Sound Transit began testing trains on the entire length of the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension this month to simulate service. Sound Transit explains running 20-minutes frequency of the test trains will continue through the weekend due to train car availability. Sound Transit expects frequencies to increase next week.
The agency says running the simulated service allows for the stress testing of operations in anticipation of opening late this summer.
The 2.4-mile Hilltop extension doubles the length of the T Line and includes one relocated station, the Theater District station, and six new stations. Passengers will have access to Wright Park and major medical facilities. The project also includes an expansion of Sound Transit’s Operations and Maintenance Facility in Tacoma, Wash.
The Hilltop Tacoma Extension was originally scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2023, but the opening of service was pushed to later in the year due to a series of construction issues and residual challenges brought on by the pandemic.
The rail project began construction in 2018 and was funded through a partnership between Sound Transit, the city of Tacoma, a $75 million federal Small Starts grant and a $15 million federal TIGER grant. In March 2023, the agency secured a $93.3 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau to support the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension.
The project was designed by HDR and Walsh Construction Company II, LLC, constructed the extension, as well as new platform stations. The line will feature new light-rail vehicles supplied by Brookville Equipment Corporation.
