Sound Transit announced Monday (4/20) that the opening day for the Link light rail service from Tukwila to downtown Seattle will be Saturday, July 18th.

Transit Board Chair and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels made the announcement Monday at a press conference.

Fares are free for the first weekend, but after that will go to $2.50 each way for adults from Tukwila to downtown Seattle – the same as a bus ride. Youth base fares will start at $1.25 and have a maximum fare of $2.00 and Senior/disabled fares will start at $.75 and have a maximum fare of $1.25 under the adopted structure.

Link trains will run from 5am to 1am Monday through Saturday, and 6am to midnight on Sundays.

The launch will begin a new era for public transportation in the Puget Sound region, with work underway to expand the first 15 miles of light rail service to a 55-mile regional system over the next decade and a half.

“We are counting down to a milestone. On July 18, we will make history,” said Nickels. “We invite the entire community to come out and take a test ride, and enjoy a system that will grow north, south and east. Light rail will transform how we travel, how we grow and how we live.”

July’s light rail opening will launch service between Tukwila and downtown Seattle. The line includes stops in downtown Seattle, SODO, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley neighborhoods and Tukwila.

Frequent bus connector service will carry light rail passengers between Tukwila and Sea-Tac International Airport starting Monday, July 20 until the opening of direct airport service in December.

Rides will be free opening weekend. Sound Transit will announce detailed opening celebration plans in the coming weeks. Information will be posted at http://www.soundtransit.org/linklaunch.

Construction of light rail between downtown and the University of Washington is underway, with a scheduled opening in 2016. With the passage of the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure in November 2008. light rail is scheduled to reach all the way to Lynnwood, Redmond’s Overlake area and the Star Lake/Redondo area near Federal Way by 2023.

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