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Originally published | Page modified June 15, 2009 at 3:00 AM

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Light-rail line from Seattle to Tukwila gets preview

The public can come aboard starting July 18, and Sound Transit is preparing for up to 100,000 riders that first day.

Down the line

Where the tracks will go

Westlake in downtown Seattle to Tukwila:

July 18

Tukwila to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: scheduled for Dec. 31

Westlake to Capitol Hill and Husky Stadium: 2016

Overlake Transit Center, near Microsoft: by 2021

Lynnwood and north Federal Way: by 2023

Video | Light-rail ride along

Out of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, onto the streets, under Beacon Hill, through Rainier Valley and onto Tukwila, the train glided.

Fourteen miles down, 14 miles back, not a hitch. Just some appropriate slowdowns for the stations along the $2.3 billion Sound Transit Link light-rail line, which got its first media inspection Wednesday.

The public can come aboard starting July 18, and Sound Transit is preparing for up to 100,000 riders that first day.

On Wednesday, John Helm, shown in the photo above, operated the two-car train, with Highway 518 traffic down below as he neared the Tukwila stop.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels played tour guide. Nickels is Sound Transit chairman, and for years — as confidence in the agency teetered, critics jabbed that buses would do the job cheaper, and taxpayers wondered if the trains would ever leave the station — Nickels insisted light rail was the future.

So with microphone in hand, standing at the front of the train, Nickels talked of revitalization in Southeast Seattle and pointed to where, on a less hazy day, riders would have a memorable view of Mount Rainier.

Not quite a whistle-stop tour, but a nice upbeat event for a mayor in the middle of a re-election campaign. "I'm very proud of this," he said in an interview. "I'm busting."

More Local News headlines...

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Buses are not as good as train. Buses travel on surface street - they have to fight through traffic. Which is why light rail should be...  Posted on June 4, 2009 at 3:49 PM by The American Patriot. Jump to comment
ddraig, I don't think anyone is saying that light rail is the right answer for every person at every time. It may not work for your...  Posted on June 4, 2009 at 1:09 PM by Nformed. Jump to comment
So... I don't understand people! Those who are against light-rail... are you saying that the entire world is wrong on the subject of rail?...  Posted on June 4, 2009 at 11:07 PM by Lightrail-Seattle. Jump to comment

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