So Friday afternoon, tired as a dog, after four hours of sleep and a ten hour workday, I attempted to make it to the train that would take me home 28 minutes earlier than the next one. With five minutes to spare (hypothetically), I proceeded to catch a bus that would take me to King Street Station. Here is a little-known fact about Seattle for those who don't live or work here -- we have a metro tunnel. Yes we do. Like in any other normal large city, it runs underneath a good chunk of downtown.
My introduction to Seattle Metro came about on my first day of work, when a colleague graciously agreed to show me which bus to take to the train station. To my utter amazement, she soon dove into an opening in one of the nearby buildings. I followed her down the escalator and into the tunnel, where we found... busses. UNLIKE any of the normal large cities, Seattle's tunnel does not contain a train. The structures' mystery boggled my mind for a long time, since the tunnel actually has tracks in it intended for a train or at least a tramp. But anyone I asked who has been in Seattle for a while assured me that no such things ever ran through it. It's always been just busses. After a little research I managed to find that the tracks were installed in 2005 in anticipation of the Light Rail starting its service in 2009.
Well, 2009 is here, and the funny bus situation has finally ended for Seattle. We now have the Link -- a light rail train connecting downtown and SeaTac airport. It was exciting to walk into the tunnel one day and find the Link happily running its tests. It seemed all was well. The public was hyped, and an exciting opening day awaited Seattle on July 19th. Not being a thrillseaker, I avoided the city like the plague on opening day -- therefore I know nothing about it.
Three days after opening day I was catching a bus and noticed that the service was cancelled for "technical difficulties." How typical. Cancel AFTER you start service. But the next day when i went to catch a bus the Link was running! Yay! I finally got to ride it. So with 5 minutes to spare before my train, I happily boarded the Link -- Seattle's gateway to becoming a normal city! Troubles started when the Link started spitting out nonsense on the announcer. Within a minutes ride in the ride-free zone between University Street and Pioneer Square, it announced that we are "Approaching Westlake Center," "This is the last stop" and "You Always need a valid fare while riding the train." Then we stopped completely, and to our hearty disappointment the Link delivered its first truthful announcement: "The train is experiencing technical difficulties and will be delayed. We apologize for the inconvenience."
Seattle being the friendliest city in the U.S. (in my opinion,) Link's utterances got a conversation going. "This feels like a Disney ride!" was some people's opinion. Perhaps "Space Mountain?" Others, like me, were hoping to catch the train and nervously glanced at the clock every thirty seconds until it was crystal clear that we missed it. Still others offered stories about previous technical difficulties. All of us hoped that the electricity won't go out, and laughed at the traffic this must have been causing in the back. (What retard put a train AND a load of busses in the same tunnel?!) At least the Link was air-conditioned.
My first experience with the Link was... interesting. After 15 more minutes and another two stops, the Link dropped me off at the International District Station. I didn't make the early train, but I got a taste of Seattle growing into a real city.
You can find more information about the tunnel service at http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/tunnel/tunnel-map.html and http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/tunnel/tunnel.html
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