1 & 2 Line Experiences
Lynnwood-bound 2 Line train entering the Mount Baker Tunnel.Now that the full 2 Line has been running for two weeks, what has been your experience on the 1 and 2 Lines since the first regular weekday (March 30)?
Here's what we've heard so far:
- April 1 (Bernie), Eastside and Judkins Park
- April 2 (Nathan Dickey), Judkins Park
- April 2 (Sam), operator switch points
- April 2 (Ian), 205K boardings on opening day
- April 2 (HZ), Crosslake
- April 2 (Andy L), Eastside, BellHop
- April 2 (Mike Orr), central/north Seattle
- April 4 (Mike Orr), my first Crosslake trip
- April 6 (HZ), South Bellevue
- April 8 (Brent White), crowding question
- April 8 (Dijibell), it's working smooth
- April 9 (HZ), Symphony to Bellevue, side-shaking
Most people seem to say there's lots of 2 Line trains, ridership is higher than they expected, trains are slow in several places, some of the slowness was resolved after the first few days, there's side-shaking (hunting") in some places.
I've seen 2 Line midday and afternoon trains almost full or standing room only at Westlake, Capitol Hill, and north Seattle. Others have reported the same in the Eastside. Before simulated service, the 1 Line was like that in central and north Seattle. We assumed a lot of people would disappear from the 1 Line when the 2 Line and simulated service started. Instead the 1 Line is as busy as ever, and there are a lot of people on the 2 Line. However, 2 Line trains are 2 or 3 cars now, so people aren't spread out across 4 cars. Still, off-peak ridership in the Eastside seems higher to me than in Shoreline, Lynnwood, and Federal Way.
I haven't heard any complaints about long waits. In Seattle 5-minute combined service" sometimes stretches to 9 minutes.In the Eastside I'm guessing 10-minute service might stretch to 15 minutes sometimes, but I haven't heard any reports of it.
How have you been using the 2 Line, or combined 1/2 Line service north of Chinatown/International District? Have your experiences been similar or different?