Expo light-rail line opens with free weekend for riders
Flickr via Metro Transportation Library and Archive
An Expo line test car in Exposition Park.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The Metro Expo line which will run from Downtown to the Westside is set to open on Sat. April 28 and will premiere its new route with a free weekend for all riders.
Metro spokesman Rick Jager told blogdowntown earlier this month, that he expects more than 100,000 people to take advantage of the offer.
“It’ll be a busy weekend,” Jager added.
The 8.6 mile-track includes 10 new stations that will service areas including Downtown, the Crenshaw area and Exposition Park. Because of ongoing construction, the Culver City station and the Farmdale station near Dorsey High School wont be open until the summer, according to Metro.
Until then, the rail will run from Downtown's 7th Street Metro Center to the La Cienega/Jefferson stop.
On Saturday of opening weekend there will be live music, karaoke and food trucks at four of the line's stops -- including Downtown's Metro center location. Sunday rides wont include entertainment but will still be free.
NBC reports that the hours of operation will be limited during the first weekend, with trains running from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. After that, normal hours will be from 5 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
The Expo line aims to offer an alternative to cross-city commuters by running nearly parallel to the Santa Monica (10) freeway.
“It’s a virtual gridlock 24/7, sometimes it seems,” Jager said to blogdowntown in April. “For Westside commuters, this will be a welcome relief.”
Phase II of the Expo project will extend the Westside end of the line from Culver City to Santa Monica and is slated to open in 2016.
T K Nagano on April 18, 2012, at 10:19AM – #1
The previous weekend April 21, 22, 2012 is the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California.
There was a time, in 50s' Mayor Paulson and Norman Chandler, then Publisher of the Los Angeles Times would do "Urban Planning" for Los Angeles in the back seat of a chauffeured limousine.
The "Power that now be" at the MTA Metro must have thought co-ordinating the opening of the Metro Expo was too practical and sensible, after all the Los Angeles Times is now owned by Chicago's Tribune Corporation.
Downtowner on April 18, 2012, at 11:32AM – #2
Can't wait til the Culver City station opens, because of the many fine eateries and drinkeries in that vicinity (can't spend all my dollars in Downtow, just most of them).
Dana Gabbard on April 18, 2012, at 11:55AM – #3
"The "Power that now be" at the MTA Metro must have thought co-ordinating the opening of the Metro Expo was too practical and sensible."
Actually the Public Utilities Commission calls the shots on when light rail lines in California are judged safe to allow revenue service to start. I'm sure Metro would have liked the line up & running before the weekend of the Book Fair but the approval process didn't work out to have that happen.