Sound Transit Crosslake Connection to open March 28

Sound Transit’s Crosslake Connection is set to open for passenger service on March 28—the final component of the 2 Line that will cross Lake Washington and connect with the 1 Line at International District/Chinatown Station. The agency says the new connection creates a fully integrated light-rail system for the region.

This final segment of East Link includes two new stations, one at Mercer Island and one at Judkins Park, completing the voter-approved regional transit system expansion started in 2008 under Sound Transit 2 and increasing the light-rail system from 55 to 63 miles.

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

The 2 Line will operate between Lynnwood and Redmond, in addition to the 1 Line between Federal Way and Lynnwood. Service will run on the 1 and 2 Lines 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.

Trains are set to run approximately every eight minutes during peak times at the new stations and between 10 to 15 minutes the rest of the day. Combined 1 Line and 2 Line headways between Lynnwood and International District/Chinatown will be every four minutes, providing additional capacity through the system’s busy core.

“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,” said Snohomish County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Dave Somers. “I applaud all those who worked on this project, and I appreciate the patience of the traveling public as the project worked through many barriers. Today is a very important milestone, and we look forward to Link light rail connecting Tacoma, Seattle, Everett and Bellevue in the not-too-distant future.”

To complete the 2 Line, Sound Transit engineers had to do something it never had before—design light rail on a floating bridge. This achievement was made possible by innovative engineering to address the unique challenges of running electric trains across a moving body of water.

With the opening of the full 2 Line, Sound Transit has begun operating six new light-rail expansions in five years. Further expansion, Pinehurst Station, is expected to open later this year.