The Puget Sound region is about to see a major light rail expansion, as East Link, to be known as the 2 Line, launches mid-morning tomorrow. The Urbanist has everything you need to know about this momentous occasion.
When will service start? The opening day celebration starts at 10am at Downtown Bellevue Station with speechifying — you can RSVP here — but trains won’t actually start running until an hour later, with the first train set to leave South Bellevue at 11:02 am, and the first train leaving Redmond Technology at 11:05am.
When will trains be running? After Saturday morning, trains will run from 5:30am to 9:30pm every day. Sound Transit will run trains every 10 minutes. If you need connections after 9:30pm, utilize local King County Metro service or Sound Transit express buses.
How do I access trains from Seattle? Sound Transit express buses provide the most direct connection with the 2 Line for riders coming from Seattle. The 550 heads south through downtown on 2nd Avenue and connects with trains at South Bellevue as well as Downtown Bellevue Station. The 545 heads north through downtown on 4th Avenue and connects at Redmond Technology, and the 542 does the same from the University District’s two light rail stations.
Where does the starter line go? For now, the 2 Line serve eights stations in Bellevue and Redmond. Until further extension, South Bellevue Station is the southern terminus and Redmond Technology Center is the northeastern terminus. South Main, Downtown Bellevue, Wilburton, Spring District, BelRed, and Overlake Village are the six stations in-between.
From South Bellevue, the line passes through green meadows of the Mercer Slough before passing into a tunnel to reach the shiny towers of Downtown Bellevue and bridging over I-405 and the car lots of Wilburton and the Bel-Red corridor before hugging SR 520 to reach Overlake and Redmond Technology. Along the elevated sections heading into downtown, the view is quite spectacular, as captured in the video below.
