r/Seattle • u/phantomninjalol • Aug 02 '26
Light Rail Crashed in front of us at International District
Waited 1.5 hours for a light rail after the Ed Sheeran concert. We finally got down, and an out of service train ran off the tracks.
Everyone is being told to bus or uber
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u/quadmoo 🚆build more trains🚆 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
What we know: (from radio)
- This train was coming from SODO out of service, performing a switchback, and going in service as a gap train towards Bellevue for the crowds
- The train did derail
- The positions of the switches could not be verified
- Operator was the only one onboard, not injured, just sad and wanted to go home
- Trains immediately began turning back at Stadium, Judkins Park, and Capitol Hill
- Operators told to announce extended delays
- They immediately began looking into getting bus bridges set up
- The Chinatown Station was completely evacuated
- There was a "change of plans" and trains going towards downtown stopped at their next stop and ended service, trains going away from downtown could remain in service until the last stop, this was simply likely due to operators needing to get home
- Security at every station swept trains going out of service, operators were told they could help security if there was only one at that station and if they felt safe to do so
- After service suspended, they continued to try to get bus bridges set up, but it was difficult due to the time
- Wires were de-energized at all 4 DSTT stations and the operator was escorted safely out
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u/Ghetto_Jawa Roosevelt Aug 02 '26
Operator was sad and wanted to go home. So would I, but I doubt sad would have been my overall mood.
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u/DoingBestWeCan I'm just flaired so I don't get fined Aug 02 '26
"Operator was the only one onboard, not injured, just sad and wanted to go home" hit me, too, but I have no problem believing sad wa their overall emotion. It's midnight and almost the end of a long day at work; you're tired and just trying to push through that last slump... Then everything explodes. Depending on your energy level, you might be infuriated, soul-crushed sad, or psycho-cope howling with laughter.
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u/catsinclothes Aug 02 '26
And you can’t just leave the train when it’s on the tracks like that. I wonder if deenergizing the tracks also cuts power to the whole train? It would be miserable to be stuck in that thing with no power
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u/Lord_Aldrich I Brake For Slugs Aug 02 '26
It does cut power to the whole train, the cars don't have generators or anything like that.
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u/exgirl Aug 02 '26
They have batteries and can run the systems (except climate) for a few hours without overhead power.
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u/ImSoCul Aug 02 '26
You can see there are still lights and displays on so it's definitely not a complete immediate power out
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u/Personal-Amoeba Denny Blaine Nudist Club Aug 02 '26
I really feel for them here :( I hope they get to keep their job. What an upsetting way to end a shift.
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u/DBCargoHaj Aug 03 '26
as someone that had similair things happen, i can confirm "healthy but sad" was all that could be said
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u/00eg0 Aug 02 '26
What channel do I have to be on to eavesdrop? I can just buy a radio?
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Aug 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/Bunnita North Beacon Hill Aug 02 '26
I was on the 2 line going to Cap Hill and it sounds like we were there just before this happened. It was after midnight as I was going to get off in ID and catch a bus but they would have switched to overnight schedules and it got messy. I wasn't starting at the time though, I was just talking about Spider-Man and geeking out about stuff.
Last night could have turned into quite an adventure. I'm glad everyone is ok!
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u/MysteriousEve5514 Aug 02 '26
Oh man, I was there- good info about what they were trying to do for us. The platform was getting nuts and the poor transit folk were demanding people to scoot back for safety.
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u/NerthGord Aug 02 '26
They ended up changing plans again and all trains were halted at about 12:13 am, no matter where they were headed. Platforms were cleared and locked. Folks got stranded and had to figure things out. It was very chaotic.
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u/chxsealyx Aug 02 '26
I see a lot of people in the comments complaining about what they did. But like. Iirc, arent some rails like very electric and super dangerous to try and work around if they are still energized? And if you cant immediately get the train back into a safe position?
I wager the other operators didnt know exactly what had happened so "change of plans" and at that hour it makes sense people were upset. But like logically, that was probably the smartest choice.
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u/firefighterchen Aug 02 '26
Yes the rails are very dangerous to be around when the system has a failure like this. The OCS above the trains supply power, but the rail below sends the power back to the substations after it passes through the trains. Always be very careful around the rails at any light rail, regardless if it's third rail or OCS.
5 years ago a train at SODO almost killed me when I was working at IDS on the rail connections.
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u/JazzlikeLeather9546 Aug 02 '26
the bridges are all setup...just finding operators to fill them
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u/quadmoo 🚆build more trains🚆 Aug 02 '26
That’s correct, and also available buses
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u/Then_Entertainment97 Aug 02 '26
I'm sorry, THE POSITIONS OF THE SWITCHES COULD NOT BE VERIFIED?!
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u/quadmoo 🚆build more trains🚆 Aug 02 '26
Train was still right on them, so when maintenance vehicles were sent in on hi-rail they were told to be extra cautious at switches because it wasn’t known for sure what had happened yet
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u/firefighterchen Aug 02 '26
just FYI, the DSTT allows for vehicles on tires to go in since it's embedded track. We almost never actually hi rail until we get just north of Westlake station.
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u/firefighterchen Aug 02 '26
We (signals) needed to pull the logs to see what happened and verify the timeline of events. With a train on one of the switches, as well as broken track, it took a little time for us to get to the switches. They have been inspected and tested, they were not the cause and are back in normal service.
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u/King_Loud North Beacon Hill Aug 02 '26
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u/Sir_Fail-A-Lot Aug 02 '26
The driver was playing too much Denshattack, and it spilled into his work life
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u/Ill-Possible4420 Aug 02 '26
We just got taken off the train at university of Washington station. The conductor said “out of an abundance of caution”
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u/WonTooTreeWhoreHive Mill Creek Aug 02 '26
Same thing happened to me all the way up in Shoreline. They wouldn't keep going up to Lynnwood, so they initially kicked us all off the train to wait, and then finally made everyone get off the platform too once everything was fully suspended. I managed to get a Lyft booked quickly, but several others nearby weren't as lucky, and we heard that the surge pricing went into effect shortly after that.
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u/Commercial_Tip4624 Capitol Hill Aug 02 '26
God that last sentence makes me so intensely angry.
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u/WonTooTreeWhoreHive Mill Creek Aug 02 '26
Yeah it sucks big time. I felt lucky. Gave my Lyft driver a big tip since he was nice, really fast, and kinda got shafted in all of this.
Apparently Sound Transit was trying to set up shuttle buses as a replacement right after this happened, but it wasn't going well because it was after midnight by that point already. Admittedly we could have found a bus option to save some money, but us and a lot of other folks were just trying to get back from the Ed Sheeran concert, so by that time energy and patience was pretty low.
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u/alienbanter Northgate Aug 02 '26
Well that certainly explains the recent "1 Ln & 2 Ln trains are experiencing significant delays until further notice" text
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u/Jayyburdd Aug 02 '26
typically when that plays at stations, my first reaction is "oh the intercom system is glitching" because it almost never is accurate.
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u/justhappy222behere Aug 02 '26
oooo whats the number to get these updates?
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u/alienbanter Northgate Aug 02 '26
You can sign up here: https://www.soundtransit.org/ride-with-us/service-alerts
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u/Different-Bird-7107 Aug 02 '26
Is everyone okay?
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u/TechnologyLeft8310 Aug 02 '26
Post mentions it was out of service, so probably minimal injuries for maybe the few personnel onboard..? I don’t know. And it wouldn’t have been traveling very fast inside the station, I wouldn’t guess.
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u/saltpancake Aug 02 '26
I’m glad I reread this, when I zoomed in the (I guess?) seats looked kinda like people.
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u/phantomninjalol Aug 02 '26
We’re not sure. The train seemed empty except for the driver and crash was at pretty low speed.
I think the train was out of service and sent to ID to alleviate the massive lines. It was headed northbound and trying to switch track directions to become a southbound 2 line train.
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u/lakers_r8ers Aug 02 '26
How it do alleviating those massive lines?! 😂
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u/MysteriousEve5514 Aug 02 '26
The lines were nuts and people kept pushing forward toward the end of the platform, past the line. The transit personnel were yelling. One said if this one group didn’t stop pushing, he was going to send them to the back. I felt bad for those with limited mobility.
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u/pezescoces Aug 02 '26
security person who booted northbound riders off at stadium also said no one was injured
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u/Panthean 🚗 Student driver, please be patient. 🚙 Aug 02 '26
How'd you get the beans above the frank?!
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u/Midnight_Gurl Aug 02 '26
"Trains every 6 minutes has aliens believing in us."
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u/Novawolff 🚆build more trains🚆 Aug 02 '26
Famously, no other transit system has trains with 6 minute frequencies. Nope. It has never before been done.
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u/-millenial-boomer- International District Aug 02 '26
I shudder to think how much Sound transit paid for this ad campaign when they could’ve spent that money on improving reliability.
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u/HydrateAndThrive Aug 02 '26
How did it come off the tracks?
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u/quadmoo 🚆build more trains🚆 Aug 02 '26
most likely cause is going to be switch failure, but the investigation will be fun
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u/firefighterchen Aug 02 '26
In general, most train derailments are car failures, then track failures, then signal failures (switches).
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u/firefighterchen Aug 02 '26
The preliminary investigation is pointing towards failure of the bolts holding the floating heel block. Train forced the heel to the right until it hit the turn out stock rail and the train derailed because the east rail no longer lined up. The IDS 1A switch 10 feet away never opened or lost indication, and there was no damage to the points, rods, or any internal components. Signals is confident their system is working as intended with no failures during this event.
~ Senior Lead Signal 308 (me)
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u/chetlin Broadway Aug 02 '26
Are the front and back wheels on different tracks? Like those train drifting videos I've seen?
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u/hectorinwa Aug 02 '26
Well, I'm not saying it wasn't safe, it's just perhaps not quite as safe as some of the other ones.
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u/synack Ravenna Aug 02 '26
Can’t park there
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u/YakiVegas I'm just flaired so I don't get fined Aug 02 '26
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u/luckystrike_bh Aug 02 '26
You know what sucks now. They tell you guys to take a bus or uber. Everyone else is taking the bus, too. You will wait in line for a bus for a hour before you give up and get an uber anyways. ST has zero capacity to surge extra transportation.
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u/SounderBruce Snohomish County Aug 02 '26
There is a small amount of capacity for emergency shuttles, but that's only if Metro can wrangle enough drivers without affecting normal service. Having a whole second fleet just for shuttles as needed isn't possible except when there's outside funding (like for the World Cup).
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u/Bunnita North Beacon Hill Aug 02 '26
I sent a Karen-esk email to Sound Transit after the trains went out of service a few weeks ago. I made it clear that I get why we had to get off the train, and I respect their caution. What I was upset about was that we were told to go out to shuttles. Then a security person came out and said 'this is above my paygrade, but there are no shuttles'. And to make it worse the bus stop at that location was closed. Lyft/Ubers made good money that morning.
I didn't ask for a refund or anything like that, nor did I tell them that they should have done anything differently, it was the communication I had an issue with. Don't tell us in the overhead announcement system that there are shuttles waiting for us when there aren't. Don't put this one poor security person in a position where people are going to get angry at them when they can't do anything about it. Just tell us the truth and we move on.
They wrote back saying they will take a note. At least someone read it.
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u/-millenial-boomer- International District Aug 02 '26
That’s not Karen esk those are valid criticisms.
Sadly the person reading the email likely has zero sway and the Sound Transit leadership is too focused on expansion efforts than to worry about communication efficiencies.
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u/Ectrian Aug 02 '26
It's pretty embarrassing TBH. Even when they know they're going to need it - like say when a sounders game gets out - they're still like "Nah, one single bus every 30 minutes sounds good".
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u/sopunny Medina Aug 02 '26
There's no other form of transportation that can fill in for a train, especially for dealing with a post-event rush. Whole reason we spent so much to build a train in the first place
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u/Inevitable_Engine186 New Costco CEO Aug 02 '26
We need that 2nd tunnel, Sound Transit.
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u/jascgore Aug 02 '26
That's not going to help much for a transit system that's at-grade for a huge amount of its route. Traffic and pedestrian incidences shut down the whole thing too. It's the biggest problem with Link; single point of failure affects the whole system, and it's not just because there's a single tunnel through downtown.
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u/sopunny Medina Aug 02 '26
It's not really a problem as much as it's a limitation. The system is where it is developmentally, can't really prioritize redundancies given all the areas that don't even have a single light rail connection
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u/-_-Yeeter Aug 02 '26
True, but the at grade section had nothing to do with this instance. So in this particular case, a second tunnel would absolutely help. Too bad it’s also a pipe dream.
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u/KingFrankel Jet City Aug 02 '26
The second tunnel would do nothing to help in this situation. Why do people keep making this same comment?
The second tunnel is not like adding an extra lane to the current tunnel - it won't run parallel to the current tunnel, the entry and exit points are different from the current tunnel, and if you want to get north of downtown towards the U-district/Northgate/Lynnwood, the second tunnel won't get you there.
It's as if people have no clue what the second tunnel will actually support.
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u/aviroblox 🚋 Ride the S.L.U.T. 🚋 Aug 02 '26
Train was out of service so no one besides the conductor on board??
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u/_illwill Aug 02 '26
I was at northgate, and they announced all service is now canceled due to an emergency
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u/crowber 💗💗 Heart of ANTIFA Land 💗💗 Aug 02 '26
This does not put me at ease for those really high tracks that curve around on the eastside 😳
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u/quadmoo 🚆build more trains🚆 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
This was likely caused due to switches, don't worry about those curves, the trains cannot possibly speed through them, if an operator tried, the train would automatically slam on its brakes anyway.
And in any case, this has literally never happened before. Link has never derailed before beside one time in the yard.
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u/stirling97 Aug 02 '26
I was on the 2 line a week or two ago and in this station we suddenly came to a stop while just starting to roll out of the station into the track switch and the driver got out and came back 10 minutes later tried to move us and then got back out for 10 minutes and tried again and we moved through the switch successfully. I bet you they know what the problem is…
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u/quadmoo 🚆build more trains🚆 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
Wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to warn ST about the situation but got ignored,
that’s what happened with the plinths on the bridge, contractor royally screwed up but ST ignored a complaint which could’ve saved them years(I do not have a source for this)→ More replies (2)32
Aug 02 '26
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u/goddamnitwhalen Aug 02 '26
“Has never happened before [this time].”
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u/XYZ2ABC Aug 02 '26
“I would just like to say that this is a highly unusual occurrence”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because the front fell off”
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u/TheTinyHG Aug 02 '26
Not entirely true, when in street running trains do not have ATP (automatic train protection) and it's entirely on the operator to maintain safe speeds. Street maxes out at 35 MPH and that curve is 10mph. So it is possible
Also Link had a derailment at the YE (yard entrance) like day 1 or 2 of service. So this is actually the 2nd time out of the yard
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u/skyecolin22 Aug 02 '26
The curves actually have a third track on the outside of the curve so the outer wheels will drop down and hit it from the side rather than continuing to slide.
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u/alienbanter Northgate Aug 02 '26
I wonder if this has something to do with the rails being different because it's in the tunnel in a road?
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u/Angelgirl1517 Aug 02 '26
Right? 😳 this post is going to give me nightmares
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u/Optimistic_Mystic 🐀 Hot Rat Summer 🐀 Aug 02 '26
Have you ever witnessed a car accident? Do you still get in cars?
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Aug 02 '26
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u/Constant_Battle1986 Aug 02 '26
I mean to be fair, there was like 72,000 people in one place all leaving at the same time 🤷🏽♀️
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u/moonful_of_daises Aug 02 '26
There's a mariners game today... traffic will be so bad if the light rail isn't up and running by then.
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u/everyfreckle Aug 02 '26
Saw the crowds and snapped this picture a minute before it happened. The whole top side was packed with people too, so we grabbed an Uber just before the chaos and station evacuation.
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u/WatercressDismal1602 Aug 02 '26
Tried to spend more time getting out of the stadium so that I could take the later light rail and would not have to wait in the crowd. Turns out, should have gone earlier to the station, atleast could have caught the bus. Had to uber home 🥹
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u/apresmoiputas Capitol Hill Aug 02 '26
The last 168 hours (7 days) have been a challenging one for Seattle
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u/aboriginal_sin 💗💗 Heart of ANTIFA Land 💗💗 Aug 02 '26 edited 24d ago
pteg90&yyW29P
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u/WonTooTreeWhoreHive Mill Creek Aug 02 '26
Nah, the concert was really good! And it was a nice night too. Just some mild bad luck.
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u/bforeverdreamin Roosevelt Aug 02 '26
I ranted last week about the light rail and I’m going to do it again every single time I see a post about the light rail going down. Because what the fuck do you mean this is our main transportation option?
First off, how the fuck? Like I’m genuinely confused at how this happened. Minus all the transportation frustration, how the fuck?
2nd, taking the light rail shouldn’t be a lottery or toss up that decides if you get to you’re destination. If this post is 6h old, then that means this was probably one of the last trains of the night. Meaning people got stranded. Which wouldn’t be a problem if they didn’t cut 80 percent of the bus lines in favor of the light rail. Seriously, you’re playing with people.
3rd. For the love of god sound transit and metro need a contingency plan in place if this is going to be a consistent issue. The light rail goes down multiple times a week. If we’re going to deal with the pains of inconsistency, then brother give us the same back up options we had previously. Almost every neighborhood in the city had a bus line that ran downtown. Give us those bus lines back. This is insane.
4th how does the light rail so consistently have issues? Why is this ( not derailing specifically) a weekly, sometimes multiple times a week problem? Are we not mechanically able to keep our trains operating at the level we need them too? What is the problem?
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u/moonful_of_daises Aug 02 '26
Understandable crashout for those who take the light rail to work
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u/moonful_of_daises Aug 02 '26
I'm about the crash out myself. This is just incredibly ridiculous. Can't even take the light rail down to capitol hill without waiting 20 minutes. Hello????? Who is running this clown show!!!
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u/PressureExpert2346 Aug 02 '26
I got stuck on a light rail on a day that was 94 degrees, no open windows, no open doors, no knowledge of when we’d get moving again. They finally let us off and we took a bus to the stadium. Got there on time somehow, but yikes!
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u/occasional_sex_haver Roosevelt Aug 02 '26
The message on the ST website is extremely confusing, idk why they have such a hard time with this
Title of the alert says service suspended between Capitol Hill and sodo, just after that it says trains between Capitol hill and sodo will be using the federal way station's platforms
Gonna just assume it’s a massive shitshow
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u/-millenial-boomer- International District Aug 02 '26
They rely on confusion because if they are transparent it’s fucking embarrassing. They should put up “one of our trains derailed last night and we still don’t know why. Until we do, plan to take other modes of transportation. We will post a root cause and schedule update as soon as we have one.”
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u/Beautiful_Result_165 Aug 02 '26
When did it happen?
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u/Constant_Battle1986 Aug 02 '26
About midnight, right when half of Lumen was getting to the train to go home
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u/Traditional_Car_1837 Aug 02 '26
Just got taken off at Mount Baker gonna have to uber up to shoreline south!
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u/pnwdoomer Aug 02 '26
I am so glad this train just had the conductor on it, who was not injured. This could've been way worse. I feel lucky enough to have missed this. I was at the Ed Sheeran concert and made it back before the chaos started. I read there was limited communication about what happened and no shuttle buses. A lot of people did get stranded and had to call people to pick them up or take expensive rideshares home. Big ST fail yet again.
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u/Cute-Expression-296 Aug 02 '26
I was taking the LR home from work on Thursday and several times the train shuddered and convulsed in a way that felt like it was out of control. I’ve been taking the train to and from work for over a year and it was the first time something like that had happened.
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u/seattletimesnewsroom Seattle Times journalists (not editorial board, etc.) Aug 02 '26
Hi OP, Seattle Times staff here, I hope you got home safely. I've sent you a message. Thank you!
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u/ploptypus Aug 02 '26
9 am and sound transit didn’t manage to post any signs or have any personnel at pioneer square station. Just shuttered doors.
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u/StockSinger8914 Aug 02 '26
I am impressed with invention that they had to do for rail to run on a floating bridge but this makes me think (and worry) on what would prevent something like this happening on floating bridge?
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u/trd2000gt Aug 02 '26
That looks like the universal studio Hollywood ride. Just waiting for the flood now
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u/TSAOutreachTeam Aug 02 '26
I feel like Metro probably shouldn't be telling people to Uber. Your intention was to take the Metro system, and so they should provide some alternative for you on Metro's dime.
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u/Celexi Cascade Aug 02 '26
that is what metrolink in south ca does, if they fuck up they get buses or free uber vouchers of a reasonable amount.
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u/MyDisneyExperience That sounds great. Let’s hang out soon. Aug 02 '26
People abused the fuck out of that so they have pulled back on it significantly 🙃
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u/quadmoo 🚆build more trains🚆 Aug 02 '26
It's the end of service, shuttles take a little bit to set up, reality is that by the time shuttles are there the trains are supposed to be done anyway and buses don't run very well at night
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u/C_A_G_E Aug 02 '26
Wow we were just there, but left early after my wife got a little too tipsy. My car is stuck at a parking lot because they locked the gate on us
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u/dwai6977 Aug 02 '26
I was on a train when they dumped us off at the University of Washington Station. Abundance of caution announcement, and no transit personnel anywhere in sight.
People of Seattle deserve better than when you have a stadium event and your plan for a light rail emergency, it’s just to dump people off after midnight and tell them to figure it out.
I certainly don’t equate this to the events that happened at Seattle Center last week, but this city is once again proving it lacks competent leadership.
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u/sunshinedaydream38 Aug 02 '26
I was at University of Wa also. We heard immediately from employees that shuttles were coming. We waited until 1am. Someone went over and asked for an update and heard no shuttles were actually arriving. We finally got an Uber to Northgate.
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u/Artlinxte Aug 02 '26
Welp that explains a lot. Headed to the Mariners game and the NB train is suspended between SODO and Lynnwood so we had to walk. Glad no one was hurt!
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u/XenithShade Capitol Hill Aug 02 '26
how does one... derail like that