This quiet midday scene is at the Wilshire/Western
terminal of the shorter Purple Line. This train will switch over
to the other track shortly after it clears the end of the platform.
The identification as a separate color for the route came about only in 2006.
Before that, both branches were known as the Red Line.
There are
only eight stations on the entire run. Wilshire/Vermont, two stops
ahead, is built on two levels, each with a single track. This facilitates the
joining and separation of the two routes,
which occurs just west of its platforms.
The final four stations inbound are under the traditional downtown
core of L.A. At the first of these stops, 7th St./Metro
Center, passengers can transfer to the Blue Line light rail,
in subway there also, for its run down to Long Beach.
At the end of the subway route, the Union Station terminal, passengers
can, with a short inside walk, access the Gold Line light rail to Pasadena or East L.A. And Metrolink commuter and Amtrak trains
are also upstairs. |
