With the light-rail train doors scheduled to pop open at the new SeaTac/Airport station about 10 a.m. on Saturday for the public, Sound Transit officials gave the media a preview ride between Tukwila and the airport on Thursday morning.

The station opening on Saturday will extend light rail another 1.7 miles from the Tukwila station at International Boulevard and South 154th Street. The new station is located at South 176th Street and International Boulevard.

The ride between Tukwila and the airport is mostly elevated with the track grade separated from vehicles.

At the SeaTac/Airport station, the trains are on the upper level. Riders enter the trains from the right or left, depending on which train is departing.

Escalators and an elevator taker riders down one floor to the mezzanine. On the east side is a sky bridge across International Boulevard to a "kiss n' ride" lot and the city of SeaTac's planned controversial city center/entertainment district.

To the west is the tunnel through the airport garage to the terminal.

Baggage carts may be rented for $4 for the walk across the tunnel and through the garage. Gates prevent the carts from being brought into the light-rail station area.

Free wheelchair service is available by contacting Huntleigh, an airport contractor, at 206-433-5287. Those wanting the service should call several hours in advance.

The total distance from the trains to the terminal is one-quarter mile.

But airport spokesman Perry Cooper emphasized, "The distance from the light rail station platform to the terminal is equivalent to the distance from the end of one airport concourse to the central terminal."

The distance from the station platform to the first sky bridge is 950 feet, the length of the pedestrian walkway is 200 feet and the length of the garage walkway is 560 feet, according to Port of Seattle officials. The Port operates Sea-Tac International Airport.

SeaTac/Airport Station project director Ron Lewis promises "a smooth ride" on the segment between Tukwila and SeaTac.

"It feels good to have the project done," Lewis declared. "We are happy it is open before Dec. 31 for holiday travelers."

Lewis said the station was scaled back somewhat after the original bid from Mowat Construction came in $43.5 million over the engineer's estimate.

The design for the roof trusses is the same but the size was reduced.

The roof is also bolted instead of welded and the windscreen was cut back, according to Lewis.

Besides the 30 million air passengers per year that come through the airport, about 22,000 Port employees and contractors work there, according to Cooper.

The light rail will provide "a green solution" for getting to and from work, he said.

There is a possibility that the South 200th Street station in SeaTac could be completed and opened before the other south end stations.

The two-mile extension would serve SeaTac residents, airport workers, airport parking customers and SeaTac businesses.

The Sound Transit board will be discussing the possibility, according to Sound Transit spokesman Bruce Gray.

Voters have approved additional stations near Highline Community College in Des Moines and Star Lake in Federal Way.

SeaTac officials hope to capitalize on the opening of the South 176th station by creating a downtown/entertainment district, immediately east.

However, decisions to condemn a park 'n fly surface parking lot and rezone the area have elicited concern from business people and some residents.