Game Day From Bellevue by Train This Fall: Getting There, and the Last Ride Home

This is Bellevue's first football and hockey season with trains across Lake Washington. The 2 Line's cross-lake segment carried its first passengers on March 28, 2026, so this fall is the first time a Bellevue Downtown rider can reach Husky Stadium, Lumen Field and Climate Pledge Arena without driving over a bridge. The ride over is easy. The deadline on any game night is the last eastbound train home, and Sound Transit sets it by the day of the week.

Under the current 2 Line timetable, which runs from Sept. 30, 2026, through March 26, 2027, the last Bellevue-bound train leaves International District/Chinatown at 12:30 a.m. on weeknights and 12:31 a.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays it leaves at 11:45 p.m., about 45 minutes earlier. Holidays follow their own table. Link runs a Sunday schedule on both Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. That means the Seahawks' Christmas night home game against the Rams, on a Friday, gets the early Sunday cutoff.

The fall calendar, sorted by the train home

Here is every remaining Seahawks and Husky home game this year, plus the Kraken's October and November home dates. Each row shows the schedule Link runs that day and the last eastbound departure from the station closest to the venue. Kickoff and puck-drop times come from each team's official schedule. Where a team hasn't announced a time, the cell says TBD or is left blank.

The two Monday night Seahawks games, Nov. 2 and Dec. 7, actually have the latest last trains on the football calendar, because Monday runs on the weekday timetable. The Sunday games and the Christmas game all share the 11:45 p.m. cutoff.

One weekend in November works especially well by rail. On Saturday, Nov. 7, the Kraken host the Rangers at 2:00 p.m. and the Huskies host Penn State. The next afternoon, the Seahawks host Arizona at 1:25 p.m. Every one of those venues is on the 2 Line or one Monorail hop off it.

Husky Stadium is the easy one

Of the three venues, Husky Stadium is the only one with no transfer. The 2 Line runs from Bellevue through downtown Seattle and continues north to the University of Washington, so a rider who boards at Bellevue Downtown stays on the same train all the way. Sound Transit sends Husky Stadium riders to University of Washington Station, which sits next to the stadium. U District Station is a different, more distant stop.

The station is close, but leaving after the game takes longer. In its 2026 season preview, UW warns that trains and platforms can be crowded before and after football games. The athletic department's transit page adds that fans may have to wait to board after games. Kickoff times for Penn State and Indiana were still listed as TBD as of Oct. 12. The Saturday last train from UW Station, at 12:19 a.m., only becomes a worry if one of those turns into a late kickoff.

Lumen Field favors one station on the way home

Sound Transit says both Stadium and International District/Chinatown stations are close to Lumen Field. Its Oct. 1, 2026, game-day release adds that after the game, riders heading toward Lynnwood will find more trains at International District/Chinatown. That station also matters most for Bellevue riders. It's where the cross-lake trains start their run east, and it's the station the timetable uses for the last Bellevue-bound departures listed above.

The release gives the context for that advice. Between International District/Chinatown and Lynnwood, the 1 Line and 2 Line overlap, so trains come about every five minutes. On weekends each line runs about every 10 minutes. The eastbound trip to Bellevue is 2 Line only. Sound Transit's current 2 Line timetable shows weekend trains about every 10 minutes until 10 p.m., then every 12 minutes until the last train. The extra game-day service Sound Transit announced this season is on Sounder commuter rail from Lakewood, Sumner and Everett. It did not announce extra Link trains.

Climate Pledge Arena adds the Monorail, and its own clock

Kraken games add one step. Sound Transit's route to Climate Pledge Arena is Link to Westlake, then a transfer to the Seattle Center Monorail. The arena's transportation page says every ticket to a publicly ticketed event comes with a free transit pass. The same page says the pass also works on the Monorail, which it describes as a 90-second ride between downtown and Seattle Center.

On paper, the Monorail's fall hours look like a problem for a weeknight 7:00 p.m. puck drop. From Sept. 7, 2026, to May 27, 2027, it closes at 9:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 11:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Its FAQ says it stays open late for Climate Pledge Arena events, though, and keeps running for one hour after the expected end time of every event there. After that, the last eastbound 2 Line train leaves Westlake at 12:25 a.m. on weeknights and 12:26 a.m. on Saturdays.

The weekend the train becomes a bus

One weekend this month breaks the cross-lake link entirely. From Saturday, Oct. 17, through the end of service Sunday, Oct. 18, Link shuttle buses replace 2 Line trains between South Bellevue and International District/Chinatown for scheduled maintenance. Trains keep running between Downtown Redmond and South Bellevue every 10 minutes. The replacement buses run about every 10 to 15 minutes, and Sound Transit asks riders to plan for extra travel time.

No home game lands on that weekend. The Huskies play at Purdue on Friday, Oct. 16, and don't host again until Nov. 7. The Kraken are in Florida on Oct. 17 and have no game on Oct. 18. The Seahawks' next home game is Oct. 25. Anyone planning a non-game Seattle trip that weekend will be riding a bus between South Bellevue and the International District, not a train.

The Bellevue end of the trip

Downtown Bellevue added a free shuttle this year to go with the BellHop service it already had, and the station has gotten busier. The Seattle Times reported that about 3,700 riders a day boarded the 2 Line at Bellevue Downtown this spring, with a similar number arriving. That's twice the traffic before the cross-lake segment opened.

The Seattle Times described how the new Bellevue Light Rail Shuttle works. It's a pair of blue electric Volkswagen vans parked at the curb next to Bellevue Downtown Station. They run free from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, as a pilot through December. There's no app, and each van takes up to seven passengers. The vans cover a central zone that includes Bellevue Square, Meydenbauer Bay Park, the financial district, Overlake Medical Center, Bellevue Botanical Garden, Wilburton and the Spring District. Visit Bellevue reported 937 passengers in August, the first month. The vans have no wheelchair ramps or lifts. Whether the pilot continues past December depends on ridership, public satisfaction and funding.

BellHop, the older free service, runs longer hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. You can book a car through its app or hail one at a downtown curb.

For daytime games, these services cover the trip to the station. BellHop runs on weekends, so it can get you to Bellevue Downtown before the 2:00 p.m. Kraken matinee on Saturday, Nov. 7, or the 1:25 p.m. Seahawks kickoff the next day. The Light Rail Shuttle runs weekdays only. Coming home is another story. Neither service runs late enough to meet a train arriving after a night game, so the last stretch home from Bellevue Downtown after the 11:45 p.m. or 12:30 a.m. trains takes a different plan.

BellHop's service area now includes four 2 Line stations: Bellevue Downtown, East Main, Wilburton and Spring District. If you're thinking about how close to a 2 Line station your next home should be, The Ginn Group can show you how station access plays out block by block on the Eastside. Schedule a consultation.