Sound Transit Doubling Sounder North Service This Fall with Four Runs/Day

Sound Transit will increase commuter rail service on the Sounder North line between Downtown Seattle and Everett, starting September 16. The agency announced the number of daily round trips on the N Line will double to four southbound trips during the morning commute and four northbound trips during the afternoon commute. Unlike on the higher ridership Sounder S Line between Seattle and Lakewood (via Tacoma), there will continue to be no reverse commute trips in the opposite direction, and trips will continue to be heavily concentrated around traditional 9-to-5 commuting hours on weekdays only.

Sound Transit has been working toward restoration of the two round trips that were cut from the N Line’s schedule in early 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Compared to the approximately 1,300 riders per day that were using the N Line before that service cut, average daily ridership currently hovers around 300. That’s around 5% of the S Line, which runs 13 round trips every weekday. The N Line has long suffered from low ridership compared to its southern counterpart, but the restored trips are expected to play a small but needed role in Sound Transit’s expansion plans over the coming months and beyond.

The new trips are planned to leave Everett Station at 6:15am, 6:45am, 7:15am, and 7:45am weekday mornings, and return via King Street Station at 4:05pm, 4:33pm, 5:15pm, and 5:41pm. Full travel time end-to-end is just under one hour. ORCA users can also access Amtrak Cascades trips along the same route, with service at Edmonds and Everett — but not Mukilteo — via the Rail Plus program.

These additional N Line trips will start running just two weeks after Sound Transit starts Link light rail service in Snohomish County with the launch of Lynnwood Link on August 30. While light rail trains are expected every eight minutes during peak periods, Sound Transit is still expecting to experience significant crowding on the extended 1 Line. The agency hopes the additional N Line trips will help mitigate that, along with maintaining express bus service between Everett and Downtown Seattle.

https://www.theurbanist.org/2024/07/20/doubling-sounder-north-service/