May 29, 2026 at 10:00 am Updated May 29, 2026 at 10:00 am If this were China, our light rail system would be finished and probably running to Olympia, Mount Vernon and Cle Elum. In this state, though, we have labor laws, higher wages, votes on construction bonds, public input, environmental regulations and no politicians with the power to command things to happen. Enough of Sound Transit’s train system has been built that we know it is a good thing, and folks in Ballard, West Seattle, Issaquah, Everett, Tacoma and beyond are eager to have tracks laid to their communities. But it hasn’t been cheap or easy. In the decade after construction on the first line began, overruns were 86% above initial cost estimates. And through all the years of digging and building, inflation skyrocketed. Now, the estimated cost of the third phase of the project is $185 billion (which, of course, will be higher, once cost overruns and inflation goose the price).…