The 0. The monorail is a major tourist attraction but also operates as a regular public transit service with trains every ten minutes running for up to 16 hours per day. The monorail underwent major renovations in after the southern terminal was moved from its location over Pine Street to inside the Westlake Center shopping mall.
The system retains its original fleet of two Alweg trains from the world's fair; each carries up to people. It is owned by the city government, which designated the tracks and trains as a historic landmark in A private contractor has operated the system since , when it replaced King County Metro , the county's public transit system.
The monorail carries approximately two million people annually and earns a profit split between the contractor and the city government. The monorail usually operates with one train per track, and the entire trip takes approximately two minutes. Several major accidents have occurred during the system's half-century in service, including a train-to-train collision in on a gauntlet track near the Westlake Center terminal. Several government agencies and private companies have proposed expansions to the monorail system since its inception in the s.
The most prominent was the Seattle Monorail Project , founded by a ballot initiative to build a citywide network that would expand coverage beyond the planned Link light rail system. The tracks then begin a gradual southeastern turn over a small office building and auto repair shop toward 5th Avenue, which begins on the south side of Denny Way and Tilikum Place.
The monorail passes by several city landmarks, including the Amazon Spheres and Westin Seattle towers, eventually reaching McGraw Square , where 5th Avenue makes a slight turn to the south. Before reaching the southern terminal at the Westlake Center shopping mall on Pine Street , the monorail's tracks narrow into a set of gauntlet tracks that are 4 to 5 feet 1.
