Sound Transit Crosslake Connection completes 2 Line linkup

Sound Transit Crosslake Connection will open to riders on March 28, completing the last piece of the 2 Line needed to cross Lake Washington and connect with the 1 Line at International District/Chinatown Station, as detailed in a Sound Transit news release. Sound Transit says the new connection creates a fully integrated light-rail system for the region.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

That final East Link segment brings two new stations—Mercer Island and Judkins Park—and completes the voter-approved regional transit system expansion launched in 2008 under Sound Transit 2. With the opening, the agency says the light-rail network expands from 55 miles to 63 miles, a milestone also summarized by Railway Supply.

What the Crosslake Connection adds to the 1 Line and 2 Line?

Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine described the extension as a step that links the system’s east and west sides. “This extension connects east and west, connects the 1 and 2 Lines, vastly improving mobility and quality of life in our region,” he said, calling it a “transformational achievement” that took “grit, persistence and ingenuity” and fulfills a generational promise to unite both sides of Lake Washington with high-capacity transit.

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Once the full 2 Line is operating, it will run between Lynnwood and Redmond. The 1 Line will continue to operate between Federal Way and Lynnwood. Service on the 1 and 2 Lines is planned from approximately 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. on Sundays.

Service hours and headways through the core

Trains are set to run about every eight minutes during peak times at the new stations, and about every 10 to 15 minutes the rest of the day. Between Lynnwood and International District/Chinatown, combined 1 Line and 2 Line headways are expected to be every four minutes, adding capacity through the system’s busy core.

Sound Transit Board Chair and Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said the milestone reflects years of work, along with creative design and engineering. “After decades of hard work, creative design and world-class engineering, we are finally linking the east and west sides of Lake Washington with rail,” he said. Somers also thanked the public for its patience as the project worked through barriers, and said Sound Transit looks ahead to Link light rail connecting Tacoma, Seattle, Everett and Bellevue in the not-too-distant future.

Floating light-rail bridge across Lake Washington

To complete the 2 Line, Sound Transit engineers designed light rail on a floating bridge—something the agency said it had never done before. Sound Transit credited innovative engineering for meeting the challenge of running electric trains across a moving body of water, as reported by Mass Transit Magazine.

With the opening of the full 2 Line, Sound Transit says it has begun operating six new light-rail expansions in five years. The agency also expects Pinehurst Station to open later this year.

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