It is situated between the Mount Baker and SODO stations on the 1 Line, which runs from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport to Downtown Seattle and the University of Washington as part of the Link light rail system.

The failed Forward Thrust initiatives of 1968 and 1970 proposed a heavy rail line between Downtown Seattle and Renton that ran along the Duwamish River through the Industrial District and Georgetown, serving Boeing Field, by 1985.

[16] The plan called for a segment in the Rainier Valley, using the express lanes of Interstate 90 on the north side of Beacon Hill to connect to the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.

[17] The Sound Transit Board passed a motion in May 1998 that modified the draft environmental impact statement for Central Link (now the 1 Line) to add "Route C1", which included a tunnel under Beacon Hill between Interstate 5 and McClellan Street Station, as well as elevated approaches along Massachusetts Street and Rainier Avenue South at the west and east portals of the tunnel, respectively.

[19][20] The construction of surface-level stations at Royal Brougham Way, later Stadium station, and South Graham Street in the Rainier Valley were also deferred, as part of $200 million in cuts to bring the project within its original $1.8 billion budget (equivalent to $366 million and $3.29 billion, respectively, in 2025)[15] to build a truncated Central Link from Sea-Tac Airport to the University District.

[31] Beginning in March 2005, workers excavated of two 180-foot-deep (55 m), 46-foot-wide (14 m) vertical shafts using a technique utilizing a concrete "slurry wall" cylinder and pumping in cement grout to stabilize soils.

[41] The only fatality on the Central Link project occurred on February 7, 2007, near the west portal of the northbound Beacon Hill Tunnel, where 49-year-old mechanic Michael Merryman[42] was thrown from a supply train after it collided with an unoccupied locomotive, also injuring another worker who was released from a local hospital the following day with minor injuries.

[43][44] The accident prompted the public release of an ongoing Sound Transit audit of Obayashi in addition to an investigation led by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries into workplace safety at the tunnel site.

The Sound Transit audit, which began after a previous supply train accident the previous October, released a report days after the accident that recommended unannounced brake inspections and criticized Obayashi's Beacon Hill managers for not participating in safety meetings and inspections; the report also blamed frequent employee turnover for the lack of safety awareness.

Obayashi decontaminated nearly 60,000 cubic yards (46,000 m3) of dirt and debris dumped at a sand mine in Maple Valley at a cost of $2.4 million.

[46] After 17 months of drilling, "Emerald Mole" broke through the east side of Beacon Hill, near the site of Mount Baker station, on May 9, 2007 to complete the 4,300-foot-long (1,300 m) southbound tunnel.

[3][61] Emergency staircases and the ventilation shaft are capped by the east headhouse, located behind the station building and plaza on South Lander Street.

The art is considered by Sound Transit an extension of Bell's installation at the University Street station that similarly depends on persistence of vision to project subliminal images.

It was created by Christian French as part of the Stellar Connections series and its points represent nearby destinations, including El Centro de la Raza, the Seattle Public Library, the Beacon Hill Reservoir, and the 12th Avenue Viewpoint.

[71][72] Beacon Hill station is part of Sound Transit's 1 Line, which runs from between Lynnwood, the University of Washington campus, Downtown Seattle, the Rainier Valley, and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.