The Sound Transit 1 Line Link schedule consists of light rail trains from Lynnwood every 8 to 10 minutes from 4:59 am. untill 9:13 pm., 12 min to 11:01 and 15 min to 1:31 pm. Yet, most days my Yahoo mail box contains at least one of the following:
Due to a mechanical issue, the 1 Line trains will arrive about 20 minutes later today
Or
Due to mechanical issues, 1 Line trains are sharing one track and you are advised to board all trains on the platform to Lynnwood.
The March 7th Seattle Times Traffic Lab article “Report: Light rail too complex for its own good” detailed the problem: the sensitivity of Sound Transit’s “Rail-to-Ground” selection for power system . The result’s been problems associated with power problems, weak governance, inefficient use of maintenance crews, and a lack of crossover rail switches to avoid blockage”. Proposed recommendations would allow trains to bypass problems and maintain Sound Transit’s promised four-minute-intervals in 2026.
It's been nearly 4 months and the problems apparently continue. Sound Transit used to provide quarterly Service Delivery Performance Reports with Percentage of Scheduled Trips Operated and Headway Performance (compared to schedule) However the last report they released was for Q1 2021. Thus, it's not clear if there’s been any improvement.
The 1 Line track extensions to Lynnwood and next year to Federal Way, and routing 2 Line from Redmond across I-90 Bridge and north to Lynnwood would seem to add potential sources and problems with maintenance crew access,
The bottom line is Sound Transit Link riders deserve better.
There is another mechanical issue at Beacon Station a few days ago. Do you know what that mechanical issue was and is it the same mechanical issue as this one? Thanks.
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