Sound Transit to temporarily reduce service in Seattle starting March 23

Due to reduced ridership in the past few weeks, Sound Transit has decided to temporarily reduce service on Link light rail and Sounder trains.

Free shuttle buses will replace trains every 10 to 17 minutes on Friday night through Sunday as tunnel stations close for final Connect 2020 work. The Link light rail is scheduled to remain on a 14-minute schedule when returning to service on Monday.

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Sounder North and South weekday service will be reduced with 14 cancelations, including the 1502, 1504, 1506 departures from Lakewood, the 1516 and 1522 departures from Tacoma, the 1503, 1509, 1517, 1519, and 1523 departures from Seattle, the 1701 and 1705 departures from Everett, and the 1700 and 1704 departures from Seattle.

“The changes that we are implementing respond to our dramatically reduced ridership while still preserving reliable service and maintaining ample flexibility for social distancing by riders,” said Sound Transit CEO Peter Rogoff in a statement released Thursday. “In this challenging time, we will continue to treat transit as a lifeline for people who need to travel, including people caring for relatives, first responders, health care workers, and other essential personnel.”

ST Express buses operated by Community Transit and Pierce Transit, as well as service on Tacoma Link service will remain unchanged for the time being. The Seattle Center monorail has been temporarily out of service since Monday evening.