My husband, Don, and I set out to ride Seattle’s light rail recently.
We drove south on Interstate 405 and took Exit 1 that said “Tukwila,” with the green “T,” which stands for train. This led us to a rather quiet station, which looked like it had been there awhile. Nevertheless, we purchased our $6.50 round-trip ticket from a machine that didn’t refund change. The price alone should have set off bells, since we thought the round trip — Tukwila to Westlake and return — cost more like $2.50. We anxiously awaited the arrival of the train and were ready for our adventure into the city. It never came.
By this time, a parking attendant had arrived.
“Oh, you’re at the wrong station. This is the Sounder train,” she said.
She added, “Weren’t our online directions for light rail specific?”
Nope! We hadn’t checked online before leaving home.
Taking several additional wrong turns, we found the Tukwila International Boulevard Station, which is really close to SeaTac Airport. However, don’t even think of looking for a sign — This Way To The Station!
We found a parking space among the 600 spots allocated to transit commuters and stepped on the escalator of the modern glass structure, to be met by a long line of folks waiting to buy tickets from one working machine.
We flashed our already-bought, more expensive tickets at the attendant who said, “You can ride any train with those tickets. They are good for light rail.”
Excitement grew. The train was coming — a spanking clean, white, green and blue train, with pale gray interior, seats covered in blues and purples and air conditioning! The easy-to-read sign indicated 12 stops: Tukwila, Rainier Beach, Othello, Columbia City, Mount Baker, Beacon Hill, Sodo, Stadium, International District/Chinatown, Pioneer Square, University Street and, finally, Westlake Center. We were on our way.
“Next stop Rainier Beach Station,” said the loud speaker.
A reader board announced the same.
We were now suspended in mid air like being on a ride at Disneyland, paralleling the freeway, heading north.
“Now entering Rainier Beach Station, doors to my left,” called the speaker.
One person boarded.
And so it went.
What frightened me a bit was that the train rides the rails in the middle of Martin Luther King Jr. Way. I wouldn’t want to be driving a car right next to the train. As Don pointed out, “But, there’s a yellow line. See?” OK, then, a yellow line separates the train from the cars.
Approaching Beacon Hill, we were thrown into darkness as we rode through a tunnel and into the underground station. Unlike the dirty old musty smell and look of the New York subways, the Seattle underground stations are spit-polish clean.
At our final destination, Westlake Center, my eye caught the colorful murals depicting Alice in Wonderland, Donald Duck and Marilyn Monroe. But, be aware that it’s only an easy, one-foot down to the hub where busses and trains co-exist. Please refrain from the urge to race across the tracks to the other side!
We made it — a quick stop to grab a mango and strawberry smoothie, and we were back riding the rails, Tukwila bound and to retrieve our car to drive north … all in a day’s time.
