Sound Transit Announces Delay to East Link Light Rail Opening

Aug 18, 2022 - Citing unanticipated material issues and supply chain challenges, Sound Transit announced a likely one year delay for the opening of East Link light rail service across the Eastside. The updated opening date for service will now be sometime in 2024.

Sound Transit has identified delays affecting East Link, Lynnwood, Federal Way and Downtown Redmond Link extensions since April of this year, including construction issues and global supply shortages. For the East Link segment, construction quality and durability issues have arisen with the raised concrete structures that support the tracks. As contractors have worked to fix these problems, further problems were identified with mortar pads, rebar placements and track fasteners. These structures will be entirely replaced by the contractor working on this segment of the project to ensure safety and reliability.

“While the recently-announced delays to the expansion of the light rail system are unfortunate, the City keenly appreciates the difficult construction environment everyone in the region has faced in the last few years," Mercer Island City Manager Jessi Bon, said. "The City is well aware of how the pandemic and other global factors such as supply-chain issues have delayed projects across the region, and ensuring a safe, and long-lasting system is more important than opening the system for use at any particular date.”

For more information about this delay and the East Link system, visit Sound Transit's website.