In a big first for Seattle, Washington, the city’s long-sought light rail system officially opened on Saturday — with GE Transportation’s communications and train control signaling systems humming along at the heart of it. The debut was a seismic event for Seattle, as the dream of building a light rail commuter system has been floated since 1968 — with voters finally authorizing construction in 1996. As The Seattle Times noted in its editorial, the launch was a “notable exclamation point on four decades of debate, frustration and admirable tenacity.”


Ticket to ride: Central Puget Sound’s transportation authority, Sound Transit, officially opened its north-south Central Link light rail line on July 18th. GE’s systems are also in use in cities around the world, including metros in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Rio, Brazil; and Hangzhou, China. Photo: Sound Transit.

The 14.2-mile Central Link light rail line runs from downtown Seattle to the Tukwila Station near the Sea-Tac airport. The new line will allow riders to travel between Tukwila and downtown Seattle in 30 minutes, with trains running every 7.5 to 15 minutes. When the Link light rail line is extended to the University of Washington, it will serve an estimated 100,000 riders a day.


Training day: More than 92,000 riders used the new light rail line in its opening weekend, according to press reports. Photo: Sound Transit.

GE’s technology includes an operations control center system; fire detection, security, and ventilation systems; and station communications. GE is also providing critical systems for train movement detection, train traffic safety interlocking systems, power switch machines, train signals, grade crossing control equipment, train-to-trackside communications, and track-to-vehicle speed limit communications.

GE’s technology spans five street-level stations, two elevated stations and five that are underground. And in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, the GE system will manage both train and bus traffic, which share lanes in the dual-use tunnel.

GE is also contracted to extend communications and train control signaling for the airport extension of the Central Link, which will connect the Tukwila Station to the Sea-Tac airport, which is expected to open in December 2009.

* Read the announcement
* Read the Associated Press story of the opening
* Read about the ride in the Seattle Post Intelligencer
* Read The Seattle Times’ editorial

Check out these links to learn more about GE’s locomotive business:
* Read about GE’s Trip Optimizer software for locomotives
* Read GE Reports’ story about its Evolution locomotive’s head-to-head fuel test
* Learn more about the Evolution series
* Learn about our Evolution Hybrid Locomotive
* Read about our newest model of the Evolution
* Watch a video of the Evolution being made and the 3,000th Evo dedication ceremony