With the recent opening of the expansion of the 2 line going to Lynnwood from Redmond, this…read moreWestlake Station (like all the other stations in downtown Seattle) now services both the 1 AND 2 lines of the Sound Transit Link system. This means that one can take one train without transfer from here to Bellevue and Redmond, crossing Lake Washington on the world's first light rail pontoon railway. My wife and I took this route while visiting our daughter and son-in-law in Bellevue, and the crossing was a routine non-event, just like it is supposed to be. My last review for this station was 2 years, at which time, only the 1 line serviced this station. Because of the way they designed the routes, the inclusion of the 2 line was seamless, requiring no station outages during the transition. My only small gripe is the signage at a major connection point at the center near the elevators, still only shows the 1 line (with its stops at the airport and university), instead of now the opening of the entire East side of Puget Sound area, accessible via the 2 line. It's confusing for visitors...better just to state that lower level is for Sound Transit, instead of explicitly naming each line, if they don't want to change the signage every time. Another big addition that occurred earlier this year (Feb '26), is the use of tap-to-pay (using a tap enabled payment card to pay for fare at the point of entry) at all stations and bus lines (like NYC and London has). We still ended up using our preloaded Orca card this trip, but can discontinue that for future (unless taking the Monorail, which still requires an Orca card). Transfers are free for 2 hours from the first tap (excluding the Monorail), with initial charge being $3. There are no gates, with the pay stations being intentionally out of the way...it really is about the honor system to tap. We also used Westlake station as the transfer point to get from the monorail on the 3rd floor of the Westlake shopping center down to the lower level where the station actually is. Connecting to the 1 line, we got to Sea-Tac airport station in 41 minutes (though from there, it's quite a walk to get to the terminal area).

So this is a major hub station and named after the most obvious point nearby - Westlake Shopping…read moreCenter - with its accompanying plaza (often free events and music here), major shopping, and major hotels and dining. This station has had some safety issues in the past so I don't frequent it as much as I would if it weren't for that concern.

The King Street Union Station is only few blocks from the Seattle Seahawk's Lumen field Stadium…read more Actually the ramp from the station to street level has a wonderful view of the arena. The station primarily servers Amtrak trains, but there's adjacent entrance to the subway line as well, accessible via the ramp. The main building of the station has the iconic clock tower. The station's interior was also beautiful, with high ceilings, art decor on the walls, marble floors and shafts. There were plenty of benches for passengers to sit. Multiple displays were showing the arrival times of the trains. The atmosphere inside the station was much nicer than its exterior suddronding. Once we got to the station, we went to the baggage drop off area. A friendly staff member behind the counter helped us with weighing both of our luggages, tagging them and lining them up for the train. Our train arrived at the platform on time. Our tickets were checked at the door. Staff members were available on the platform to help us find the correct car. Overall I had a wonderful experience of boarding Amtrak train for the first time ever from this station.

We booked tickets Seattle to Portland in advance. Got the business class. Ground crew was very…read moreefficient and helpful. Checked baggage is available at both Seattle (King St) and Portland (Union Station). Passengers can also check up to four bags, first two free, next two with charge, 50 lbs per luggage. Lots of benches for travelers. Coffee station. Bathroom is good. Information board is clear. There was a homeless guy with blood on the head came to sit on a bench. Security came and asked if they need to call ambulance. Some words exchanged. Didn't escalate the situation. We left around that point. I think the security handled it well. Hopefully the guy got medical attention.

Connecting the busy Westlake light rail station to the touristy Seattle Center in downtown, the…read moreSeattle Monorail is 0.9 miles long, traveling on an elevated track, with the endpoints being the only stops. It takes about 3 minutes to travel between, costs $4 per one-way ride, and operates every 10 minutes. My wife and I took it twice during our one night trip to Seattle, and it was a good way to cut off a bit of a walk traveling from/to the airport and our hotel located at the Seattle Center. The monorail system was built in 1962 to take visitors to the World's Fair, which was being held at what is today the Seattle Center. It consists of 2 parallel single rail tracks, each with one train. After each 3 minute journey, the conductor has to walk the length of the train to get to the other forward facing 'locomotive' car, so there is a bit of time between the train arriving and the train leaving again (in the opposite direction). The two trains (Blue and Red) can run concurrently (often during high traffic times like during a Kraken hockey game), but I've only seen one of them run at a time. The space between the two tracks are where people boarding the train must wait, entering this space using an Orca card (tap-to-pay has yet to be implemented). There are no discounts for transfers to other Orca enabled transit. There is one seat on the locomotive car right next to the conductor, providing an unobstructed view facing forward. Would highly recommend doing that if riding it for the first time. It was my 4th time riding, but 1st time on that seat. Spoke to the conductor a little, and learned that for her, it's 42 round trips a day during her shift. Also noticed that the train passes right by the upper level windows of the Hyatt House hotel, so imaging guests in those rooms could get a cool view of the train as it zipped by.

9/14/2025 - Took a monorail ride from the Seattle Monorail Center to downtown Seattle at the…read moreWestlake station in 3 or 4 minutes at a round trip prices $4 each way or $2 for seniors. The Monorail runs every 8 minutes. It is worth the trip!

I really like how convenient and easy it is to catch the light roll here at this location. It is…read morevery well lit and lots of security always on the light rail and in the landing pads of the light rail I definitely feel safe coming to this location or getting off at all hours of the day or evening.

Cleanliness is not much improved. Security and staff are more available, although don't seem…read moreinterested in enforcement. Escalators are working. It's grimy, and I wish they would clean it up.

I'm giving this five stars just because it can get you from the airport to downtown for just $3 one…read moreway! Waaaaay more affordable than Uber or Lyft which can be $50-$80, depending on the time of day, etc. While it takes longer, it's not THAT long, and if you time it right, you have a chill ride with money saved for lunch/dinner/shopping, etc. The train itself was clean and it automatically announces which station you're at and which is the next stop - great for anyone nervous about where you are - and there's plenty of signage showing the stops. The only thing about this particular station is that it was a little hard to find because it doesn't appear to be a train station at first, quick glance. It's on University and 2nd - look at the surrounding buildings and you'll see the subway looking tiles and where to go.

Within walking distance of Pike's Market in Seattle, the Symphony Station stop on the 1 Line Light…read moreRail is part of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, about 60 to 70 feet below ground. It is named such being next door to Benaroya Hall, the home of the Seattle Symphony. The entrances to the subway system in downtown Seattle are (unintentionally?) hidden. Google will get you to the right corner, but the entrance/exit is specifically in one place. In this case, it's the SouthWest corner of the building, so had to walk around until I found signs for it...even then, it's just not as easy to find as other stations in more transit-intensive cities. You need to choose which train you want to take, before going down the appropriate set of stairs. Once on the platform, one would notice the extreme amount of space between the tracks going in opposite direction, and the lack of height from the platform and the tracks. The gap between the tracks is wide enough to handle 3 or more lanes of cars...so I wondered "That's a lot of work to dig just to allow repair vehicles to come down". Later I learned the history behind it. The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel was initially built (dug) to handle transit buses, serving that purpose from 1990 to 2005, and then shared by light rail and buses from 2005 to 2019. During that time, it was one of only two tunnels shared by both buses and trains in the U.S. Now it is just for Light Rail, with the large bus lanes being a remnant of the past.

Easily located downtown well it definitely Security is available and always seen. I have used this…read morelocation several times and find it very helpful and well lit Security does a good job of keeping transience from posting up.

Not the safest station in the downtown area. Pioneer square itself is not the greatest and it…read morefollows suit into the station. Although the station is clean, the people in this area are either putting their hands out, or not "fully there". Either way, I wouldn't recommend this station later in the evening if you are solo. Does it get you from point A to point B? Yes, but that's the LINK rail in general.

Large underground train station that will become the main interchange for the 1 Line (North/South…read moreline connecting the University to the airport via downtown Seattle) to the 2 Line (East/West line connecting Seattle to Bellevue/Redmond). Currently, it serves as a connection point to many of the passengers being dropped off from the suburb buses, coming into downtown Seattle. There are already signs pointing to downtown Redmond (which has yet to go-live). Instead, my wife took the 1 line to the airport, running every 10 minutes. The journey took less than 30 minutes, with the cars being relatively modern, but not particularly well heated.

I love how conveniently located and accessible this light rail station is it is well lit and well…read moremaintained. In addition there is always ample amount of security walking on top or down below not to mention also on the light rail. I definitely feel safe and secure, catching the light roll here from the international District location at all hours of the day or night. I specifically enjoy getting off at this location when I go to the games at the stadium

This place is super easy to get off to go to either one of the stadiums sometimes it can be full…read moreand sometimes it's not but it's definitely super convenient and the price is very affordable. Definitely saves you gas and I would highly recommend taking the light and getting off at the stadium and it's a lot easier to get off at the stadium light rail station instead of the international district Chinatown one.

The train takes you straight from the airport to the city. I paid $6 for a round trip. One way is…read more$3.50 or $3 I think. This is a lot cheaper than the train in Denver that does the same thing! Very convenient as you don't have to deal with traffic. Also lots of staff present! So it feels very safe. It makes many stops