T Line (Sound Transit)
The T Line, formerly known as Tacoma Link, is a light rail line in Tacoma, Washington, part of the Link light rail system operated by Sound Transit. It travels and serves 12 stations between Tacoma Dome Station, Downtown Tacoma, and Hilltop. The line carried 919,603 total passengers in 2024, with a weekday average of over 3,600 boardings. Tacoma Link runs for nine to 18 hours per day, using streetcars at frequencies of 12 to 20 minutes.
Tacoma Link was approved in a regional transit ballot measure passed in 1996 and began construction in 2000. It was the first modern light rail system to be constructed in Washington state and succeeded a former streetcar system that ceased operations in 1938. Service on Tacoma Link began on August 22, 2003, at five stations, replacing a downtown shuttle bus. A sixth station, Commerce Street/South 11th Street, was opened in 2011. It was designated as the Orange Line in 2019 and renamed to the T Line in 2020.
Sound Transit extended the T Line by to the Stadium District and the Hilltop area west of Downtown Tacoma on September 16, 2023. A longer western extension to the Tacoma Community College campus via South 19th Street is planned to open by 2041.
History
Background and proposals
Public transit service in Tacoma began with the opening of the city's first horse-drawn streetcar line on May 30, 1888, running on Pacific Avenue between Downtown and Old Town. The city's streetcar system was expanded and electrified, growing to by 1912 and serving outlying areas while feeding into the Seattle–Tacoma Interurban. The streetcar and cable car network was gradually replaced with motor buses, with the final streetcar leaving service on June 11, 1938. Bus service in Tacoma was gradually consolidated under the Tacoma Transit Company, which was acquired by the city in 1961 and folded into Pierce Transit in 1980.A regional transit system, later named Sound Transit, was formed in the early 1990s to address traffic congestion in the region and proposed several projects for the Tacoma area. Tacoma had been targeted for urban revitalization, particularly around the University of Washington branch that opened in 1990. Among the proposed revitalization projects was the construction of a multimodal station near the Tacoma Dome that would be connected to Downtown Tacoma by a "shuttle" light rail line, costing approximately $40 million to construct. The Tacoma Dome Station would also be served by commuter rail and a regional light rail line continuing north to Federal Way, Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, and Seattle. A combined light rail line that served both Downtown Tacoma and the Tacoma–Seattle corridor was part of a $6.7 billion ballot measure that was rejected by voters in March 1995, but planning for the multimodal Tacoma Dome Station continued.
Approval and planning
A second transit plan was proposed without the Federal Way line, which was dropped in favor of express bus service, but retained the Downtown Tacoma connector. It was passed by voters in November 1996, allocating $50 million for a line in Tacoma that would be built as a "starter line" within the following six years. Tacoma Dome Station opened for buses in October 1997 and a shuttle bus connecting to Downtown Tacoma operated by Pierce Transit began service on February 2, 1998. The Downtown Connector was transferred to Sound Transit in 2000.Route planning for the Downtown Tacoma line, named "Tacoma Link", began in early 1998 with the intent to create a new transportation connection to downtown retail and cultural attractions. A set of 20 potential route alignments were considered for connecting Tacoma Dome Station to the University of Washington campus, the South 13th Street area, and the Theater District. The preliminary options were narrowed down to five candidates in the draft environmental impact statement, which were grouped based on their use of either Commerce Street or Pacific Avenue to travel north–south through downtown. The line's cost rose by $12 million to $77 million due to the choice of low-floor streetcars that would be level with the platform.
The Commerce Street alignment was favored by the Tacoma city government, but a final decision by the city council and Sound Transit was delayed in favor of further studies. The Pacific Avenue option was narrowly favored by downtown businesses due to its increased traffic, but Commerce Street was seen as a less controversial route that would allow for easier expansion to the Stadium District. The city council approved the Commerce Street alignment in May 1999, and Sound Transit followed suit in July. Sound Transit also endorsed studies into making Tacoma Link a fare-free system due to projections that the costs of fare collection would exceed revenue on the line. Designs for the line's five stations were completed in early 2000, based on simple stations with unique design elements that reflect neighborhood identity.
Construction and disputes
Construction of the light rail line near the Tacoma Dome began in August 2000, resulting in a reduction in parking that drew complaints from business owners. A formal groundbreaking was held on October 18, 2000, shortly after the commencement of Sounder commuter rail service to Tacoma Dome Station. Work on the downtown section was delayed into the following year due to a contract dispute and design changes to avoid buried telecommunications systems. During bidding for the $25 million construction contract, a low bid was rejected due to not meeting Sound Transit's small business participation standards. Gary Merlino Construction was awarded the contract in February 2001 and began in July; construction on the line's operations and maintenance facility in the Dome District had already begun a month earlier under a separate subcontractor.The transition between Pacific Avenue and Commerce Street near the future Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center was to be via a public plaza, which began construction in June 2001. The first rails were laid in November 2001, with a formal ceremony the following month to mark the start of work on the entire Link light rail network. Sound Transit agreed to handle operations of the light rail trains on an interim basis for an indefinite period of time, opting not to contract with Pierce Transit or the city government. Major construction along Pacific Avenue began in February 2002, causing periodic closures that affected buses and businesses who requested the use of mitigation funds to make up for lost revenues. The three streetcars ordered by Sound Transit for Tacoma Link were manufactured in the Czech Republic by Škoda Transportation and delivered in September 2002, costing $3 million each. The cars were put on public display in Tacoma and Seattle over the following months to promote light rail projects.
As light rail construction prepared to reach Commerce Street, Qwest filed a lawsuit against Sound Transit to receive compensation for relocating its telecommunications lines away from the tracks; a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of Sound Transit, due to the use of public right of way by Qwest for their telecommunications lines. Another dispute, with BNSF Railway over a railroad crossing on Pacific Avenue that would intersect the light rail tracks, was settled in January 2003 with an agreement to suspend freight operations through the intersection. Commerce Street was re-opened for use by buses in February 2003 as light rail construction neared completion. The final section of track was welded in place in early April, marking the ceremonial end of track construction, and the installation of overhead power systems began later in the month. Testing of the streetcars began on June 18, 2003, as the line was electrified for the first time 65 years after the discontinuation of the original streetcar network. The first accident for the new line occurred during testing on August 5, when a delivery truck driver scraped a streetcar while illegally parked on the tracks.
Opening and later projects
Tacoma Link opened for service on August 22, 2003, becoming the first modern light rail system in Washington state. 4,400 people rode the train on the opening day, which was marked by a ribbon-cutting event and a community festival at Tacoma Dome Station. Weekday ridership on the line averaged 2,000 patrons during its opening month, matching original projections for regular ridership in 2010; the system reached 500,000 boardings in April 2004 and one million by December. The project's total cost, $80.4 million, ran above the original estimates due to inflation and additional street improvements, including sidewalks, lighting, benches, and bicycle racks.Prior to the start of light rail service, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians proposed an extension of Tacoma Link to their new casino-hotel complex, approximately southeast of Tacoma Dome Station near Interstate 5. A study into the extension was commissioned in 2004 by the Puyallup Tribe, with Sound Transit finding that the project would cost and estimated $38 million to $72 million depending on which of the four potential routes were chosen. The study also projected that ridership levels would require a new fleet of two-car trains and longer platforms for the rest of the line, leading to increased costs. Two additional extensions to the west were also studied by Sound Transit for inclusion into a long-range plan, but were deferred due to their high costs. The Tacoma city government also proposed a network of streetcars in 2007, looking to emulate the Portland Streetcar system rather than extending Tacoma Link.
The city government also proposed the construction of an infill station between the Convention Center and Theater District to serve downtown commuters. Sound Transit approved the proposal and opened Commerce Street/South 11th Street station on September 15, 2011. It was constructed using funding from the city and tied into a new plaza built atop a nearby parking garage. Due to the addition of the new station, train frequencies were reduced from every 10 minutes during peak hours to every 12 minutes. Tacoma Link was renamed to the Orange Line as part of a systemwide rebranding by Sound Transit in September 2019. The name was later withdrawn due to issues with the Red Line in Seattle; an updated designation, the T Line, was introduced in 2022.