|
The
L.A. area features three very distinct light rail lines, each with a color
name. The Blue Line is the oldest, and goes from
downtown Los Angeles south to Long Beach. The Green Line runs generally east-west between Redondo Beach and
Norwalk, keeping far away from center city L.A. And the newest, the Gold Line, runs northeast from
downtown's Union Station to
Pasadena. The Blue Line
dates to the early 1990s. It operates over a 22-mile route, starting with
a short subway downtown. Its single center city station, 7th St./Metro
Center, is
a transfer point with Metro's Red and Purple heavy rail lines. A
significant portion of the route is constructed along the right of
way of the long-gone Pacific Electric interurban to Long Beach.
The Green Line runs about 20 miles,
much of it in the median of a major freeway. It's a route that some have said goes
essentially from nowhere to nowhere, but is doing a decent business these
days. Blue and Green Lines
intersect on separate levels at the Imperial/Wilmington
transfer point,
near Watts.
The 13.7 mile Gold Line began service in 2003. That line's opening
was earlier than originally scheduled, and its cost, under budget.
It uses in large part former Santa Fe right of way to twist into
Pasadena. Construction is well underway to take it from Union
Station to East Los Angeles. At the other end, funding permitting,
it will be extended far east in the San Gabriel Valley in the future.
A fourth route, under construction and currently named the Expo Line, will carry passengers to and from Culver
City by 2010. The L.A. area, with some major transit missteps and fiascos along the
way, is still expanding its diverse rail system. Things, in
general, are looking up.
The view on this page shows a Long Beach-bound
Blue Line train at the Pico station, at the fringes of
downtown, very near to the subway portal.
|
