Sound Transit has posted work on the light rail launch Twitter feed that it’ll be giving away 100 tickets to the inaugural ride of Link light rail Saturday morning:
Get a Link Inaugural Ride Ticket! Be @ Union Station (401 S Jackson St) Tomorrow 10am–1pm. 1st 100 people there will get tickets. #lightrail
If you can manage to be one of the first 100 people to claim a ticket, you’ll be able to beat the large crowds and get a guaranteed spot on the very first Link light rail service hour.
Twitter fans should follow us at @seatransitblog.
Too bad I have to work during that entire time. If I could, I’d be there to pick up a ticket.
ST_TravelLight has now tweeted that there are going to be 200 tickets available tomorrow.
What time is the first service hour?
The first service hour (for anyone) is at 10 a.m., but the inaugural ride takes place following the 8:20 a.m. Ribbon Cutting ceremony at Mount Baker Station.
Wait, wait. I thought the mayoral trains left their stations at 8:20am to head *to* Mount Baker. Did I miss something?
Inaugural Ride will follow immediately after the Opening ceremony, which will start at 8:20 am.
Do you think they’ll give 1 person 2 tickets?
According to ST_TravelLight, there will only be one ticket per person.
Will the parking lot at Mt. Baker Station be open? I feel horrible for having to drive to get there so early, but every point on Central Link is a long way from where I live.
Riding the first run of the 511 seems unreasonable, since I’d have to drive to Lynnwood to take it to begin with.
To what Mt Baker parking lot are you referring? ST hasn’t built one there. Tukwila Int’l Blvd is the only station with a Park & Ride.
Please, peeps! Do the “transit thing” especially on Saturday, but every day is even better. There will be as many as a quarter of a million or more extra people in the narrow Seattle isthmus between Bite, football, Nordstrom Sale and Link – cars will only hinder the fun and make your heads hurt. Come on the bus!
…But, if you need to drive for some reason, I guess you could park at QFC across the street to the north, or in the outskirts of the Lowes parking lot kitty-corner from the station.
I’m betting the Q and Lowe’s will have patrols in their lots…
Then best bet would be to street-park a ways away (SDOT recently added time limits–w/zone exemptions–to many streets near the line). I’d recommend heading up behind the station to low Beacon Hill a bit south of there.
sweet! i’m going to go and try and get one. that would be awesome.
1) Where does the inaugural ride go to? Will riders be dumped at Westlake or Tukwila or brought back to Mount Baker? If MB, is the train going to just one end of the route or both ends?
2) Will the online bus route maps ever be updated to reflect Link stations? I’m trying to see where the MB station is in relation to route 48. I think I know but it would be nice to see a little dot on the map(s).
3) The ST page states “After July 20, tune in to Movin 92.5 to win special rides.” What are these “special rides”?
2) My bet is that they won’t update the SE Seattle maps until the major changes September 19.
For anyone keeping score at home, see:
https://seattletransitblog.wpcomstaging.com/2009/07/13/100-more-tickets/#comment-54867
I think I may go down and try to get a ticket. If I don’t I’m not going to fight the crowd on opening day. But if I can be on the first train, I just might give it a try. Mt Baker station is only an 7 mile bike ride from my house. I can do that.