Sound Transit Link light rail trains are slowing to 10 miles per hour on a stretch of northbound track near Tukwila after the transit agency discovered cracks in a 1,200-foot section of rails.
The agency says the cracks were found during a regular inspection Sept. 19, prompting a precautionary slowdown beginning the next day.
Sound Transit says the tracks are safe, but the rails need to be replaced.
That work will happen this weekend, with both directions of light rail service closed between the Rainier Beach and Tukwila stations on Saturday.
Buses will shuttle passengers between those two stations, and Sound Transit will run express buses between Sea-Tac Airport and the Rainier Beach station.
On Sunday, north and southbound trains will share a single track in that area, leading to some delays.
The cracks are as deep as a quarter inch, something more often found in rails that have been used for decades.
But this line just opened in 2009.
"We have not experienced this kind of condition before," said Kimberly Reason of Sound Transit.
Sound Transit doesn't yet know the cause of the cracks, nor the cost to replace 1,200 feet of rail.
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