If you’ve been following the blog posts and tweets from the Glenbrook crew this week, you know that a few of us have been attending NACHA’s Payments 2010 event. I’m a Seattle native, now living in Spokane, and I had the opportunity to ride the new Sound Transit Central Link Light Rail into the city from Sea-Tac this trip, and wanted to alert loyal readers of this new transportation option.

The Central Link runs every 10 minutes between Sea-Tac airport and downtown Seattle — even more often during “peak hours.” There are eleven stops from beginning to end, which will cost you 35 minutes and $2.50 each way (compared to about $30 and 20 minutes — if you’re lucky — in a cab). The train travels through some of the more economically challenged parts of Seattle, but you can already see the new commercial development arising next to the line.

My first trip on the Central Line was from downtown to Sea-Tac, and I took the strategic option of de-training at the Columbia City stop for lunch and a couple of Diamond Knot IPA’s — a local beer favorite at The Columbia City Ale House. The Ale House is about three blocks from the Columbia Street Station (follow the signs to “historic Columbia City” for a great stop versus lunch at the airport… good quality pub food… and did I mention the Diamond Knot IPA’s? It was 30 minutes door-to-door for me from Westlake Station to the Ale House and about the same once I reluctantly decided to head to the airport.

The Sound Transit Central Link into Seattle — $2.50! — Payments News You Can Use!