Taking Transit to Tacoma

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rickycourtney

Conductor
Joined
Dec 21, 2012
Messages
1,930
Location
Fresno, CA
As many of you know, I recently moved to Seattle for my job. I'm slowly getting to know the area better and decided to take a short trip down to Tacoma.

Puget Sound area has a regional transit provider called Sound Transit. They operate Sounder commuter rail trains, two light rail systems and a collection of express buses. While it would've been fun to take all three in a day, its tough to catch a Sounder train going against the peak commute direction. Instead I took Route 594 which operates with big motorcoach buses. The trip cost $3.50, took about an hour and overall was very nice, but totally "no-frills" (no WiFi, no power outets, no bathroom and no place to put my Starbucks cup on this bus).

Interestingly as we drove past King Street Station I noticed the Cascades train departing for Portland and as we arrived in Tacoma, this exact train was pulling into town.

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Once I got to Tacoma, I hopped on Sound Transit's Tacoma Link light rail. It's a bit of a stretch to call this a true "Light Rail" system. It's more like a glorified trolley. It provides a link between downtown Tacoma and the large transit center/park & ride facility at the Tacoma Dome.

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During my short trip to the city I walked across the Bridge of Glass (a huge public collection of the works of Dale Chihuly) and stopped for lunch and a few craft brews at Harmon Brewing near the old Union Station.

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On my way back to Seattle I decided to splurge on business class tickets on the Cascades. Tacoma has a small but functional station. The station is located 3 long blocks east of the main Tacoma Dome transit center. (Amtrak will move to the transit center in a few years when the Pt. Defiance bypass is completed.) The trip was nice and the Talgo trains provide a pleasant ride.

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But here is my biggest gripe, the train was 30 minutes late (although the engineers efforts and Amtrak's generous padding allowed us to arrive on time into Seattle) and the trip in coach is $19. I enjoy riding trains and I don't mind earning an extra 100 points... but considering the Sound Transit buses run every 30 minutes and cost just $3.50 I'll have a hard time justifying taking the Cascades as anything more than a joyride (which it still is for me!)
 
Hmm, Amtrak Tacoma looks a lot like a small version of Greyhound Reno. Same chairs, same floor, same posters, same doors.
 
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