Central Link

Infobox rail line
name = Central Link

---

image_width = 300px
caption = The first trains on a test run in the tunnel.
type = Light rail
system = Link Light Rail
status = Under construction
start = Sea-Tac Airport
end = Westlake Center
stations = 4 (10 under construction)
open = July 2009
close =
owner = Sound Transit
operator = Sound Transit
character = Underground, at grade, elevated
stock =
linelength = mi to km|15.7|abbr=yes
tracklength =
notrack = 2
gauge = RailGauge|ussg
el = Overhead catenary
speed = Auto mph|55

infobox rdt|Central Link map
map_state = collapsed|

Central Link is a 15.7-mile (25.3 km) light rail line running between downtown Seattle and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, Washington. It is currently under construction, and represents the initial phase of the Sound Transit agency's Link Light Rail system. The line will begin service in Summer 2009.

Routing

The southern terminus of Central Link at Sea-Tac Airport will be an elevated station lying north of the parking garage. The garage's return-to-terminal ramps have been demolished to make way for the light rail station.

The route travels north on a grade separated viaduct/bridge along the North Airport Expressway, crosses over State Route 518, travelling on the north side of the highway. It then runs alongside Interstate 5, SR 599, Interurban Blvd., and Boeing Access Rd..

Entering Seattle proper, the line becomes an at-grade surface route on Martin Luther King Jr. Way S through the Rainier Valley. When it nears Franklin High School the route again becomes grade separated, rising on an elevated bridge before entering a tunnel through Beacon Hill, leading to another elevated section through the SoDo district. The route then joins the E-6 Busway (formerly 5th Avenue S) as a grade separated surface route.

Central Link trains will then enter the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, sharing the right-of-way with diesel-electric hybrid buses. The route ends at Westlake Station near the intersection of Pine Street and 5th Avenue.

Future plans for Central Link call for extending the route north from Westlake Center in a tunnel to the University of Washington, and then to Northgate, and eventually to Lynwood and Everett. In the south it would be extended to S. 200th Street, approximately 3,000 meters beyond the airport station, and eventually to Federal Way and Tacoma.

tations

Name	Opening Year	City/Neighborhood	Location	Other
Central Link (Airport-Downtown Seattle)
Elevated
Sea-Tac Airport	2009	Seatac	North of parking garage	pedestrian bridges to main terminal & kiss-and-ride center at Int'l Blvd
Tukwila Int'l Blvd	2009	Tukwila	SR 518 & Int'l Blvd	600-space park & ride lot; free shuttles to/from the airport until Airport section is complete
Boeing Access Road	N/A	Tukwila	I-5 & Boeing Access Rd	station deferred indefinitely
Surface (Martin Luther King Jr. Way)
Rainier Beach	2009	Rainier Valley, Seattle	MLK Jr. Way & S Henderson St
Othello	2009	New Holly, Seattle	MLK Jr. Way between S Othello St & S Myrtle St
Columbia City	2009	Columbia City, Seattle	MLK Jr. Way between S Edmunds St & S Alaska St
Elevated
Mount Baker	2009	Mount Baker, Seattle	MLK Jr. Way & Rainier Ave
Tunnel
Beacon Hill	2009	Beacon Hill, Seattle	Underground station at Beacon Ave S & S Lander St
Surface
SODO	2009	SoDo, Seattle	SODO Busway & S Lander St
Stadium	2009	SoDo, Seattle	SODO Busway & S Royal Brougham Way	larger platform to serve Safeco Field and Qwest Field
Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel
	1989	International District / Chinatown, Seattle	under Union Station
	1989	Pioneer Square, Seattle	under 3rd Ave & Cherry St
	1989	Downtown Seattle	under 3rd Ave & University St
	1989	Downtown Seattle	under Pine St & 4th Ave	connections to monorail and streetcar.
End of line; future extension (University Link)

Equipment

Kinkisharyo-Mitsui was chosen to design and manufacture low-floor light rail vehicles and provide additional equipment and support. Thirty-five Electric Multiple Units are to be delivered between November 2006 and September 2008. As of June 2008, twenty-five of these vehicles are at the facility and many are testing in Seattle, with additional vehicles in final assembly in Everett. Each vehicle is 95 feet (30 m) long, accommodate 200 people each (74 seated), and double-ended to allow travel in either direction. Two-car trains will be used initially, but as ridership increases, can run up to four-cars long. The maximum speed of the light rail vehicle is 65 mph (105 km/h). Sound Transit will operate these vehicles at a maximum and cruising speed of 55 mph (89 km/h), with an estimated end-to-end travel time of 30 minutes over the 15.7 mile route.cite web | title = Link Light Rail Train Specifications | publisher = Sound Transit | url = http://www.soundtransit.org/x4306.xml | accessdate = 2008-03-18] cite web | title = Link Light Rail Fact Sheet | publisher = Sound Transit | date = December 2007 | url = http://www.soundtransit.org/documents/pdf/projects/link/FACT_Link.pdf | format = pdf | accessdate = 2008-03-18]

ee also

*Tacoma Link
*University Link
*List of rapid transit systems

References

External links

* [http://www.soundtransit.org www.soundtransit.org]
* [http://www.sireneinternet.net/pstran/sealink Puget Sound Transportation Projects: Seattle Link]
* [http://www.soundtransit.org/images/projects/lightrail/MAP_Central-Link.jpgSystem Map(Project) by Sound Transit]
* [http://flickr.com/groups/soundtransit/ Photos of Sound Transit]