Federal Way Link to open on Dec. 6

This morning, Sound Transit announced the official opening day of the Federal Way Link Extension, which will extend the 1 Line to three new stations beyond its current terminus at Angle Lake. An opening ceremony will be held across the extension on Saturday, December 6, 2025, kicking off full 1 Line service to the new terminus at Federal Way Downtown.

When it broke ground in 2020, the extension was expected to open in 2024. Completion was eventually delayed to mid-2026 following due to impacts from the 2020 pandemic, a 140-day concrete truck driver strike (KUOW), and the discovery of unstable soils next to I-5 south of the Midway Landfill (Sound Transit).

However, construction appears to have proceeded ahead of schedule. Earlier this summer, Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine announced the agency would be making every effort to open the extension as soon as possible, even if it meant usurping the cross-lake connection of the 2 Line between Bellevue and Seattle as the next major expansion of the Link system. Opening of the cross-lake connection is now tracking toward next spring.

New Track, Stations, and Connections

Sound Transit has been posting drone videos showing construction progress over the last few years, with the latest video taken in July 2025 (above), showing the nearly-complete track and station areas.

Earlier this year, Wesley Lin did a deep dive on the station plans and how riders are expected to arrive at each.

In July, Michael Smith reviewed King County Metro's proposed bus service restructure around the Link extension.

The opening is expected to feature celebratory activities at each station, similar to previous extension openings, but details are still to come.