Tacoma street cars return to the rails Tuesday after 10-week absence
Tacoma’s street cars are back after a planned one-month-long shutdown turned in to 10 weeks of shuttle buses and unplanned construction.
Service on the T-Line resumes Tuesday morning. The shuttle buses commuters and others have been riding will be discontinued, Sound Transit said in a release Monday afternoon.
Service will resume on nearly all of the system’s original route — between the Tacoma Dome and Commerce Street (at South 11th Street) stations.
Until it shut down Aug. 1, the route extended to the Theater District Station at Commerce and approximately South 8th Street. That station has been moved further north and is part of the Hilltop Link Extension project, which is adding 2.4 miles to the line. Service on the T-Line was halted so the two sections could be joined.
Trouble arose when stray electrical currents were recently found under a segment of newly installed track. Those could cause corrosion of nearby underground utilities and other infrastructure. Sound Transit contractors needed extra time to locate the source and correct the problem.
Sound Transit said its crews and contractors are working around the clock to test the new system and grind rails. The $282 million project will open in 2023.
The street cars will resume their normal schedule on the existing line.
▪ Weekdays: Every 24 minutes early morning (5-6:36 a.m.), every 12 minutes midday through closing (6:36 a.m.-10 p.m.).
▪ Saturdays: Every 12 minutes all day (7:48 a.m.-10 p.m.)
▪ Sundays: Every 24 minutes all day (9:48 a.m.-6 p.m.)
