metro goes for gold: eastside light rail testing begins
With over 90% of heavy construction complete on the new Gold Line Eastside Extension, Metro has announced that rail testing is now beginning, with the futuristic new AnsaldoBreda rolling stock utilizing the right-of-way for the very first time.
The much-anticipated addition to Los Angeles County’s growing rail network is on schedule for a debut later this year and caps a five-year-long construction period.
Rail connectivity will be a boon for Eastside communities — East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, Little Tokyo and the Arts District — which will be connected to Downtown via rail transit for the first time since the demise of the Pacific Electric “Red Cars” over half a century ago.
Eight new stations, a viaduct over the 101 Freeway and two subway tunnels 1.8 miles in length were constructed for the six-mile-long light rail project.
Here in Downtown, Little Tokyo Station (pictured at top) has been taking shape for several months. Umbrella-shaped station canopies are an abstract homage to Japanese archery, and cherry blossoms and palm trees will line the stop, which sits in front of the Japanese American National Museum and MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary.
Once open, the Gold Line will provide direct access to Little Tokyo, Mariachi Plaza, La Serenata de Garibaldi Restaurant, El Mercadito, King Taco and Belvedere Park. Metro is moving forward with studies to extend the line east to Whittier.
Ready to ride the new Metro Gold Line extension to East LA? Let us know!
44 comments
The last time the Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles area was connected to Downtown Los Angeles by rail was March 31, 1963. That was by the “P Car” and “R Car” streetcar lines run by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority. The streetcars wore a “two tone green” and white paint scheme, although a few still had the “fruit salad” colors of the previous agency. The streetcars were PCC cars and ran on East First Street (P Car), and East Whittier Blvd (R Car).
Since we’re talking of rail related things, do you know if the “late” red line program that ran on the weekends late last year was a success? Is metro planning on trying that out again?
I can’t wait for this line to open so I can take the train to my favorite anime stores. It would be awesome if it were ready in time for Nisei Week!
As mentioned previously, the P and R cars connected East LA to downtown and other areas.
I grew up with those cars and the lines mentioned, especially the P car;
The date March 31`, 1963 is mentioned and I was on the last charter car, 3003, that date, sponsored by the Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California.
I was also among 37 passengers aboard the first run of the Gold Line to Pasadena on July 26, 1963.
I and others look forward to the opening of the Eastside Extension.
i think we are all looking forward to it,lets hope that the expo has the same track record as the gold line.
great news..i know that the original target date to open was “late 2009″ but it looks like it can open sooner..im hoping for summer 2009:)
though i have 2 metro and 2 montebello bus lines nearby its awesome to have this option 2.5 miles away from me.
While I applaud the extension in general, I wonder who the genius was that decided that the last stop should be Atlantic… right in front of Pep Boys.
If that person would have bothered looking up the street just a couple of blocks away, he/she may have noticed a thriving community college, also undergoing construction and planning on adding a transit center, that they could have swung the rails just slightly north for.
Yes, I realize not everyone riding the light rail is headed to that specific destination, but it sure is a much more attractive stop than the side of a freeway overpass and a greasy mechanical parts retailer.
AngelH-
According to Metro, the late-night experiment—which was paid for by the private sector—was not a failure. According to Metro, there were approximately 1000 riders on the Red Line during the weekend-only after hours lines. Two surveys were taken in mid-December to determine this count.
To be sure, I hope that it will not be undone. While there is little night life in downtown (and it was remarkable that many of the proprietors funding the experiment were either not open or even built), with hope there will be more priority on such stimulus as mass transit and business open late (rather than the Fail-A-Taxi programme, which should not be revisited until downtown business stops wasting time with pet-sitting services and gets on to offering that which will prompt real revenue and enthusiasm beyond the 6 p.m. collective closing time; a fine example is the corner of 4th and Main, which is about as vibrant as it gets but is nevertheless of great interest and is an example that should be a model to replace Grand ideas that Live like Universal City for adults.)
But enough of the seemingly oblique references. The Red Line, for all its faults, is one that Metro means to be a central vein, what withe the TransitVUE time boards and whatnot that is not found on the Blue, Gold and Green Lines. Because it connects with no less than three major terminals means it feeds loads of busses and should be run 24 hours. But before that, Metro and Los Angeles need to understand that not just blue-collar and domestic help need ride the Red Line, and that the Red Line should run more frequently than every 10 to 20 minutes depending on the time and day. This means that Metro must take the initiative and battle both in Sacramento (to stop CA from cutting funding) as well as locally (such as wasting tens of millions of dollars on free towing services for private citizens; that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) will race to beat Metro’s tow trucks to remove a broken down bus on the freeway and then bill Metro for the “service”—and I have a Metro on the record stating that this is the case with CHP—makes the free towing service even more ludicrous, especially when yet another round of service cuts is on the docket.
But as I stated, L.A. needs to get on board—literally. Having written about MTA/Metro for nearly two decades, I have heard every excuse many times over from folk who refuse to grow a backbone and get out of their damn car. And I have run two businesses—and before that, worked my ass off through various permanent as well as as temp jobs, to build capital—simultaneously in downtown L.A. without owning a motor vehicle as well as well before the Red Line reached Hollywood. It can be done, even in this region.
And even these days, I figure that if I will ride the busses and trains—whether the Gold Line or the 60 in the middle of the night from Long Beach back to downtown L.A., or most any bus or train between these two extremes—while wearing $550.00 custom-made shoes and a commensurate three-piece topped by a top of the line Borsalino, so too can most any other guy. (As for lone women, I understand that is a completely different tale, and one that might be made far easier for women were folk from most every strata to take mass transit in L.A.)
Awesome. No more driving downtown from Highland Park to get good sushi (and sake). Hop on Gold Line and voila. Frying Fish here I come. Too bad the last train from Lil’ Tokyo leaves just before midnight. Looks like I’ll still be hitchhiking home from Redwood on the weekends.
It will be so nice when the Gold Line trains don’t sit at Union Station for minutes at a time. Looking forward to having Union Station be just another stop on the line and not the terminus.
Randall,
Thank you very much!
“Later this year” sounds a long way off. FTR Metro has been estimating July on their website, so it’s mere months away.
I always like to build in some cushion time. It’s on schedule now, but add in a couple months for last-minute repairs here, some electric work there, a sinkhole that sucks in the entire 1st Street bridge….
you all know there are two metro stops walkable to little tokyo right now, right?
Red Line @ civic center is a 5 minute walk.. Union station is a 5 minute bike ride, and a nice walk in the spring time at least
This will be a great addition to the metro system, although some may argue that it wont create a vast improvement you cant deny that progress is progress. As long as the MTA is committed and takes it once step at a time I am happy.
Agreed ‘mike and ike’. It may not be that large of an extension, however, connecting Little Tokyo, the Arts District, Boyle Heights, and east LA to the Metro rail system will further legitimize metro rail transit in Los Angeles!
I’m happy but frustrated at the same time,la had the biggest rail system,and they decided to tare it out,now there slowly putting it back in.but I’m super happy about it.did you guys know that the main reason the p.e. was so large was because they were trying to compete with southern pacific,that’s one reason why the rail gauge was standard gauge.
Those “AnseldoBreda” trains may be cool to look at but they are the worst to ride in. They were apparently made for people about 5 feet tall. Everyone always dreads that model pulling up to the station in Pasadena, as opposed to the roomier older trains. Probably the dumbest purchase ever made by MTA…
Hopefully the restoration of Los Angeles’ vast transportation network will greatly speed up.
No one caught my date mistake (including me) until I noticed it this morning:
I originally stated::
I was also among 37 passengers aboard the first run of the Gold Line to Pasadena on July 26, 1963.
Of course, there was no Gold Line (or streetcars) that date. The correct date I was trying to mention was July 26, 2003.
There seems to be a lot of interest in the Gold Line Eastside Extension and it will be interesting to see the turnout at the opening later this year.
The growing rail network will not help if they continue to build lightrails that share the street with cars, and only go 40 miles per hour, and 25 miles per hour around neighborhoods. They need to start building subways that go faster.
The light rail that LA MTA builds does not share the street with cars, they all have their own rights of way, but they do cross automobile intersections. An example of trains sharing street with cars would be the San Fran Muni system, or the old PE cars of late where they would get stuck in traffic. Not the case with LA MTA.
I cant wait for Aqua [expo] to open
That’s what I meant they share the intersections, where people can hit the train if they’re not careful, or the train can hit the car if the operator is texting.
Hugh, Blue Line shares the street on both ends of the line – in Downtown Long Beach and Downtown LA, and the trains stop at traffic intersections. The trip time from DTLB to 7th Street Metro Center would’ve drastically reduced from the current 1 hour if these sections were either aerial or underground.
True I forgot about the blue line. Not to mention all those lives that would have been saved from colisions with cars.
its not the trains fault,i mean the metrolink happened once,what about all the other times where cars try to cross the median while a train is coming.i mean come on,this is great for our enviroment,and public trasportation and with that i think theres more pros than cons.
To be accurate, the Blue Line on Washington runs in the street, but does not share the lane with cars, like they do in San Francisco. The rail is in a dedicated lane, signalized separately from the cars.
The shelters over the platform look like Marina Del Rey circa 1985. They’re AWFUL. I wish the people who designed Metro shelters actually had to use them a) in winter when it’s raining, and b) in the hot summer sun.
Bert, the blue line is separated by the street by a curb, that any car can jump if driving fast and pop right on top of the tracks.
5 years to build only 6 miles, in China they would have done this in 1 year. SEATTLE — Sound Transit light rail is getting $813 million in federal money to extend its light rail line from downtown Seattle to the University of Washington campus. Why don’t we get Fed money for the purple line to Westwood.
(Bert…bet you can answer the Anonymous #30 Fed question.)
I believe the main issue regarding grade separation for light rail is this: MONEY.
Whether the trains share lanes with cars, use separate lanes or have preferential signaling you’re still going to have an inherently slower, more dangerous system with complicated gates, crosswalks and signals. Fatalities will continue and even grow with the Eastside Gold Line extension and the upcoming Expo Line.
I think we’re in this Catch-22 situation where we need the rail NOW but can’t afford to build it RIGHT (above or below ground where it would provide the fastest and safest travel). So, we build it ON the existing right-of-ways. Too bad.
I too am puzzled by the lethargy of the California representatives in appropriating funds for projects like the Purple Line extension. I realize it is a very complex issue. But, I really assumed back in November 2006 the new Democratic majority would begin appropriating funds for this project and construction would be under way right now. Not much happened. (Yeah, I know the Waxman rule was overturned.) At this point, it still appears to be under study.
Sigh.
To #30 (Anonymous):
Seattle got its funding for the University Link because it has completed all of its studies and is just about ready to go.
The Westside Extension (affectionately known as the “Subway to the Sea”) has just begun the DEIS/DEIR phase and won’t be ready for another 2-3 years. The Subway to the Sea already has local money provided by Measure R (to take effect this July). The specific alignment(s) is/are still being tweaked in order to maximize cost-effectiveness; if they meet the FTA’s value of $23.99 or lower, then the MTA can get 50% of the funding from the FTA.
It’s not LA’s fault (well, actually it kind of is). It’s the fact that we live in a country that doesn’t believe in transit development. That’s why the Obama administration is such a score for us urban lovers, because both Barack and Joe are pro-city and pro-transit. Transit funding is part of Obama’s stimulus package, but only a measely $10 billion (out of $825 billion) will go towards transit. From what I hear, LA is to get $1 billion. That money can go to Expo II, thereby reserving its Measure R money for the Subway to the Sea.
Assuming the Measure R sales tax collects on average $1 billion each year:
July 1, 2009 – July 1, 2010 ($1 billion)
–> Expo Line: $1 billion (stimulus) + $500 million
–> Remaining $500 million can go to Regional Connector ($1 billion), which can get the other $500 million from the FTA because it meets the cost-effectiveness value.
July 1, 2010 – July 1, 2011 ($1 billion)
–> Crenshaw Line will cost about $1-$1.5 billion. The remaining sum needed could come from state funding.
July 1, 2011 – July 1, 2012 ($1 billion)
–> Subway to the Sea will be done with the FEIS/FEIR. If the first phase to La Cienega (about $2 billion) meets the cost-effectiveness value, then it could get the other $1 billion from the FTA.
Of course, that’s a very loose projection of mine. But it gives you an idea of the possibilities.
westsidelife –> you’re gonna have a mutiny if the SGV does not get any money appropriated for the Gold Line Foothill extension before the subway and Crenshaw Line. Sad to say…but you’ll see a Gold Line to Azusa before anymore westside funding (outside of Expo Line).
Hey, LAofAnaheim! How’s it going? I don’t see you around SSP anymore! How come?
Yeah, I wasn’t being very objective, was I? I suppose the money LA does get from the stimulus (which was approved just a few hours ago) should go to the Gold Line Foothill Extension since it’s the only shovel-ready project on the MTA’s agenda.
It all depends on what we’re going to get as part of the stimulus.
In addition to the stimulus, the House also approved an amendment that allocates an additional $3 billion for mass transit.
Well…I would throw the Orange Line Chatsworth extension “shovel-ready” as well. Thus, if we do get the $1 billion for LA (I’m hearing $600 million), the Gold Line Foothill and the Orange Line will most likely get first dibs. But, that’s fine. It accelerates those two projects and leaves more Measure R money for other projects.
Westsidelife, how much of that 3 Billion is gonna go to LA?
BTW, LAofAnaheim, I haven’t seen you on SSP either; what happened? Did you get tired of the constant drama? I’m not as bad as I used to be, you know.
JDRCRASH, the stimulus allocates a total of $14.6 billion for mass transit. According to the LA Times, LA is to get $600 million. It’s still being worked out, though.
What can LA get done with $600 million? Well, that just about covers the Gold Line Foothill Extension and the Orange Line to Chatsworth.
The Gold Line Foothill Extension is not cost effective as the STTS (Purple LIne). The Foothill Extension is in the Long Range Plan of Metro, but it’s way down the list, after STTS, The Downtown Connector, Expo 2, Orange Line to Chatsworth. If the cities in the San Gabriel Valley want the damn line so bad, they can sure as hell start taxing themselves for it and either make a city sales tax increase or sell some Municipal Bonds for it. If they contribute a lot more cash, surprise, suddenly they will get bumped up the list. Money talks, B.S. walks. Same as it ever was.
Scott Mercer, the Gold Line Foothill Extension may not be cost-effective, but it’s still going to be one of the first few to get off the ground because it’s shovel-ready. The Subway to the Sea and Regional Connector have just begun the DEIS/DEIR phase, so they’re 2-3 years away from actual construction.
Is it shovel-ready, though? Is the EIR phase completed? I know there’s a lot of political will to bring the line further east, but I really don’t know if it’s -ready- for construction.
The Gold Line Foothill is NOT shovel-ready. It’s not even been engineered yet.
The Purple Line should get built first, mainly because it will benefit the SGV just as much as the westside, as it helps bring workers to where the jobs are. The ridership of the Purple line will be in the hundreds of thousands, and the Foothill line will be in the tens of thousands.
Don;t get me wrong, I am all for the Foothill extension, but the priorities that the MTA has set are reasonable.
i cant wait for the new line to open so i could use it to get to school with out taking to many busses