The E Line (formerly the Expo Line from 2012–2019) is a
light rail line that runs between
Downtown Los Angeles and
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...
. It is one of the seven lines in the
Metro Rail system, and is operated by the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), commonly branded as Metro, LA Metro, and L.A. Metro, is the state agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the transportation system in Los Angel ...
(Metro). The line opened in 2012.
The E Line largely follows the
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
of the former
Pacific Electric Santa Monica Air Line. Passenger service ended in 1953; freight-only service ended by March 1988. Several E Line stations are built in the same location as Air Line stations, although no original station structures have been reused.
Originally named the Expo Line after Exposition Boulevard, along which it runs for most of its route, the line was renamed the E Line in late 2019, while retaining the aqua-colored line and icons used to designate it on maps. When the
Regional Connector is complete in 2022, the current E Line will be joined with the Eastside portion of the
L Line to create an extended E Line, which will be colored yellow on maps.
Service description
Hours and frequency
Speed
Though the E Line is capable of reaching a maximum speed of , it only rarely does so. It takes 46 minutes
to travel the line's 15.2 mi (24.5 km) length,
at an average speed of 19.8 mph (31.9 km/h), making it the slowest line in the system.
Station listing
The following is the complete list of stations, from west to east:
Ridership
History
The E Line largely follows right of way used by the
Los Angeles and Independence Railroad
The Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, opened on October 17, 1875, was a steam-powered rail line which ran between the Santa Monica Long Wharf (north of the current Santa Monica Pier) and 5th and San Pedro streets in downtown Los Angeles.
...
steam railroad, built in 1875, which was converted by
Pacific Electric to
electric traction
A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply.
Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), ele ...
and operated as the
Santa Monica Air Line by 1920, providing both freight and passenger service between Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Passenger service ended in 1953, and freight service stopped in 1988.
Local
advocacy groups including Friends 4 Expo Transit
supported the successful passage of Proposition C in 1990, which allowed the purchase of the entire right-of-way from Southern Pacific by Metro. In 2000, an urban art group known as Heavy Trash placed signs advertising a fictional "Aqua Line". The signs, with the text "Coming Soon", showed
a subway route extending along Wilshire to the ocean, with 10 station stops. Although the campaign was a hoax, it demonstrated newfound support and revealed the frustrations surrounding the lack of rail service connecting Santa Monica and the Westside with Downtown Los Angeles.
Metro released a Major Investment Study in 2000 which compared
bus rapid transit and
light rail transit options along what was now known as the "Mid-City/Exposition Corridor".
Construction
An independent agency, the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, was given the authority to plan, design and construct the line by state law in 2003. After construction of the second phase was completed, the line was handed over on January 15, 2016, to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The line was built in two phases; the first phase comprised the
section between Downtown Los Angeles and Culver City. Construction began in early 2006 and most stations opened to the public on April 28, 2012.
The Culver City and Farmdale stations opened on June 20, 2012.
Design and construction on the
portion between Culver City and Santa Monica started in September 2011. Testing along the phase 2 segment began on April 6, 2015,
and the segment opened on May 20, 2016.
Future developments
Regional Connector Transit Project
The Regional Connector is an under-construction light-rail subway corridor through Downtown Los Angeles that is to connect the current A and E Lines to the current L Line, and to allow a seamless one-seat ride between the A and E Lines' current
7th Street/Metro Center terminus and
Union Station
A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...
.
Once the
Regional Connector is completed, the alignment of the L (formerly Gold) Line will be split into two parts at
Little Tokyo/Arts District station
Little Tokyo/Arts District station is an under construction underground light rail station on the Los Angeles Metro Rail system which will replace a former at-grade station with the same name. The former station was located on the east side ...
, with the portion north of this station joined to the A Line, extending it to connect
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
with
Azusa Azusa may refer to:
Relating to California
From a Native American language, likely Tongva language, Tongva ''Asuksagna:''
*Azusa, California, a city in the United States
*Azusa Pacific University, a Christian-based institution in Azusa, California
...
. The alignment east of Little Tokyo/Arts District station will be assigned to the E Line, extending it to connect
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...
and
East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purpo ...
directly. At this time, the L Line will cease to exist as a separate line.
In 2019, Metro began using a renaming system where each rail and bus rapid transit line was rebranded with a letter name and an associated color to be used on maps and other wayfinding signs. As a result, the Expo Line became the E Line in 2019, and will be recolored from aqua to yellow upon completion of the Regional Connector.
The groundbreaking for the project took place on September 30, 2014, and the alignment is expected to be in public service by early 2023.
Eastside Transit Corridor
The
Eastside Transit Corridor is a project to extend from the former L Line's terminus at
Atlantic station
Atlantic Station is a neighborhood on the northwestern edge of Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States comprising a retail district, office space, condominiums, townhomes and apartment buildings. First planned in the mid-1990s and officially op ...
eastward to
Lambert station in
Whittier. Partially funded by
Measure M
Measure R was a ballot measure during the November 2008 elections in Los Angeles County, California, that proposed a half-cent sales taxes increase on each dollar of taxable sales (originating in or made from Los Angeles County) for thirty years ...
, construction is programmed to start in 2029 with service beginning in 2035, though the project
may be accelerated for the 2028 Summer Olympics
The 2028 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, also known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28) is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, in and around Los Angeles, Cali ...
.
Operations
Maintenance facilities
Previously, the light rail vehicles used on the E Line were maintained at the division 11 yard in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
, the same maintenance facility that is used by the A Line. However, the new division 14 yard, located east of Stewart Street and north of Exposition Boulevard
in the vicinity of the
26th Street/Bergamot station in Santa Monica, was opened with the completion of Phase 2.
Rolling stock
Compatible with the rest of Metro's light-rail network, the E Line shares standard Metro light rail vehicles (
Kinki Sharyo
is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 (as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works) and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945. They have produced light r ...
P3010) with the
A Line. Metro estimates that it has 47 light rail cars to provide service on the E Line under the peak-hour assumption of 3-car trains running at 6-minute headways.
Bike pathways
The
E Line Bike Path parallels the route of the light rail line, and includes a mixture of bike lanes on Exposition Boulevard and off-street paths alongside the rail tracks.
Incidents
* On November 29, 2018, a pedestrian was struck and killed. The man had been attempting to cross the tracks.
* On January 15, 2019, a passenger fell from the platform, between the cars, and was dragged to death. They "have not yet been able to identify the individual as pieces of the victim's body are spread out."
* On May 2, 2019, a man climbed a nearby construction crane and jumped to his death at the Expo/Sepulveda station, landing on the tracks and halting transportation temporarily. Graphic footage of the incident was spread on social media websites, most notably Reddit.
References
External links
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)BuildExpo (Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority)Extensive Collection of Construction Photos*
*
{{Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Light rail in California
Public transportation in Los Angeles
Public transportation in Los Angeles County, California
Central Los Angeles
South Los Angeles
Westside (Los Angeles County)
Railway lines opened in 2012
Rail trails in California
2012 establishments in California