 1500 Volt DC power (all other systems including most streetcars use either 600 Volts DC or 750 Volts DC) the only other lines in north America to use this voltage are Metra Electric/South Shore Railroad in Chicago and the Montreal REM,
Also fun fact part of the link runs in the Right-of-way of the old Milwaukee Road which was the first long distance Electrified railroad in the World
I never realized that! That’s the same electrification as the Netherlands and many Japanese railways.
@@Thom-TRA yep exactly the reason the Tokyo metro uses the same standards as mainline Japanese trains which in turn inspired by the suburban rail systems in other parts of the world
Oh yeah, I think they did that to reduce the number of substations that they had to build in order to reduce costs.
I use light rail every time I'm in Seattle. I find it a very convenient way to get around. Usually, anywhere I want to go, I can either walk or use light rail.
I was out here in the summer of 2023 as a field engineer intern building the new Line 2 to Bellevue and Redmond. Once I graduate college my company plans on sending me back to Seattle to help build future expansions! I got to see a lot of the behind the scenes machinery and systems that the public doesn’t normally see. There’s a whole entire set of backrooms in the Capitol Hill station that are not accessible to passengers, it’s absolutely massive.
What are the back rooms for?
@@Thom-TRA Other than employee bathrooms and storage. It was basically a lot of underground power distribution equipment for the station and the tunnels as well.
im guessing most of the underground stations have that, right? those extra stops on the elevators have to go somewhere...
@@cheef825 Exactly, those secret floors on those elevators in the underground stations are only accessible using employee key cards.
Their livery is chef's kiss! Love the artwork you showed on the platform at International District/Chinatown! They're nine painted steel origami patterns by Sonya Ishii, called the Paper Chase. The origami depicts the phases of the moon and blooming of a cherry blossom! It wasn't shown here, but the station plaza's bricks have Chinese zodiac symbols in the style of Coast Salish animal depictions, a nice combination of indigenous and immigrant heritage! When the tunnel was opened in 1990, they already installed light rail tracks in anticipation, however they had to be replaced when the tracks were later found to be poorly insulated and unusable. And there was a scandal during the tunnel's construction when it was discovered in 1989 that the granite was quarried in South Africa despite a boycott of South African goods at the time.
There's another road-rail tunnel in the US, though not solely for transit! The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel in Whittier, Alaska, the place famous for pretty much everyone in town living in one building, Begich Towers. It's not just a road-rail tunnel, but also the longest highway tunnel in North America at 2.5 miles long, the first designed for -40 Fahrenheit temperatures and 150 mph winds, and the first to be aired out with jet turbine ventilation. Built as a rail-only tunnel in the 1940s when Whittier was an important WWII military base, it was turned into a road-rail tunnel in 2000 as a way to better connect Whittier to the rest of Alaska and to save money so they didn't need to build a car tunnel.
I’ve always wanted to visit Whittier! Perhaps a trip to Alaska is in the cards someday. It is one of only 2 states I have yet to visit…
@@Thom-TRA i'm going to bet the other one is idaho, but i may be wrong...
there isn't much reason for people to come here for transit stuff, though i wish there was
@@wolfy_dragon actually, it’s Louisiana strangely!
@@Thom-TRA hm, funny...
never been there either
Great video! Can’t wait for your return in 2040 to ride the full system 😅
I think I’ll send my kids at that point 😂
as I'm born in Cologne/Germany these trains remember me to the model K4000 trainsets still in service for decades in the Cologne tram system. Cool what happens when these trains are updated. Great to see Siemens trams overseas 👍
You would enjoy the USA, these days almost everything is Siemens.
@@Thom-TRA I definitely will... but... I'm still sorry about taking out the iconic BART legacy trains; I love them deeply, the sound is awesome and beside Chicago SFO has a great public transport
@@bobo-san I’m glad I got the chance to ride them
@@Thom-TRA yes you did and make a great YT record of that... big thumbs up! 👍
The reason we use LRVs has a lot to do with early political power. Building the early sections at grade was a cost cutting compromise to help get the system actually built. From now on Sound Transit has said that they will no longer build the system to be street running (this does not include the future Tacoma Community College extension of the Tacoma Streetcar)
A lot of hay has been made by people like RM Transit about how disastrous a choice LRVs were for link. Outside of door spacing, very few of the arguments match with reality. The future series 3 LRVs will have the same capacity as an equally long WMATA train and the current design only has slightly lower capacity, much of which could be fixed simply by reconfiguring for all bench seating
That's one of many reasons I stopped watching RM Transit Video clickbait. Because it is not based on factual information just nonsense. Seattle Central Link is an upgrade Rapid Transit LRT like an Edmonton, Calgary and Los Angeles.
Yeah, using LRVs is fine; changing to metro would involve converting to high platform at every single station and is probably not worth it for the time being.
I am a frequent transit user in Seattle (carfree for 7 years now, living in Capitol Hill) and I watch a lot of transit channels. To be honest, I don't know one trainset from another and don't much care if something is a light rail or a metro or whatever. Does it go where I want with frequency? Is it easy to get around the city and is it accessible? Is it clean and safe and not wildly expensive? I'm a huge fan of the lightrail and I also ride the streetcar twice a week. And buses several days a week. I also stopped watching much of RM Transit because of the nitpicking about things that don't actually matter much to the folks that ride the transit. Just get the darn things built so we can ride them!
Glad I’m not the only one realizing this. Seems that many people view link, because it’s low floor, as essentially a streetcar in tunnels, with similar capacity as the light rails in Ontario and put every problem it being low floor and light rail, especially when comparing it to an older and more established systems in the skytrain or even C-Train/ETS, which seems to lead to people being convinced that it needs to go high floor when it’s going to have a capacity of 9,600pphpd in its current form once line 2 crosses the lake, with plenty of room to expand on both capacity and on top of an already fast service.
This.
Light Rail hysteria by transit purists drives me nuts. Yes…I love a good heavy rail system, yes, it works more efficiently. No, it is not practical in today’s day and age of expanding the most transit with the least amount of tax and civilian blowback. I’m not saying it’s perfect, it can’t fix sprawling cities like Phoenix where running mostly at grade means it has horrible headways. But Seattle is the shining example of how light rail can be utilized to create a strong mass transit from scratch
I have to say that Sound Transit has done a great job with much of their light rail system so far. The tunnel between Northgate and UW that opened in 2021 has been a great addition to the 1 Line. Since it opened, whenever I go to downtown Seattle on weekends, I've completely sworn off driving there and will take the light rail instead. I'm really excited for it to open up to my neck of the woods in Lynnwood later this year.
The only things I don't quite like is the decision to run light rail all the way to Tacoma and Everett. In an ideal world they should have made the extension up to Everett be regional rail in order to have higher top speeds (80+ mph vs. 55 mph). But there used to be an interurban between Seattle and Everett, and we're basically rebuilding that lol.
I wish they would just fix Sounder and make that regional rail. Then there would be two alternatives for the long distances. Particularly the N line is just tragic.
@@Thom-TRA Oh man, tell me about it, Sounder really needs improvement. I really hate the fact that it doesn't run on weekends except for the occasional sportsball game. And the N Line is just awful in terms of service frequency; I rode it once when I had a day off but I did it mainly for the great views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Good thing Sound Transit has an excellent network of express buses running down our freeways connecting the major cities in our region. That makes up for lousy Sounder service.
I think in the long term, the N Line should be running down the middle of I-5 into downtown Seattle, as it would be more centrally located, get more ridership, and the track would be completely government owned, so they can run as many trains as they want without having to haggle with BNSF for track access. I would prefer this as opposed to creating a light rail line all the way to Everett.
The Tacoma light rail extension is not for Tacoma commuters going to Seattle, that’s already covered by the Sounder S line commuter rail (which is actually not that bad, just needs higher frequency and weekend service), but instead it’s to give Tacoma access to the airport, after all that is why the airport is called sea-tac as it serves both cities, back when it was built Tacoma was its own metro area, didn’t get absorbed into Seattle until 1990. Likewise Everett is also served by Sounder N line commuter rail, which as others pointed out isn’t as great as the S line. Also Everett has an airport that has recently been upgraded for passenger flights, and it’s likely that the Everett light rail will swing by to connect to it. Especially since that area has the large Boeing factories so many commuters are going in that direction.
But yes I hope in the near future the sounder commuter rail gets upgraded to a regional rail and extending it down to Olympia would be amazing but seems like that probably won’t happen in my lifetime 😢
@@rossbleakney3575 when the studies were being made back in the 80s Tacoma was it’s own metro area of 0.4 million and today is at 0.9 million. So no Tacoma isn’t just some small city, it’s a regional city in its own right and shares the airport with Seattle (similar situation to Washington and Baltimore sharing BWI). Tacoma was promised an airport connection that is why it’s being built. Also technically Federal way is just as much of a suburb to Seattle as it is to Tacoma. As far as the downtown connection goes, well the original plan was that Tacoma link and central link would be one long integrated system, but over the years things changed and are no longer compatible, but who’s to say there won’t be a downtown extension in ST4? Anyway I do agree with you that buses give more bang for the buck, but they get bogged down in traffic and if you are going to build dedicated busways then you might as well just build a railroad.
@@rossbleakney3575 The Link extension south of SeaTac Airport should really be regional/commuter rail. It would achieve much faster top speeds and likely have peak frequencies of 15 minutes and 30 minutes off peak which is good enough that people will actually ride it. But the fact that the Tacoma station isn't actually in downtown Tacoma would still be a problem. However, having this as a heavy rail line (with an extension north from the airport along 99 to bypass Rainier Valley) would also make it ideal for future HSR between Seattle and Portland. It's never going to be cost effective to buy up ROW (or dig a tunnel) for a ROW that has gentle enough curves for 200+ mph operation between Tacoma and Everett, so it makes more sense to just build dedicated passenger lines along freeways and existing roads for the high speed rail alignment in the Puget Sound metro area.
Took this on the relatively long haul from SeaTac to Seattle downtown... I wish there were an express option because it does take a while. But it is a good system.
Yeah I’m sure that’s a long ride
@@Thom-TRAIt takes about the same time as the old 194 bus did with the uncertainty of Interstate 5 and Airport access roads traffic.
@@Thom-TRA About 35 minutes to Westlake most times.
8:00 The reason it's light rail even though it's mostly grade-separated and intended to go 35 miles out to Tacoma in the south and Everett in the north is that, when Sound Transit chose the mode in the 1990s, it envisioned a lot more surface segments. Tunneling was just for geographic barriers like the Ship Canal between downtown and the U-District. It was originally going to be surface from CID (0:32) all the way to the airport and presumably to Tacoma... Then it was routed to SODO, which created a short Beacon Hill tunnel. Rainier Valley and SODO were the first segments to go through design, so they were surface, because ST said it couldn't justify the cost of tunnel/elevated in a flat area.... The next segment was Rainier Beach to SeaTac airport. The city of Tukwila objected to rebuilding International Boulevard which it had just rebuilt, and to taking a corner of Southcenter's property. (Southcenter is the shopping mall that Link passes near but doesn't serve.) So that segment got elevated, and routed to the airport freeway.... Then the Roosevelt neighborhood objected to an I-5 freeway station, and asked for an underground station at the neighborhood center. Roosevelt is a wealther more white area, while Rainier Valley is a lower-income multiracial area, so that may have given Roosevelt more clout. Or it may simply be that Roosevelt segment was designed later... After that, all future segments became grade-separated by default. At one point the second phase (Lynnwood, Redmond, Federal Way) was going to be entirely grade-separated. But the city of Bellevue wanted a shot tunnel in front of city hall, and to pay for that they lowered part of the segment between Bellevue and Redmond to the surface with level crossings. Bellevue and Redmond are wealthier than Roosevelt, so it's ironic that they get the third surface segment.... Transit fans point out that heavy rail would have been a better choice for going out so far, and would have been less expensive, and should have been automated, with a separate city subway network for Seattle with more stations and lines, but Sound Transit and the politicians weren't interested in that.
there was a time when RV was going to be elevated, but community interests there wanted it buried like downtown and north seattle. surface running was the "compromise" lol
@sluggo206 Nice summation.
This is an awesome light rail system that sounds like it is going to expand greatly in the years to come. Thanks for this awesome trip report!!!
Have you considered the San Diego trolley system. It is a great system that links residential, commercial and business areas with schools and other public transit. It is the best way to go downtown and avoid traffic and parking issues. And parts of it are very scenic particularly the Green Line.
I love the public transit in San Diego!
I have yet to travel to San Diego but it has quickly climbed to the top of my list of US cities to visit!
San Diego’s trolley should frankly be partially converted into a light metro with the blue line (maybe reroute to avoid the street running sections and have the orange line cover it) and especially the green line. The infrastructure outside of downtown is very much designed with higher speed in mind and is perfect for light metro. The green line is mostly grade separated from old town until El Cajon and the blue line north of old town and south of 15th and Imperial is also very much light metro like. The stop spacing is also more metro like in those areas, rather than light rail.
Would be a great way to advertise the MTS by showing the city that the trains can beat cars with higher speed trains in those sections. They also are missing so much with no airport connection, but apparently they’re working on that.
I feel there’s a lot of times in American transit systems where planners think light rail is the all encompassing solution for all transit up to and including (light) metro, when there are significant advantages for metro.
@@Mohandar881 I definitely think Seattle could have been a metro. But light rail conforms more to the American car-centric mindset.
@@Thom-TRA and it’s a shame that it’s like that, most US transit agencies try to match demand with little to no regard as to how to draw more and make the most. Certainly Seattle and San Diego are still better than some, especially Seattle having quite a few expansion projects being undertaken right now. San Diego is far from bad too, they’ve done a heck of a great job with ToD around the light rail, especially along the green line.
There’s a sort of messaging or image e that US transit agencies should try to project, to draw more riders. It’s may sound like a small thing but when people are stuck in traffic and see a train run by, that may be a spark for them to try transit. It’s certainly how quite a few people I’ve spoken to in other cities have started their commutes via transit.
I lived in north Seattle from 2002-2012 and recall the many public debates, referendums and ballot measures about where and how to build and expand its light rail and streetcar system and how it took years to come to an agreement about it and then only because top officials finally stepped in and basically said "Enough! This is what we're going to do and you're all going to have to accept it.".
But it finally got done and I started using it when it first rolled out. It made getting to SeaTac a lot easier and faster as previously I'd had to take 2 buses, the latter having a lot of stops and roundabout route, and this reduced it to one bus and then light rail to SeaTac. For folks who live near this line it becomes a one train ride each way, but I didn't leave near it back then.
I'd love to go back and take it all the way someday, and all the other new lines that are in service now or will be soon. Sounds like sometime next year is when that'll happen for this phase.
My favorite line was the streetcar, which back then was basically a short trip from South Lake Union to Westlake, with just a few stops along the way. But it was a scenic part of town and the machines never worked so it was free. It'll be nice to ride the extensions and newer lines.
South Lake Union Streetcar Will be featured in the next video!
@@Thom-TRA Which I will always think of fondly as the South Lake Union Trolley, or SLUT.
Seattle, where process *is* the Product!
@@erik_griswold Thanks for the input, we'll have to convene several committees to determine that and get back to you in 3-5 years...
@@erik_griswold As a native Seattleite, I can't stand the Seattle process!
Great video as always. Hope you stay tuned for the new sound transit ST2 and 3 expansion!
I’ll be back someday!
Looking forward to seeing your video about Pittsburgh!!!
Siemens door lighting panels ftw! Those look awesome!
They make it feel so modern!
@@Thom-TRAalso the use of blue rather than red light for the closed state is a relaxing design plus, by contrast with R211 in NYC and various new Stadler-built regional vehicles on the other side of the pond \m/
As I live in Asia for my whole childhood and teenage life with developed transportation,I would say Seattle links’s experience is really similar with taking the subway in Asia,with clean coach, comparatively safe space and great service. It can be the best system that I have ever take in the US.
The KinkiSharyo light rail vehicles were actually based off of the Phoenix order. That’s why the trains in Phoenix and Seattle are pretty similar.
Ah, good to know!
The KS train bogies and/or wheel angles don't play nice with curves along Seattle light rail. They oscillate uncomfortably
My favorite part about the Seattle transit system is the acronym joke name for south lake union streetcar, which is the South Lake Union Trolley. 😂
I visited the USA about a decade ago, and stopped in Seattle for a few days to visit a friend who had lived in Australia for a few years (where I am from) before heading back to the US. I was so surprised when a bus drove through the tunnel. I had never heard of that happening anywhere before, but it's not a totally bad idea.
It happens in Pittsburgh too!
I am from the area, and, yes we are progressing slowly and nicely, thanks for sharing
You’re welcome!
Boy that deep station at Capitol Hill looks like the Muni/Powell station for the T line-Chinatown
Very similar!
Roosevelt, u District, and husky stadium stations are just deep enough that many people prefer their elevators over escalators
Beacon Hill station is so deep it's elevator-only. UW station isn't quite that deep, so it has three escalator levels to get to the platform.
@@sluggo206 Yes two elevators or escalators to get to the street off the new T Line in SF. It’s a little distance between the two elevator/ escalators
I just booked my flight to Seattle in April and I’m excited to try this link light rail. Its looks very convenient to ride on.
Hope you have a great trip!
I like the 1 Line. Very convenient to get to a lot of different places in Seattle
It’s pretty great!
Can't wait until 2025 or so once Line 2 fully debuts service!
Thanks for the tour, Thom! Aren't those downtown stations attractive and eye-catching? Especially Westlake with those tiled murals. Alas, except for the artwork installed at the newer tunnel stations, its all gray: floors, walls, lots of cement, blah. Missed opportunities. Something else you might notice here in Seattle: no one (except for us transit folk) calls it LINK. The brand hasn't stuck- it's always "the light-rail", give or take a hyphen!
The Westlake station was built with Apartheid-era marble from South Africa.
@@erik_griswold "The Verde Fontaine granite was quarried in South Africa, which had been under Apartheid rule at the time, but was cut and finished in Italy, allowing for it to be approved despite the Metro Council's ongoing boycott of South African goods." "The granite was rejected by Metro and was returned to the supplier in Italy." From Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Seattle_Transit_Tunnel#South_African_granite_scandal
I’m watching this after the first segment of the 2 Line has opened and the head of the ST board said they are very hopeful the second segment into downtown Seattle will open around the 1st year anniversary of the first segment.
I can answer the whys to how Sound Transit finally got public support for the light rail: it wasn’t voted on by King County, but Pierce County, who have a high number of commuters into Seattle that hoped the system would cut back on commuting and I-5 traffic. I remember because it was on the ballot the first year I could vote.
As someone who uses a walker, I much prefer the newer cars to the older cars because the older ones don’t have a safe way for walkers to sit next to their users like most buses.
Those are cool looking trains. I really want to check them out. I like how it’s called Sound Transit and that they painted wavy water on the lower side of them. The interior is also really cool and the seating alignment looks best the way it is throughout the rail cars. And I never knew that there was a tunnel that the buses shared with the light rail and that they still do in Pittsburgh.
I used to live near the U District and Roosevelt stops, but that was in 2010, before those stops opened. It would have been amazing to have been still living there when they did, to be able to go downtown and even to the airport on these trains.
Yeah that would have been nice for sure
I hope they grade separate and automate Link one of these days to bring it up to Vancouver Skytrain standards.
Fun fact: ST S700s are currently the only ones that are not powered by the *original* Siemens equipments. The reason is that ST wants to use the same equipments as the Kinki Sharyo to reduce the maintenance cost
Ah, that's why they don't make the Siemens S7 whistly shifting tone on acceleration?
Also similar to Pittsburgh, Seattle has a tram that's trying its level best to be a S-Bahn
I miss Seattle I used to ride it several times when I was in UW now that I graduated I miss it
As an employee of San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, I'd be highly honored of having you visit our system. Hope to see you around
Someday! I’d love to visit San Diego
I’ve taken the Link once from the airport back in 2012, so it apparently would have been quite new at the time. It felt like a decent system and the street running sections were on par with similar systems here in Germany. But those usually feed multiple street running lines into expensive grade separated sections to make good use of the infrastructure. Basically what Seattle did in the beginning with busses. But building 90% of a metro system from scratch and then dumping the trains on tram infrastructure in the middle of the route is quite strange. I also don’t really get why they want to extend this single line even further out instead of building a few branches to increase the reach of the system closer to the city, especially in the southern, street running part where branches could be built rather cheaply.
Money, politics, and American car-centric thinking. The suburbs have 5/6 of the population and sympathy in the state legislature. They wanted the "Spine": 100 km Everett-Tacoma and 25 km to Redmond. That got political consensus. More Seattle lines didn't. For why light rail with a middle "tram section", see my comment above. The third phase includes two Seattle lines in the western half of the city, but it still won't reach all the city neighborhoods. And that won't open until the 2040s, if the ballooning costs don't eat it.
As a Seattle area native, I take every chance I can to use the lightrail to get into Seattle. Love how fast and easy it is to just park over at Northgate and take the train into the heart of the city. And now that the first half of the 2 line is completed, I can get into Bellevue the same way from my home in Redmond.
Sad that the full 2 line won't be finished till 2025, but hey that's something to look forward to. :D
I’ll try to be there for the full opening of the 2 line!
I went to Seattle for the first time in 41 years last year to support my Browns when they played the Seahawks. I can say that I absolutely loved this train. Very good transit system.
Glad you enjoyed it!
RTA!! ❤
Link is definitely a good transit system.
Thanks for sharing and keeping us updated!
Thank you for your kind generosity!
Great video, and what excellent trams !
Thanks so much for another informative video. I like the system well enough. I think I will miss seeing the street scene when checking out a new city like you can on the (slow moving) bus
Well stay tuned for Wednesday’s video, it will be all about the streetcar!
@@Thom-TRA ANTICIPATION!
So interesting! Seattle has a great system. I hope you can get to Montreal one day to see our metro (subway) and REM (light rail).
The REM has a surprising amount in common as they both use the same electrical power system and are both based on the Skytrain, however the Link is not automated
@@IndustrialParrot2816 The REM is more light metro whereas the Link light rail has a considerable amount of street running and at-grade intersections through South Seattle. The REM and Skytrain are both completely grade-separated.
@@compdude100 otherwise very similar tho
Great video. The light rail in Seattle seems pretty nice.
It's very nice!
METRO!?
METRO!?
METRO!?
METRO!?
I rode it shortly after it opened. It was so convenient walking to it from the SeaTac airport, to ride to downtown Seattle. I used it to visit a lot of Seattle area
This is the second time you cover where I used to live. Even though LINK did not cover my daily commuting route, I always enjoyed to ride it every time I visited the downtown. What a cool system!
Remind me again what the first place was?
@@Thom-TRA Salt Lake City! I lived in Seattle for 2 years, then in Salt Lake City for 4 years.
Fun fact: In order to save costs (the project was way over budget) there was a serious proposal to make the tunnel through Beacon Hill single-track/single-bore and have trains alternate going through it.
Well I’m glad they didn’t do that lol
and that why I hate Seattle politics....dumbassery at its finest
Hey. Great video.
Did you end up seeing the station where the old cable car system wheel? I forget which one it is. I discovered it when i was in Seattle last year. I've been there before (I'm Australian, i have a really good friend that lives there) & i discovered it then. They apparently found it while digging the station. It also has information signs about it
I don’t believe I saw that. Guess I will have to go back!
Apparently there were 2 cable lines. I don't remember. I think I took a picture of the sign. Will have to go back and find it
one is in pioneer square. idk about a second one tho
@@cheef825 that's the one! I meant there were 2 lines. At least I think there were, but i could be wrong. The info about the line or lines is on a sign there.
Queen Anne Ave used to have a cable
Car system known as a Counterbalance. I learned that ironically through the show Frasier which wasn’t EXACTLY accurate to Seattle geography.
As someone from Chicago (who will probably be living in Seattle at some point), I'm excited to ride these.
Chicago has its L network, but I feel like the current president's choices of how to run it are holding it back. Seattle may not currently have as big of a network, but I sense like there's potential in it. I'm getting a feeling they actually care about it.
Plus, the trains themselves look a lot prettier and sound nicer than Chicago's, and I prefer pantographs over third rail for its safety. While presentation isn't everything, I feel like it partially has a say in what attracts people to want to ride it.
Edit: Can you also mention the frequency? I'm used to a max of 13 minutes for CTA trains (when they're not ghosting me), and I'd like to know if Link is any better.
The frequency was between 10-15 minutes. Could be better, but as someone who used to live in Chicago myself, I know it could definitely be worse. I’m spoiled here in DC with a train every 3 minutes.
Link is 8 minutes peak hours, 10 minutes off-peak, and 15 minutes 10pm-1am and 5am-7am (Sunday starts an hour later and ends an hour earlier. Some segments start as early as 4:30am. There are hourly night owl buses, but you'd have to know which route serves which station pairs. And the night owls cover only part of Seattle and the suburbs.)
@@sluggo206Link is 6 minutes for peak hours
Seattle looks like it has a really great light rail system
You mentioned the only other shared bus light rail tunnel as being in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania I ride through that tunnel on a daily basis when I take the light rail system from my home in the north shore out to the south Hills of Pittsburgh for work
The last of the Pittsburgh pcc cars were retired from service in September 1999
If you want to ride a PCC car nowadays in the Pittsburgh area, take a trip to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pennsylvania where you can take a ride on PCC cars from the Pittsburgh railways system, and other Pennsylvania trolley systems
In its heyday, Pittsburgh had 666 PCC cars
I just visited Pittsburgh last week! Had a great time
Wow, that’s great. Hopefully you were able to get to shoot some videos of our transit system. The light rail system is actually much better than the bus system. I have used both the bus system recently changed from the port Authority to Pittsburg Regional Transit.
As a native Seattlelite I don’t like riding the E Line but the tram is the best thing I ever rode when back home. It’s a lot more safer and clean than all buses. Back when it was a bus tunnel, there was a fare free zone. The kinki Sharyo tram is the same as San Jose.
If the tunnel portals can easily be accessed by emergency vehicles (police, ambulance, even fire) it makes sense for the trackways to still be paved as if for bus use, not to mention future-proofing against a need to re-institute bus service.
They won’t reinstate buses, since they demolished the entrance for buses in one side of the tunnel
If you go to an event at the Convention Center phase 2, you can see what replaced the northern tunnel entrance. In retrospect, that entrance could have supported a line to Ballard. Instead Ballard is getting a second tunnel with really bad transfers to the first one.
These trains are already a victim of success, need more seats removed from the low floor section.
8:07 yes, and the eastside line is getting new level crossings too. Unfortunately, Sound Transit is adamant on not separating future West Seattle - Ballard rail in order for it to be a light metro
Thank you!
You’re welcome !
Basically a light rail that functions as a subway.
Basically yes
Seattle’s light rail looks impressive. Love the sleek interiors with the door lighting. It’s a shame they weren’t able to build a proper subway back when they had the chance. The length and scope of the line and the extensions definitely feels similar to the DC Metro in that the stations are close together in the city proper, but outside of the urban core it behaves more like commuter or regional rail.
Yeah I imagine it's going to grow into something interesting as time goes on
Another interesting thing is that it uses higher power overhead wires than most other light rail systems as it uses the same power supply that many other systems use including the Tokyo metro, the Paris RER, and the Melbourne and Sydney Suburban Rail systems
9:48 *Stares intently at CTA Red Line on south side.*
Chicago's system is color-based. all the lines have color names
Cool! Last time we went to Seattle this wasn't open fully. Now a reason to go back once 1 and 2 completed.
Lynnwood opens sometime between July and December, and will have lower frequency than currently until Line 2 opens. Line 2 opens in 2025 supposedly, and will give double-frequency south to CID (4 min peak, 5 min off-peak). Federal Way may open in 2026 but a viaduct needs to be redesigned, so I wouldn't wait for it. An Eastside-only "starter line" opens this March; it will be part of Line 2.
@sluggo206 wow great info. Thanks!
@@sluggo206 The viaduct was redesigned shortly after the ground issues were discovered. The pillars of the viaduct are almost complete and the contractors have already started placing girders in this section last month. Construction-wise, the Federal Way extension is almost complete - there's only a couple big ticket items and the electrical infrastructure left to do.
I like the girl's expression at minute 9:05. It reminded seeing some NIMBYs or HOAs who opposed an infrastructure proposal like the Forward Thrust. Her expression is kinda like that disappointed feeling from Light Rail and transit infrastructure nerd over a city's transit proposal.
I like trains and have been a metro/subway enthusiast back in Singapore during my childhood.
I enjoy the video👍👍
What a good overview of sound Transit and other agencies this video is 100 percent facts can't wait for light rail to go North to Lynnwood Transit center and the Microsoft campus on the east side of lake Washington
Exciting expansion coming up!
You need to visit/ travel on the Manchester tram system!
I was just saying the other day, man, I would really like to travel to the UK and ride the transit there.
@@Thom-TRA Do the Edinburgh tram. Reminds me a lot of American light rail systems.
And the Nottingham trams, Sheffield trams, Birmingham trams, Blackpool too, and of course the Glasgow Subway!
It’s good to see an outside perspective on link. I feel like sometimes I get disillusioned with the light rail here because of all of the ways it could be better (the at grade portion particularly) rather than appreciating it for what it is.
It is slightly disappointing that there needed to be a grade section, but at least the rest of it is really good. Now they just need more lines.
@@rossbleakney3575 I’m trying desperately to find where I ever said Seattle’s system was better than Vancouver…?
Interesting that you got an Orca card with the "old" design - I thought they rolled out the new one a few years ago.
I had no idea! That’s kind of cool though, “vintage”
I think this may have been recorded a while ago cause the station and onboard announcements are the old ones
@@realquadmoo this was recorded in May 2023
@@Thom-TRA ORCA 2 went in during the summer. I still have an old card; I'm not sure exactly what the new cards look like. Maybe black and with a more streamlined logo.
Yes, the decision to use low-floor light rail was due to the need to share the Bus Tunnel with buses as well as the need to build down the unused Empire Freeway* corridor down Rainier Valley for economic and Social-Justice reasons.
*Empire Way was renamed for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after it was “prepared” (Peoples of Color’s homes and businesses demolished) a Freeway by WSDOT.
Appreciate the background information!
Please come to Vancouver and take the SkyTrain since ur around! 🇨🇦
This was filmed in May…
@@Thom-TRA oh lol. can’t wait for you to explore Vancouver when you have the chance :)
The Link is inspired by the Skytrain (Seattle has a tendency to copy other cities homework mainly Vancouver Portland and Los Angeles
Great! Waiting line to Bellevue.
Soon!
They must have changed those out since I was there last (October 2022). There were no cool light up doors! Or, I was riding the older kind.
I do like the Capitol Hill station, with the metal sculptures on the ceiling. I think I got some pictures of it when I was there.
I think it was the older kind!
Currently (late Jan/early Feb 2024) the lightrail is undergoing a massive maintenance... just to warn anyone coming for a visit. I believe one of the main things they're doing is changing out the tracks. Having them set in the roadway for the buses has made them harder to fix when problems arise. Since the buses are gone, those tracks don't need to be set in the roadway... assume they're re-laying track on the surface. I want to go check out what they're doing but it sounds like delays and crowding have been a big issue so maybe not!
Hey Thom, i can copy paste my commentary for each video: great research and excellent explanation. I am curious how the public transport in an average big American city compares to an average big European city. I have quite a lot of experience with the public transport in Berlin, and thats so good that you don't need a car at all.
In most cases, European cities have a lot more options. I think about a city like The Hague in the Netherlands: a lot more trams for a city that’s smaller in size and area.
the longest highway of the usa is i 90 it goes from bosotn to seattle which this video takes place, i have been on the boston to chicago section of i 90 in 2022 when I visited the city, the chicago to seatle section might be more scenic , but the boston to chicago section is good.
0:40 i like how orca covers a huge swath of puget sound, but am still frustrated by how it doesn't work with transit across the sound nor in Bellingham. People transiting throughout Puget Sound need at least three separate transit payment apps
That is annoying
One workaround is to have the non-orca systems use open-loop payment. Or, being fare-free like Olympia would be cool
I visited Seattle in the 1990s before the LINK opened. There were tracks in the Bus Tunnels at that time. I understand that they were replaced before LINK used the tunnels since they were the wrong gauge.
The downtown tunnel was built in the 1980s. At the time rail was just a future aspiration: nobody knew when or if. The rails were just for show: they were shoddy and unusable. In the 90s the industry moved to low-floor trains, so the roadbed was lowered and replacement tracks were installed for Link. Link started in 2009 Westlake-SeaTac. Buses left the tunnel in 2019. Northgate opened in 2022.
The tracks were there but not really useable. They closed the tunnel to lower the platforms so both buses and trains could be level boarding.
They also weren’t grounded properly since the whole thing was built by a highway contractor. But it gave people the idea that the tunnel was worth building since someday, trains could run through it. Good psychology.
Hello. Thanks for the video. We are coming in via the Airport. Google maps says we need to take the 1 line to University St, walk to 3rd Ave & Seneca St and catch the E Line at Aurora Village Transit Center. What tickets do we buy that allows us to transfer from 1 line to a bus?
I ride light rail to SeaTac airport to work I work at SeaTac airport as baggage handler I love the train make it Lynnwood bellevue federal make station can’t wait enjoy it ❤❤❤❤
The proposed light rail was voted down (around 1970), because Boeing, and the entire region was in a slump.
“Will the last one leaving Seattle, turn out the lights.”
Now link light rail is extremely popular
Link (1 Line) has one major downside--no public restrooms through downtown. It would be great to hear from experienced travelers what good examples there might be on how to address that problem. Which systems do public restrooms well?
Been living here for 3mos and I didn't know they had a sub/train system
How on earth do you manage that?
But everyone rides it?
🤯🤯🤯
No lie and I saw it daily....I thought it was like a monorail for the shopping area...lol I thought "Dang Seattle people are seriously lazy the shopping area ain't THAT big"....not knowing it went all the way down to the airport and up to Northgate.@@EricaGamet
@@IndustrialParrot2816 Nope not everyone most of the ppl I work with drive. It only came up when I was venting about Amtrak canceling the route to Leavenworth a 3rd wk in a row…but I used the word train instead of Amtrak and another coworker was like “No it isn’t, I ride the train daily.” Then we had to figure out what each other meant….and that is how I met your mom….no sorry I couldn’t resist…that is how I found out y’all had a train
Cool vid. Question… you said they chose light rail vehicles, what would be other options?
Like a real train (heavy rail) instead of glorified streetcars (light rail)
On the opposite side of Interstate 90 the Massachusetts Pike it's Boston Tramway the Green Line one thing it didn't do as Seattle did was their new Trams CAF Urbos Types 9 & 10 as opposed to Seattle Going Siemens Trams for their Tram tunnel. What's Seattle can do is go CAF Urbos to replace their Kinki Sharyo Trams.
CAF Urbos are bad because they have flaws cause cracks to form in the bogie boxes
Just curious, what website do you use to find your hostels when you make these trips. Cause hotels sure can be pricey 😬
I've been using a combination of AirBnB, hostel world, and booking.com (though I do not like the last one, have had too many issues)
I found this to be quite an informative video! Now, I know about the longtime effort it took to make the LINK. I'll be interested in seeing how this network develops.
Thanks for the video!
This was not there when I was there.
What was the station past Westlake where buses would come out of the tunnel? I swear there was another station there.
It was at a convention center I believe
Like about all other US transit stuff, I'm an outsider but even if I were to use it in-person, LINK would be quite weird system to use. On one hand, the choice to use low floor vehicles and the few at grade sections implies it was built more like a tramway like the current streetcars, albeit going outside Seattle and with greater stop distances (basically kind of like an interurban or Portland's MAX) but on the other hand, most of it (not just downtown) is built grade separated anyway which shows just how much Seattle needs a metro but couldn't built it because of the voters didn't like that idea and when it was built, what initially was built a tramway ended up being built to metro standards outside the initial section.
The result: Improper grade separation on what would allow for a frequent and automatic operation, low-floor vehicles in a setting where they aren't really needed and lack of upgradeability to high-floor vehicles.
I'm actually curious what the exact reasons were the voters turned down a proper metro.
I believe many of the “no” votes were due to cost. One time, Boeing just laid off many people, so a lot of unemployed people did not want a tax increase. That’s the issue with most projects in the US unfortunately…
@@Thom-TRA Okay, that partially explains it (even if it still had planning failures like the lack of future proofing in the long run) and why the initial segments of LINK aren't fully grade separated.
Check out the Seattle Streetcar.
Hmm I wonder what Wednesday’s video will be about…
Did they give a reason why they stopped the bus/train tunnel combo? Years ago, when I visited Seattle, I thought it seemed such an efficient use of mass transit tunnels.
The reconstructed the convention center and had to demolish the bus entrance
@@Thom-TRAAnd, as soon as the 2 Line to Bellevue opens, they will need the capacity for the trains.
It was because the buses were delaying trains and limiting service so in 2014 they cut bus and started building a new convention center ontop of the old bus station
@@Thom-TRAthe old bus entrance is actually a new convention center now it opened last year
Busses which changed back and forth from diesel to electric in the tunnel.
Yes
Loved your video about Seattle's One Line. I rode it back when it was new, and the tunnel downtown had a lot more buses than trains. Had to wait a long time to even find a train!
In those days, buses downtown were free, and that made fare payment kind of interesting. If you were going downtown from an outlying neighborhood, you paid when you got on. If you were returning from downtown, you paid when you got off. I guess if you were going through downtown to another outlying neighborhood, you had to pay twice? Wonder if it still works that way, and how they handle it on the light rail.
The Ride Free Area ended in 2012. If you got on before downtown and got off after, the driver gave you a paper transfer to show. Originally the RFA was 24 hours, but in the 2000s it switched to ending at 7pm. That created tons of confusion: people couldn't remember when it was pay as you leave. You couldn't look at the sky because in summer at 7pm it's light out but in winter it's dark, so you had to remember what time of year it is. There was always confusion with pay as you leave: out-of-towners didn't know about it and couldn't believe it when they were told.
@@sluggo206 I can just imagine. Somebody gets on in the RFA just before 7 pm, and gets off outside the RFA after 7 pm. Do they skate free?
@@rikkichunn8856 It didn't change mid-run. It was based on whether the majority of the run was before or after 7pm.
@@sluggo206 I am really impressed by your knowledge of this!
@@rikkichunn8856 I've been riding Metro since 1979, so I lived through 23 years of it. It was my primary transportation mode and I went all over the county.
6:06 Interesting sculpture.
Do the trains run at proper light rail frequencies (i.e. every 10 minutes at most), or do they stick to the belief of so many North American transit operators that half hourly is pretty generous?
Eh it depends what time of day
On weekdays, the trains run every 8 minutes during peak hours, every 10 minutes during non-peak hours, and every 15 minutes after 10:15pm. On weekends, the trains run every 10 minutes all day and every 15 minutes after 10:15pm. After line 2 is fully opened, riders between the Lynnwood and International District Stations should see 4 minute peak frequencies.
Yes they run every 10 minutes and once the 2 line is extended the shared section will have trains every 5 to 8 minutes
whats the tunnel called in pittsburg ?
Mount Washington Transit Tunnel
Does kinki sharyo still make LRV's in the US? They kinda faded out into obscurity from how I look at it.
I’m pretty sure they made the new LA Metro trains
@@Thom-TRAThey did.
Yes but they have a smaller factory than Siemens
2:06 I’m confused because those station announcements haven’t been in use for a long time
This video was filmed in May 2023
@@Thom-TRA ahhh ok
It's interesting to imagine alternative futures where:
Seattle got a subway system back in the 80s
or
Seattle built the current light rail system but with metro vehicles
Also since you're in the PNW, are you going to Vancouver?
No, I did not go to Vancouver on this trip
Seattle is probably going to have to purchase specialized LRVs at some point
@@IndustrialParrot2816 yeah, it's a shame they picked the wrong mode. Alternatively they can order LRVs with doors at multiple levels and slowly converting the platforms to high floor and removing grade crossings.
Hello. I’m from Seattle. (Born and raised here) In your video you asked what the deal is with using light rail vehicles and whether if that has anything to do with sharing the tunnels with buses.
There are reasons why light rail was built underground:
- capital hill is a hill and it would not be feasible to build it on top
- most stations are new (in the past, the original tunnel was called the Downtown Transit Tunnel which consists of International District/Chinatown station, Pioneer Square station, University Street station, Westlake station, and Convention place station (no light rail). The Downtown Transit Tunnel was bus only before light rail started operating in 2009. After that they shared the tunnel with light rail and buses.
Other stations are brand new and supports light rail only.
So WHY build everything underground… corruption… building anything underground in Seattle (and anywhere else) is very expensive. It’s always over-budget, takes longer than anticipated, and there’s no accountability for anything. Also there’s a WAR on cars in the Seattle area, wanting people to use “mass” transit rather than use cars. They increase car tabs renewal fees, reduced or eliminated parking spaces, increased parking rates, added (stupid) bike lanes, and otherwise made it more of a hassle to own and drive a car in Seattle.
Hopefully that helps…
I didn’t ask why it’s underground. That part makes sense to me. I think it’s strange to use low-capacity light rail vehicles when so much of the infrastructure is underground or elevated.
@@Thom-TRA What do you mean by "low-capacity"? I don't quite understand. You mean not enough space for riders? They adjust accordingly depending on rush hour or not. (Called peak or off-peak)
@@bkbanhofficial a heavy rail train can carry many more passengers than a low-floor light rail
@@bkbanhofficial also I know what peak and off peak mean lol
@@Thom-TRA Ahh I see. Yeah, they wanted to make the project as expensive as possible. Plus the train runs in some neighborhoods that goes through intersections too. They could’ve solved that problem by making it elevated in the neighborhood. Would’ve been cheaper, I think.
How is the safety on the system? I had a less than optimal experience using St. Paul-Minneapolis
Better than Minneapolis
New fare enforcement campaign started on Metro Transit in the Twin Cities in December 2023 following changes to state law that make it easier to issue fare violation citations. The problem behavior is fading away
@@onesob13 that’s good to hear
@@onesob13 That's good news. It wasn't a great first impression seeing an open drug deal there the only time I had ridden it on a Sunday at 11 am going to a Vikings game.
Very safe
I can't find why they discontinued the combo, bus and rail service underground?
Construction around the bus portals by the convention center. There’s no way out for buses anymore.
@@Thom-TRA Ah, thanks for the clarification. Though, it sounds like the design didn't look ahead.