Can Sound Transit Complete Light Rail Build-Out?
Delays, Inflation, Budget Cuts Threaten ‘Most Ambitious Transit Expansion in the Country’
On May 10 Sound Transit, state, and location officials cut a ribbon to celebrate inauguration of service over a 3.4 mile, two station extension of its Link light rail line on the east side of King County in Washington state. It marked the latest milestone in what the agency calls the “most ambitious transit expansion in the county.”
The program, which includes 62 new route miles and 37 new stations, will more than double the Link’s system’s current size. Projects will stretch out to at least 2041, and the total investment between 2017 and 2046 will exceed $150 billion in today’s value. Developments in the pipeline include:
Completion in early 2026 of Link’s 2 Line, which will run from Downtown Redmond to International District / Chinatown station in downtown Seattle.
An eight-mile extension of the 1 Line to Federal Way, also scheduled for completion next year.
Future extensions of the 1 line to Everett and Tacoma.
New branch lines to West Seattle and Ballard scheduled to open in 2032 and 2039, respectively.
An 11.8-line on the east side of Lake Washington between South Kirkland and Issaquah.
Sound Transit (ST) is the regional public transit agency service for Washington’s Puget Sound region, which includes the cities of Seattle (population 755,078) and Tacoma (population 222,906). Besides Link light rail, its portfolio includes the Sounder commuter rail lines and ST Express Bus.
Projects have been shuffled around and delayed. Extensions to Everett and Ballard have been pushed back to the late 2030s. The Tacoma extension is now scheduled to be finished in 2035.
Created in 1993, the agency conducted its first bond referendum in 1996. Subsequent offerings were sold in 2008 and 2016, each progressively larger. Funds for their repayment come from sales tax, a motor vehicle excise tax, and real estate property tax.
Projects have been shuffled around and delayed. Extensions to Everett and Ballard have been pushed back to the late 2030s. The Tacoma extension is now scheduled to be finished in 2035.
The first segment of Link’s 1 Line, then known as Central Link, opened in 2009. Later that year service commenced between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport. Subsequent extensions brought service to University of Washington and Angle Lake in 2016, Northgate in 2021, and Lynnwood in 2024. This line currently stretches 33 miles end-to-end with three extensions under construction or in planning.
Having recovered nicely from the pandemic, Sound Transit’s light rail lines served 23.9 million riders last year or 95,600 per day as of the first quarter of 2025. The overwhelming majority rode the 1 Line.
The first section of Link’s 2 Line opened April 27 of last year. It runs from South Bellevue to Redmond Technology station, near Microsoft’s west campus and which can be reached by a 1,100 foot footbridge over Highway 520.
The section that opens May 10 adds two stations: Downtown Redmond and Marymoor Village, which is near the eponymous park. It runs through an industrial area that is transitioning to mixed use transit-oriented development. Construction quality issues delayed this stretch for more than a year since many of the concrete track support towers had to be rebuilt.
The last section of the 2 Line runs from South Bellevue to the International District / Chinatown station south of downtown Seattle and is expected to open in early 2026. To help manage the project Sound Transit divided the 7.4-mile route into three sections.
Segment one, from South Bellevue to the west portal of the Mercer Island tunnel is furthest along, with systems testing underway since last November. Testing began in January for segment two, International District / Chinatown station to the east portal of the Mount Baker tunnel. Segment three runs between the two tunnels and over the Homer M. Hadley floating bridge in the Interstate 90 median. The start of testing is imminent.
When complete the 2 Line, which has a total cost of $3.4 billion, will stretch 14 miles from Seattle to Redmond and serve ten stations. The newest stops are Judkins Park and Mercer Island. After the line is finished, they and East Side communities will be able to connect .with the rest of the Link system.
Responsibility for completing Link’s expansion rests with Dow Constantine, the former King County Executive, who was appointed Sound Transit CEO in March. Although his selection was supported by labor, business, and pro-transit groups, critics cited his limited transit experience and called for greater transparency in the selection process, which advanced him over four candidates who served as transit agency CEOs.
“It’s a glaring example of why the public has such skepticism about how government works, and frankly how Sound Transit works,” County Assessor John Arthur Wilson, who is running for county executive, said in an interview. Skeptics say the selection of Constantine will probably erode the public’s confidence in Sound Transit, which has been plagued by equipment malfunctions and massive project delays.
Constantine’s “strength is his extensive experience in our region and his ability to hit the ground running on a very complex system and incredibly extensive capital project,” countered Sound Transit board member Cassie Franklin, who is also mayor of Everett.
The new CEO’s compensation, which includes a base salary of $450,000, is another source of contention. The figure is approximately $50,000 more than Janno Lieber, CEO of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a much larger agency, gets paid.
Constantine and Sound Transit face an array of planning and finance challenges. Projects have been shuffled around and delayed. Extensions to Everett and Ballard have been pushed back to the late 2030s. The Tacoma extension is now scheduled to be finished in 2035.
Due to inflation Sound Transit’s board has been reluctant to sell bonds since they are not confident the money they raise will be enough to finish projects. The West Seattle line is expected to cost around $7 billion; the Ballard line around $11 billion due to the need to dig a second tunnel under downtown Seattle.
In addition, the agency has yet to deliver a new financing strategy or estimate costs for new power lines, tracks switches, and other improvements a consultant recommended to improve system reliability. Because of massive project inflation and cash limits “everything with Sound Transit 3 is on the table,” regarding project prioritizing and schedules, Constantine said in an interview.
Another concern: Will the Trump administration reduce transit grants?
Here are summaries of the seven other light rail expansion projects on Sound Transit’s agenda: One is scheduled for completion next year. The rest are in planning or environmental review stages.
Federal Way extension Eight miles of mostly elevated right-of-way from Sea-Tac International Airport to Federal Way with three stations: Highline College, Star Lake, and downtown Federal Way. All stations with have connections with local transit lines as well as pick-up and drop-off areas and easy access for pedestrians, cyclists, and paratransit. The extension is expected to be “substantially complete by August with systems and safety testing and operator familiarization runs starting in the fall.
Ballard Line This 7.7 mile route will connect International District / Chinatown and downtown Seattle with the Interbay and Ballard neighborhoods and have nine stations. Plans call for a separate tunnel under downtown Seattle because of increased traffic once the 1 line is extended to Everett and Tacoma. Service is scheduled to begin in 2039.
The project is currently in environmental review with the draft Environment Impact Statement expected to be available for public comment sometime this year. In 2022 the Sound Transit Board of Director scuttled a combined draft EIS for the Ballard and West Seattle line and broke them into separate projects.
Everett Link Extension Adds 16 miles and six stations to the 1 Line and connects southern Snohomish County with the city of Everett. The line is in environmental review stage and completion is expected sometime between 2037 and 2041.
South Kirkland – Issaquah Link This new 11.8 mile line to the east of Lake Washington calls for four new stations and sharing three existing stations now used by the 2 Line. While it is scheduled for completion in 2041 it currently has a $90 million funding gap that if not closed would push schedules d opening back to 2044.
Tacoma Dome Link Extension This project will build almost ten miles of new mostly elevated right-of-way between Federal Way and Tacoma. It would add four stations to the system. They would have connections with local transit, pick-up and drop-off zones, convenient access for pedestrians, cyclists, and paratransit, and 500 parking spaces. Sound Transit published the project draft Environmental Impact Statement in November 2024. Plans call for the project to be finished no earlier than 2035.
Tacoma Community College T Line Extension Calls for 3.5 miles of new track and six new stations between Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood and Tacoma Community College. At Tacoma Dome it will connect with the Link 1 Line, which is scheduled to reach Tacoma in 2035. Due to increases in capital and real estate costs the board pushed the completion schedule back to 2039. However, the project has a $20 million funding gap that if not closed would delay opening another two years.
West Seattle Link Extension Adds 4.1 mile of new light rail line and four stations from SODO (South of Downtown) to the Alaska Junction neighborhood of West Seattle. Service is scheduled to begin in 2032. The Federal Transit Administration issued a record of decision April 29, indicating completion of the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) planning and environmental review process. Sound Transit is advancing the project to the final design phase.