2 Line (Sound Transit)

2 Line
An eastbound 2 Line train viewed from State Route 520 with Downtown Bellevue in the background
Overview
Other name(s)
  • East Link Extension
  • Blue Line
StatusIn service
OwnerSound Transit
LocaleSeattle, Washington, U.S.
Termini
Stations
  • 10 (current)
    • 25 (future)
Websitesoundtransit.org
Service
TypeLight rail
SystemLink light rail
Daily ridership4,508 (2024, weekdays)[1]
Ridership1,204,247 (2024)[1]
History
OpenedApril 27, 2024
Technical
Line length
  • Operating sections: 10 mi (16 km)[2][3]
  • New segments: 18 mi (29 km)[4]
Number of tracks2
CharacterAt grade, elevated, and underground
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
ElectrificationOverhead line1,500 V DC
Operating speed55 mph (89 km/h)
Route map

Lynnwood City Center
Sound Transit Express Parking
Mountlake Terrace
Parking
Shoreline North/185th
Swift Blue Line Parking
Shoreline South/148th
Parking
Pinehurst (2026)
Northgate
Parking
Roosevelt
U District
University of Washington
Capitol Hill
First Hill Streetcar
Westlake
Seattle Center Monorail South Lake Union Streetcar
Symphony
Pioneer Square
Colman Dock
International District/Chinatown
Amtrak Cascades Sounder commuter rail First Hill Streetcar
Judkins Park
Mercer Island
Up arrow future service
(2026)
South Bellevue
Parking
East Main
Bellevue Downtown
Wilburton
Operations and Maintenance
Facility East
Spring District
BelRed
Parking
Overlake Village
Redmond Technology
Parking
Marymoor Village
Parking
Downtown Redmond

Handicapped/disabled access All stations are accessible

The 2 Line, also known as the East Link Extension, is a light rail line serving the Eastside region of the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of Sound Transit's Link light rail system and runs for 10 miles (16 km) in the cities of Bellevue and Redmond. The line has ten stations between South Bellevue and Downtown Redmond stations and its first section opened on April 27, 2024. The full line with service to Downtown Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Redmond, is planned to open in early 2026 and span 18 miles (29 km). The 2 Line will continue through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and share stations with the 1 Line through to Lynnwood City Center station.

The East Link project was approved by voters in the 2008 Sound Transit 2 ballot measure, with construction costs projected at $3.7 billion. The line will use the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, one of the Interstate 90 floating bridges, which was constructed in 1989 with the intent to convert its reversible express lanes to light rail. Early transit plans from the 1960s proposed an Eastside rail system, but preliminary planning on the system did not begin until Sound Transit's formation in the early 1990s.

The proposed alignment of the East Link project was debated by the Bellevue city council in the early 2010s, with members split on two different routes south of Downtown Bellevue; city funding for the downtown segment's tunnel was also debated and ultimately included in the final agreement. The alignment was finalized in 2013, after more than two years of debate, and delayed the beginning of construction to 2016 and the completion of the project several years beyond 2021. The Seattle–Overlake section was scheduled to open in 2023, but was postponed due to construction issues on the floating bridge section that resulted in the replacement of its plinths. As a result, the first section of the 2 Line opened in 2024 with Bellevue–Overlake service; it was extended east into Downtown Redmond in May 2025. The full line will include the world's first railway constructed on a floating bridge and is expected to carry 50,000 daily riders by 2030.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Ridership was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Light rail opens on the Eastside" (Press release). Sound Transit. April 27, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  3. ^ "Light rail to Downtown Redmond opens" (Press release). Sound Transit. May 10, 2025. Retrieved May 10, 2025.
  4. ^ "Sound Transit updates East Link preferred route" (Press release). Sound Transit. April 22, 2010. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.

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