Thousands line up for Seattle's light rail debut
SEATTLE - People by the thousands showed up Saturday to get a free ride on the opening day of Seattle's new light rail line.
The first train took off moments after 9 a.m., and the free rides are continuing through 8 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday on the 13.9-mile Link route between downtown Seattle and the south Seattle suburb of Tukwila.
As of 3 p.m. Saturday, about 30,500 riders had climbed aboard the Link train, and thousands more were expected before the weekend is over, said a Sound Transit spokesman.
The trains started running this weekend after more than four decades after political wrangling and economic woes, ending the city's dubious status as one of the nation's largest without a dedicated rail transit system.
Sound Transit officials have been planning for as many as 50,000 riders Saturday with police, transit staff and volunteers working on crowd control and communications.
About 200 people were boarding the train every 8 minutes at Westlake Station in downtown Seattle. Riders at other stations were waiting about 30 to 40 minutes to board a train.
Sean Parghi was one of the early riders on the train. He said he took it to get to Seattle for the Sounders game at Qwest Field.
"This is history," he said. "We're super-excited, definitely. I love public transit, and this is great."
Arlene Cooper, a mother of two, said the light rail will give her and her family "another option."
"We'll walk down here (to the station) and take trips downtown," she said. "We save money on parking, and we have bus passes, which we can use on the light rail - so it works out perfectly."
Vu Han of Everett, who said he has never ridden light rail before, described the train as "very convenient."
Many other riders described the train as clean and easy to use.
Dozens of politicians gathered for a ribbon-cutting to launch the light rail service at the Mount Baker station, amid a festive atmosphere.
The light rail line will kick off regular weekday service at 5 a.m. Monday - and that's when its real test will begin.
Visit the Sound Transit web site for information about fares or for information about schedules and routing.
The first train took off moments after 9 a.m., and the free rides are continuing through 8 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday on the 13.9-mile Link route between downtown Seattle and the south Seattle suburb of Tukwila.
As of 3 p.m. Saturday, about 30,500 riders had climbed aboard the Link train, and thousands more were expected before the weekend is over, said a Sound Transit spokesman.
The trains started running this weekend after more than four decades after political wrangling and economic woes, ending the city's dubious status as one of the nation's largest without a dedicated rail transit system.
Sound Transit officials have been planning for as many as 50,000 riders Saturday with police, transit staff and volunteers working on crowd control and communications.
About 200 people were boarding the train every 8 minutes at Westlake Station in downtown Seattle. Riders at other stations were waiting about 30 to 40 minutes to board a train.
Sean Parghi was one of the early riders on the train. He said he took it to get to Seattle for the Sounders game at Qwest Field.
"This is history," he said. "We're super-excited, definitely. I love public transit, and this is great."
Arlene Cooper, a mother of two, said the light rail will give her and her family "another option."
"We'll walk down here (to the station) and take trips downtown," she said. "We save money on parking, and we have bus passes, which we can use on the light rail - so it works out perfectly."
Vu Han of Everett, who said he has never ridden light rail before, described the train as "very convenient."
Many other riders described the train as clean and easy to use.
Dozens of politicians gathered for a ribbon-cutting to launch the light rail service at the Mount Baker station, amid a festive atmosphere.
The light rail line will kick off regular weekday service at 5 a.m. Monday - and that's when its real test will begin.
Visit the Sound Transit web site for information about fares or for information about schedules and routing.