"Santa" Sounder commuter train offers special early afternoon departure this Friday, Dec. 22

To help people get an early start on this holiday weekend, Sound Transit will run a special "Santa" Sounder commuter train leaving at 1:50 p.m. sharp from King St. Station this Friday, Dec. 22. The "Santa" Sounder train will arrive in Auburn at 2:08, Sumner at 2:17 and Tacoma at 2:45. The "Santa" train is in addition to Sounder's regularly scheduled afternoon departures at 5:25 and 5:45, with normal fares in effect for all trains.

Sounder currently offers two weekday, peak-hour round trips serving Tacoma, Sumner, Auburn and Seattle. By February, the full complement of seven Sounder stations between Tacoma and Seattle will be complete when the three remaining stations in Puyallup, Kent and Tukwila are all planned to open together. Thanks to a recent agreement with the city of Tacoma, next year Sounder will be able to add at least one more round trip.

Voter-approved in 1996, Sound Transit is on track to implement a three-county regional transit system plan known as Sound Move. Sound Move is a seamless blend of three transportation systems: Sounder commuter rail, Link light rail and Regional Express, featuring 18 new ST Express limited stop, long-haul bus routes.

Sound Transit's customer information line is 1-888-889-6368; for TTY hearing impaired users please call 1-888-713-6030 and the Web site for Sounder is www.sounder.org and ST Express is www.stexpress.org. For general Sound Transit information please visit the Sound Transit Web site at www.soundtransit.org/, or call or write for more information at Sound Transit, Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St., Seattle, WA 98104, 206-398-5000 or toll free 1-800-201-4900.

# # #

Sound Transit plans, builds and operates regional transit systems and services to improve mobility for Central Puget Sound.