Sea-Tac to SEA

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pch-train

Joined
Feb 7, 2012
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Location
Newbury Park, CA
OK, since I have gotten such good advice on here I have another question. I am flying(I know four letter word) into Sea-Tac to visit my son and family and am renting a car. After returning my car early at the airport, what's the best way to get to train station? Light rail or pay the money for a cab? I will have only one suitcase and am traviling alone. Train leaves at 9:45 so I plan on getting there by 8:30, right during morning rush hour in Seattle.
 
There is rail service from the airport to near the Amtrak station.

I don't recall the name of the service, but our group rode the train

at last years Gathering.
 
pch-train said:
OK, since I have gotten such good advice on here I have another question. I am flying(I know four letter word) into Sea-Tac to visit my son and family and am renting a car. After returning my car early at the airport, what's the best way to get to train station? Light rail or pay the money for a cab? I will have only one suitcase and am traviling alone. Train leaves at 9:45 so I plan on getting there by 8:30, right during morning rush hour in Seattle.
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We just did the Sound Transit light rail from SeaTac to catch the Empire Builder on Feb 10th. We were at a motel overnight, and just walked with our packs from the motel to the Sound Transit station. We had lots of time, so we rode a few stops past Amtrak in order to sightsee and get some more exercise. Since we rode further than you need to go, I cannot say exactly what your cost will be, but it should be somewhere between $2 and $2.75.

There's a ticket machine before you go up the last set of stairs (there's also an elevator). The machine doesn't need exact change, so you can pay with whatever combo of bills or coins you have available. The machine will give you back change as dollar coins if necessary, so I wouldn't advise using anything greater than a $5 bill.

It is fun to tip a DCA with a few dollar coins...
 
At the Seattle airport, the walk from baggage claim to the Light Rail station is a bit of a hike...takes about 6 to 7 minutes of walking.

Somebody out there in YouTube-land actually filmed it:

 
Doesn't the CS stop at Tukwila? Why go all the way to Seattle?

edit: Nevermind. I just looked up the schedule. It doesn't stop at Tukwila. Sorry.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
MeisterEric... thank you, it makes it look so simple!
 
EB_OBS said:
Doesn't the CS stop at Tukwila? Why go all the way to Seattle?

edit: Nevermind. I just looked up the schedule. It doesn't stop at Tukwila. Sorry.
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Also, getting to Tukwila station is not exactly trivial. And once you get there it is not that pleasant a place to wait for anything with bag and baggage in typical Seattle weather either. :)

Frankly, I would just take the light rail from Sea-Tac (which is IATA SEA) to Chinatown station and take the short walk across to King Street Station (Amtrak SEA).
 
EB_OBS said:
Doesn't the CS stop at Tukwila? Why go all the way to Seattle?

edit: Nevermind. I just looked up the schedule. It doesn't stop at Tukwila. Sorry.
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The timetable advertises Tukwila as the stop for Sea-Tac Airport for the Cascades service. But there is no easy way to actually get to the airport. It's a round-about local bus and involves walking a few blocks too. A shuttle bus would be nice, like at Milwaukee.
 
saxman said:
The timetable advertises Tukwila as the stop for Sea-Tac Airport for the Cascades service. But there is no easy way to actually get to the airport. It's a round-about local bus and involves walking a few blocks too. A shuttle bus would be nice, like at Milwaukee.
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Do taxis typically meet Cascades trains at Tukwila? If so, a taxi from TUK to Sea-Tac would certainly be the quickest way for people to get from a northbound Cascades train to the airport. (The reverse even more so, as you would be guaranteed of getting a cab at the airport.) So the timetable notation does have some basis in reality, but it's certainly not as easy a connection as it could/should be.

There is also a direct bus from the airport to the Tacoma Dome commuter rail station, which is right around the corner from the Amtrak station in Tacoma. That would be a possibility for the OP to get to the southbound Coast Starlight.
 
What I have done a few times when renting at SeaTac, is pick the car up at the airport and drop it off at their downtown lot. When dropping the car of downtown, ask them to give you a ride over to the Amtrak station. Or call ahead to make sure they will. This had always worked great for me. I've also done this renting at DEN.

b
 
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