Los Angeles Rail TransitThe Metro Rail Red Line was the city's first subway and services 14 stations in the 16.4 miles from Union Station to North Hollywood. Construction began in 1985 and the line opened in three phases between 1993 and 2000. Just to the west of the North Hollywood Red Line station is the Metro Orange Line. From the transit maps I had expected light rail, but was surprised to find a bus mass transit system. The line operates on a part of the right-of-way for the former Southern Pacific Railroad Burbank Branch that was purchased by the LA County Transportation Commission in 1991 with an eye toward extending the Red Line a further 14 miles west to the Warner Center. However, economic and political issues lead instead to construction of a $324 million bus mass transit system that began operation in 2005. The system runs on an exclusive bus way, but has to stop sporadically at street crossings. The ride is smooth and fairly quick, but it's still a bus and not as comfortable a ride as heavy rail - although comparable with light rail and only 25% of the construction price of a subway.
Heading back toward Union Station on the heavy rail Red Line, I decided to sample the city's light rail offerings. The Blue Line was the initial rebirth of rail transit in the city, opening in 1990 at a cost of $877 million. The line shares corridors with freight lines, but does not share freight tracks and actually flies over them at various points along the route. The line serves 22 stations on 22 miles of track from Metro Center / 7th Street to downtown Long Beach. On the day I took it, the trip required 55 minutes each way. |
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