Special Sounder service for Seahawks playoff game Saturday
Jan 15, 2026, 5:57 PM
A Sounder train arrives at a station. (Photo courtesy of King County)
(Photo courtesy of King County)
Getting to Saturday’s playoff game at Lumen Field will be challenging for drivers with Revive I-5 underway on the Ship Canal Bridge.
Two northbound lanes are blocked across the bridge. To alleviate massive back-ups, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is leaving the express lanes open northbound only during this project.
That’s good news for northbound drivers and bad news for southbound drivers. Without access to express lanes, it is now common to see 10-mile back-ups between Lynnwood and Seattle during peak times.
You can avoid all of this headache by taking the Sounder train, in addition to regular Link light rail service, Sound Transit (ST) Express, and King County Metro.
Sounder train schedule
The first inbound Sounder S Line train departs Lakewood at 1:51 p.m. The train will stop at all Sounder S Line stations through Sumner and then arrive at King Street Station at 3:07 p.m.
The second inbound Sounder S Line train departs Lakewood at 2:11 p.m. and serves all S Line stations, arriving at 3:27 p.m.
Following the game, Sounder trains for the S Line in the direction of Lakewood depart King Street Station approximately 10 minutes (or as soon as the train is full) and 45 minutes after the end of the game, serving all stations.
- On the S Line, the northernmost train cars at the front of the train are usually a lot less crowded.
- The second S Line train into and out of Seattle is generally a bit roomier than the first one.
The inbound N Line train from Snohomish County departs Everett at 2:45 p.m. with stops in Mukilteo and Edmonds, arriving at King Street Station at 3:44 p.m.
The return N Line train for Everett departs King Street Station 45 minutes after the end of the game.
Parking is available at all Sounder stations. An online schedule of Sounder trains serving Seahawks games is available at http://www.soundtransit.org/seahawks.
Scheduled weekend disruptions on the 1 Line in Seattle will be on hold Saturday for the playoff game.
Three new stations on the Link 1 Line in South King County opened last month and provide additional access to game day transit. All three have park-and-ride facilities:
- Kent Des Moines, 500 stalls.
- Star Lake, 1,105 stalls.
- Federal Way Downtown, 1,565 stalls.
Those facilities are in addition to garages at Angle Lake, Tukwila International Boulevard, Northgate, Shoreline South, Shoreline North, Mountlake Terrace, and Lynnwood City Center Link 1 Line light rail stations, and at Redmond Technology, BelRed, and South Bellevue Link 2 Line stations.
ST Express and Metro buses
Many ST Express and King County Metro buses also drop off passengers near the stadium. Eastside passengers can take the Link 2 Line to connect with bus routes that serve the stadium. Link and ST Express bus schedules are available on Sound Transit’s website. King County Metro bus schedules can be found here.
Nate Connors is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Follow him on X. Read more of his stories here. Submit news tips here.
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