Lynnwood light rail opens Friday to hundreds of waiting riders

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — The wait is over. On Friday, Sound Transit’s Lynnwood link extension opened after 16 years. Voters approved the first light rail expansion into Snohomish County back in 2008.

Sound Transit held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Lynnwood City Center Station Friday morning with hundreds of commuters eagerly waiting to climb aboard.

FOR Daniel Garza, today was personal, he was part of the construction team and brought his children to celebrate the completion. He is proud of the work he did on the project.

“Yeah yeah. Something we leave for our generations to look back on,” said Garza.

For people like Amy, who relies on public transportation, this service means greater accessibility to Seattle.

“It’s very exciting. It’s exciting that it’s in Lynnwood,” she said.

The light rail runs every 4-6 minutes during peak hours with stops in Mountlake Terrace and Shoreline. Sound Transit expects around 50,000 daily riders by 2026.

More light rail extension projects are currently underway for Sound Transit. A 10-station expansion from Seattle’s Chinatown-International District to South Bellevue is expected to open next year.

Projected ridership:

47,000 – 55,000 daily riders by 2026

How long will I wait for the light rail?

The light rail runs every 4 - 6 minutes during peak hours.

Stops:

· Lynnwood City Center

· Mountlake Terrace Station

· Shoreline South/148th Station

· Shoreline North/185th Station

Projected travel times:

Lynnwood to Westlake (downtown Seattle): 28 minutes

Shoreline South/148th to University of Washington: 11 minutes

Mountlake Terrace to SeaTac: 56 minutes

Mountlake Terrace to Northgate: 10 minutes

You can check out other travel times using Sound Transit’s Trip Planner.

Prices:

One-way adult fares are $3

Youth ride free

Orca card is the easiest way to pay for a ride

Parking:

Lynnwood City Transit Center: The garage has 1,670 parking spaces.

Mountlake Terrace: There are 206 parking spaces, including 7 ADA spaces available in a surface parking lot. Community Transit’s parking garage, operated by WSDOT, holds an additional 668 cars.

Shoreline: Each station has 500 parking spots.

Parking is free at all locations.

Important Dates for Riders:

Aug. 30

• Shifting to flat fares on Link: The Lynnwood Link opening will mark a big shift in light rail fares, going from a structure based on distance traveled to a $3 flat fare per ride. This will mean Link riders with an ORCA card will no longer need to “tap off” at the end of their ride.

Sept. 14

• Bus route changes to better connect with Link: After years of public engagement and collaboration with our local partners Community Transit and King County Metro, the region’s Fall Service Change the weekend of Sept. 14 will include some big changes to local bus routes in North King and Snohomish counties.

Sept. 16

• More N Line trips: This service change will also restore two pre-pandemic roundtrips every weekday on the Sounder N Line. In addition to our two existing Sounder roundtrips and two provided by Amtrak RailPlus, passengers traveling between Seattle, Edmonds, Mukilteo, and Everett will once again have six daily roundtrip options to choose from.

Will there eventually be a stop in my area? Upcoming link extensions:

Ballard – planning phase

Includes 9 new stations from Chinatown-International District to Ballard.

The start of service is scheduled for 2039.

Downton Redmond – construction phase

There will be two new light rail stations in southeast Redmond, serving Marymoor Village near Marymoor Park, and in the downtown residential and retail core.

Sound Transit says the project is currently trending toward a Spring 2025 opening.

East Link Extension – construction phase

Includes 10 stations from Seattle’s International District to Judkins Park, across I-90 to Mercer Island and South Bellevue, and through downtown Bellevue and the Bel-Red area to Redmond Technology Station.

South Bellevue Station to International District/Chinatown Station is projected to open in 2025.

Everett – planning phase

Stations: West Alderwood, Ash Way, Mariner, SW Everett Industrial Center, SR 526/Evergreen, Everett Station, and one provisional (unfunded) station at SR 99/Airport Road.

Projected to open between 2037 – 2041.

Federal Way – design and construction phase

This project includes three new stations in Kent Des Moines near Highline College, Star Lake, and Downtown Federal Way.

Projected to start service in 2026.

South Kirkland-Issaquah -voter approval phase

Beginning near the current South Kirkland Park-and-Ride, the route will serve three East Link stations — Wilburton, Bellevue Downtown and East Main stations — before heading further east through Eastgate to downtown Issaquah.

Sound Transit is projecting 2041-2044 to begin service.

Tacoma Dome -planning phase

This project includes four new light rail stations in the South Federal Way, Fife, East Tacoma/Portland Avenue, and Tacoma Dome areas.

These stations will also provide connections to other regional transit services like Sounder, Tacoma Link, ST Express, King County Metro, Pierce Transit, Intercity Transit, and Amtrak.

No estimated date for service currently.

TCC Tacoma – planning phase

The T Line will extend from its 2023 terminus in the Hilltop neighborhood to add six new stations including Tacoma Community College, Pear Street, Stevens Street, Union Avenue, Sprague Avenue, and Ainsworth Avenue.

Sound Transit is targeting to begin service between 2039 and 2041.

West Seattle – planning phase

The West Seattle Link Extension will provide fast, reliable light rail connections to dense residential and job centers in the SODO, Delridge and West Seattle neighborhoods.

Includes 4 new stations between SODO and Alaska Junction.

Start of service scheduled for 2032.

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