Capitol Hill Link station has NO functioning elevators for the foreseeable future.

I subscribe to Sound Transit service alerts so i get notified when there are service disruptions and when elevators aren’t working. It’s one thing when the elevator on only one end of the platform is out, but yesterday they both were – absolutely no elevator access between the street and platform at Cap Hill.

I emailed Sound Transit to ask why this is happening and when it might be resolved, said politely that it’s really not ok for a station to be entirely inaccessible, and asked what a person who needs to go to Capitol Hill on transit is supposed to do.

I’m posting this to share the reply i got from Sound Transit (i removed the name and contact info of the rep, i’m sure they can only communicate what they’re told to and don’t deserve to be personally hassled for this inadequate response) and to warn anyone reading this who is planning to go to Cap Hill on the Link anytime soon (No Kings day tomorrow, Moisture Festival at Broadway Performance Hall, work, whatever) and needs an elevator for access that they are SOL until time unknown. The service alerts page she referred me to does not say there’s NO elevator access, just that elevator 1 is down indefinitely for maintenance.

Reply to my email:

“Thank you for contacting Sound Transit regarding your experience at the Capitol Hill Station. We acknowledge your feedback on the elevator being out of order at the Capitol Hill Station. Your concerns are valuable to us and we apologize for any negative experience that the elevator being out of service may have caused you.

A service alert was issued on 03/27/2026 a service alert was issued alerting passengers that the Capitol Hill Station Elevator 1 is unavailable until further notice due to scheduled maintenance.

Passengers requiring elevator service must board at another station.

To ride the 1 Line:

1. Go to the corner of Broadway Ave E and E John St.

2. Go to the King County Metro bus stop on E John St near 10th Ave E.

3. Take southbound King County Metro route 10 to 4th Ave & Pine St for Westlake Station.

4. Street level elevators at Westlake Station are located on Pine St between 3rd & 4th Ave.

Passengers requiring elevator service CANNOT exit from the platform.

1. Board the 1 Line toward Federal Way.

2. Exit the 1 Line at Westlake Station.

3. Exit Westlake Station and go to the King County Metro bus stop at 4th Ave & Pine St.

4. Take northbound King County Metro route 10 to Broadway Ave E & E John St to return to Capitol Hill Station.

Additionally, we recently added an Elevator and Escalator Service Status posting in our Service Alerts page to identify current long-term elevator and escalator outages. Short-term outages will be located on our main service alert page In addition to this .

Please let me know if I can provide further assistance and thank you for contacting Sound Transit.”