(Image: Sound Transit)
This one is a little different. Sound Transit says to prepare for another weekend of disrupted light rail service around Capitol Hill Station — but this time, preparations for the planned late 2025 full opening of the system’s 2 Line are not to blame.
Service between the University District and Capitol Hill will be suspended Saturday and Sunday as work takes place to repair equipment damaged in September that has had trains running slowly through the area:
As regular riders through University of Washington already know, Link trains have been traveling slowly through the station and interlocking since September, when a train with a broken pantograph damaged the Overhead Contact System (OCS). Crews were able to make emergency repairs, and to prevent further disruptions trains have been speed restricted entering and exiting the station until full repairs could be performed.
Sound Transit says the service interruption is necessary because repairs of the high-voltage electrical components involved cannot be performed “without a complete shutdown of the impacted area.”
During the work, buses will replace trains between U District and Capitol Hill stations every 10-15 minutes, stopping at University of Washington Station in each direction. Link trains will be operating every 15 minutes between Angle Lake and Capitol Hill stations and every 15 minutes between U District and Lynnwood City Center stations. Passengers traveling north of Capitol Hill will have to get off the train and take the shuttle, reconnecting at U District, and passengers traveling south of U District will do the same in reverse.
The weekend disruption comes in a long string of shutdowns south of Capitol Hill Station as Sound Transit crews perform work and testing to prepare for full 2 Line operations expected to begin late this year connecting Seattle to the Eastside via the I-90 bridge.
Sound Transit says the U District shutdown marks the halfway point “in our period of major disruptions.”
As for un-planned service disruptions, Sound Transit says it working to address the issue.
Earlier this month, Sound Transit CEO Goran Sparrman declared an emergency status opening the way to expedite $1.5 million in spending after an increase in “unplanned outages” that plagued the light rail lines last year. Trains were delayed or blocked in 166 incidents through November — representing about about 6% of the system’s light rail service hours.
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