We all went to the Tukwila Station to take a ride on the new link rail!  We didn’t have a problem with any parking there, but I’ve heard complaints about the lack of parking at other stations. The Tukwila station was quite impressive.

link-rail-003

The 13.9-mile Central Link light rail line from Westlake Station to Tukwila International Boulevard Station opened July 18, 2009. A 1.7-mile extension to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will open in December 2009. Ridership is expected to reach 21,000 riders every weekday by the end of 2009. In 2010, after a full year of operation, the average weekday ridership from downtown Seattle to Sea-Tac Airport is expected to total 26,600 riders.

We saw several people jump on and off the rail with their bikes, they have places to hang them on board, or at Tukwila they have storage bins to keep your bike safe until you return.link-rail-001                                                    Buying tickets was easy, plus there was someone there to help out if we had questions.link-rail-005 Here’s a piece of artwork hanging in the terminal…an oversized raindrop!

The first stop we got off at was the International District. 

link-rail-0141We walked to the Green Leaf Vietemese Restaurant, a cute little place that got great reviews on UrbanSpoon.link-rail-010  The next stop for us was Pioneer Square.  It was a beautiful day, we sat at a little Italian corner deli and had wine, espresso and dessert. After all this we were too tired to continue on to Westlake, but I’m looking forward to riding it again. My goal would be to ride my bike to the Burien Transit Center, take a bus to Tukwila and ride the rail downtown and then back to my house. I love having alternative transportation.link-rail-016 For more information, visit their website for rider information, maps and schedules here.