New north Seattle light rail stations set to open for passengers on Oct. 2 (Puyallup: credit, neighborhoods)

[homesinseattle]

Article link here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kin...7-97fb72d20313

“ Sound Transit's latest light rail extension is on track to open for passenger service on October 2.

The 4.3-mile extension adds three new stations to the current light rail route, with stops in Seattle's U-District and Roosevelt neighborhoods, which will be underground, and a stop in Northgate, which be on an elevated station.”

[jabogitlu]

I'm pretty stoked to be able to get to Green Lake from First Hill. That's going to be super useful

[TheTimidBlueBars]

Coming from the Midwest, I've been really impressed since I moved to Seattle with how fast projects get completed. Every day I drive by Northgate on I-5 there's visibly more progress on the extension.

In Chicago where I'm from, the aldermen have been fighting over the Red Line extension from 95th to 130th for literal decades, and completion is currently "estimated" for 2029. The rapid progress on Northgate Link is refreshing.

[pnwguy2]

Buried in all this is new color coded routes, and a new look for the trains.

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/tran...1-16425400.php

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Buried in all this is new color coded routes, and a new look for the trains.

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/tran...1-16425400.php

And also I wonder why people keep calling it "light rail". Its name is simply Link. Nobody calls the Sounder "heavy rail".

[Transmition]

"Light rail" seems to be used by many people to refer to passenger rail in a metro area, regardless of whether it is light rail or heavy rail - the distinction doesn't really matter to the public. Probably due to most new passenger rail being light rail.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by Transmition

"Light rail" seems to be used by many people to refer to passenger rail in a metro area, regardless of whether it is light rail or heavy rail - the distinction doesn't really matter to the public. Probably due to most new passenger rail being light rail.

Interesting to read the evolution of the term "light rail": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_rail

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

And also I wonder why people keep calling it "light rail". Its name is simply Link. Nobody calls the Sounder "heavy rail".

Well, because it is light rail. Unlike some of the older metro systems in larger cities (heavy rail), it uses overhead power instead of third rail. And I think lower capacity and some other spec differences. (And Sounder is not heavy rail- that's commuter railroad which is a different thing.)

But for the most part I've noticed it's almost as good (mostly comparing it to Atlanta's heavy rail), as far as speed. With the exception of the sections where it has to run on the surface at a reduced speed.

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

And also I wonder why people keep calling it "light rail". Its name is simply Link. Nobody calls the Sounder "heavy rail".

That's just what we call it. I mean, feel free to call it Link, but no one will know what TF you're talking about. We also take the "bus" here, we don't take the "Metro" or the "Sound Transit Express".

I guess I've heard people refer to the Sounder as that? Most people I know just say "I took the train up from Puyallup" etc.

[primaltech]

Rode up to Northgate today from Westlake, and walked around that area and got lunch on a nice day. Absolutely smooth and fast ride. Train arrived right when I walked down there, too. So convenient, and nice looking stations. Just great all around.

And all 3 of the new stations are super useful for me in my current car-free lifestyle. Especially looking forward to walking more often at Green Lake, which is near the Roosevelt station. And of course the U District has good shopping and food, and the Northgate area has a lot of suburban chain amenities and comforts which downtown does not, so that's useful as well.

Awesome job Sound Transit! Glad to live in a city that prioritizes and significantly funds actually useful rail transit expansion projects. Pretty rare in the US. The light rail here still has a long way to grow, system-wise, but it's to Seattle's credit, as is the overall transit culture. I like how diverse of a crowd of regular people take transit here. It's not mostly knuckleheads like I was used to before moving here.