Los Angeles Union Station is the main
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing
La Grande Station
La Grande Station was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's (Santa Fe) main passenger terminal in Los Angeles, California from 1893 until the opening of Union Station in 1939. The station was located at 2nd Street and Santa Fe Avenue on the ...
and
Central Station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
.
Approved in a controversial ballot measure in 1926 and built in the 1930s, it served to consolidate rail services from the
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
,
Santa Fe, and
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
Railroads into one terminal station. Conceived on a grand scale, Union Station became known as the "Last of the Great Railway Stations" built in the United States. The structure combines
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
,
Mission Revival
The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...
, and
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...
style. It was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1980.
Today, the station is a major transportation hub for
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
, serving almost 110,000 passengers a day. It is by far the busiest train station in the Western United States; it is Amtrak's fifth-busiest station, and is the
twelfth-busiest train station in North America.
Four of
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's long-distance trains originate and terminate here: the ''Coast Starlight'' to Seattle, the ''Southwest Chief'' and ''Texas Eagle'' to Chicago, and the ''Sunset Limited'' to New Orleans. The state-supported Amtrak ''Pacific Surfliner'' regional trains run frequently to San Diego and also to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. The station is the hub of the
Metrolink commuter rail system and is a major transfer point for several
Metro Rail subway and light rail lines. The
Patsaouras Transit Plaza
Patsaouras Transit Plaza is a bus station on the east side of Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, near the El Monte Busway. It was originally named the Gateway Transit Plaza but was renamed after Nick Patsaouras, former Rapid Transit District ...
, on the east side of the station, serves dozens of
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
lines operated by
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
and several other municipal carriers.
History
In 1926, a measure was placed on the ballot giving Los Angeles voters the choice between the construction of a vast network of
elevated railways
An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...
or the construction of a
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 ...
to consolidate the city's two mainline railroad stations (
Central Station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
and
La Grande Station
La Grande Station was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's (Santa Fe) main passenger terminal in Los Angeles, California from 1893 until the opening of Union Station in 1939. The station was located at 2nd Street and Santa Fe Avenue on the ...
). The election took on racial connotations and became a defining moment in the development of Los Angeles.
One proposed location for Union Station was located in the heart of what was Los Angeles' original
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
. Reflecting the racial prejudice of the time, ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', a lead opponent of elevated railways, argued in editorials that Union Station would not be built in the "midst of Chinatown" but rather would "forever do away with Chinatown and its environs." The ''Times'' also attacked the elevated railways for blocking out the California sun and in general being antithetical to the ethos of Los Angeles.
Two questions were put to vote in 1926. First, the voters approved Union Station instead of elevated railways by 61.3 to 38.7 percent margin. Second, the electorate voted in favor of ''Los Angeles Plaza'', not Chinatown, as the site of the new station, but by a much smaller 51.1 to 48.9 percent margin. However, largely due to the efforts of preservationist
Christine Sterling
Chastina Rix (1881–1963), later known as Christine Sterling, was born in Oakland,
California. Her most notable works were as a preservationist who helped save the Avila Adobe and created Olvera Street in Los Angeles. She also helped create Chin ...
and ''Los Angeles Times'' publisher
Harry Chandler
Harry Chandler (May 17, 1864 – September 23, 1944) was an American newspaper publisher and investor who became owner of the largest real estate empire in the U.S.
Early life
Harry Chandler was born in Landaff, New Hampshire, the eldest of four ...
, Union Station would not replace the Plaza, but be built across the street in Chinatown, which was demolished for the project. During the construction process of Union Station, archaeological remains from the
Tongva
The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...
village of
Yaanga
Yaanga was a large Tongva (or Kizh) village originally located near what is now downtown Los Angeles, just west of the Los Angeles River and beneath U.S. Route 101. People from the village were recorded as ''Yabit'' in missionary records althou ...
were uncovered.
Researcher Joan Brown summarized this in 1992:
Previous archaeological studies conducted at and near Union Station indicate that buried intact prehistoric and historic deposits exist in-situ beneath and in the vicinity of Union Station. The extent of the archaeological deposits is unknown at this time. Union Station was constructed on three to twenty feet of fill dirt placed over the original Los Angeles Chinatown. Chinatown, in turn, had been built over the remains of an Indian village, tentatively identified as the village of Yangna.
The glamorous new $11 million station (in 1939 dollars)
took over from
La Grande Station
La Grande Station was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's (Santa Fe) main passenger terminal in Los Angeles, California from 1893 until the opening of Union Station in 1939. The station was located at 2nd Street and Santa Fe Avenue on the ...
which had suffered major damage in the
1933 Long Beach earthquake
The 1933 Long Beach earthquake took place on March 10 at south of downtown Los Angeles. The epicenter was offshore, southeast of Long Beach, California, on the Newport–Inglewood Fault. The earthquake had a magnitude estimated at 6.4 , and a m ...
and
Central Station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
, which had itself replaced the
Arcade Depot
The Arcade Depot was the main Southern Pacific Railroad passenger railway station, from 1888 until 1914. It was located on Alameda Street, between 5th and 6th Streets, in Los Angeles, California.
History
The land for the station was furnished t ...
in 1914.
Passenger service was provided by the
Santa Fe,
Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
, and
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
, as well as local lines of the
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...
and
Los Angeles Railway
The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars, LARy and later Los Angeles Transit Lines) was a system of streetcars that operated in Central Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods between 1895 and 1963. The system provided frequent loc ...
(LARy). The famed ''
Super Chief
The ''Super Chief'' was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The streamliner claimed to be "The Train of the Stars" because of the various celebrities it carried between Chicago, Ill ...
'' luxury train carried Hollywood stars and others to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and thence the East Coast. Union Station saw heavy use during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but later saw declining patronage due to the growing popularity of air travel and automobiles.
In 1948, the Santa Fe's ''Super Chief'' lost its brakes coming into the station, smashed through a steel bumper and concrete wall, and stopped with one third of the front of the locomotive dangling over Aliso St. No one was killed or injured, but the engineer lost his job.
The station was designated as a Los Angeles Historic–Cultural Monument No. 101 on August 2, 1972, and placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1980.
The first commuter rail service to Union Station was the short-lived
CalTrain
Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as far ...
that began operating on October 18, 1982, between Los Angeles and
Oxnard
Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
. The service faced economic and political problems from the start and was suspended in March 1983. The next attempt at commuter rail came in 1990 with the launch of the
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
-operated ''
Orange County Commuter
The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passengers ...
''. The once-daily round-trip served stations between Los Angeles and
San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census.
San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...
.
In December 1989, the Santa Fe Pacific Realty Co purchased Southern Pacific's shareholding in the station, followed in January 1990 by Union Pacific's 22% and Santa Fe's 34%.
Metrolink commuter rail service began on October 26, 1992, with Union Station as the terminus for the
San Bernardino Line
The San Bernardino Line is a Metrolink (Southern California), Metrolink line running between Downtown Los Angeles east through the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire (California), Inland Empire to San Bernardino, California, San Bernardino, ...
, the Santa Clarita Line (later renamed the
Antelope Valley Line
The Antelope Valley Line is a commuter rail line that serves the Northern Los Angeles County area as part of the Metrolink (Southern California), Metrolink system. The northern segment of the line is rural in character because it travels through t ...
) and the
Ventura County Line
The Metrolink Ventura County Line is a commuter rail line serving Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, in the Southern California system. The line is the successor of the short lived CalTr ...
. In January 1993, Metro's
Red Line subway
began service to the station, followed by Metrolink's
Riverside Line
Metrolink's Riverside Line is a commuter rail line running from Los Angeles Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles to Riverside along the Union Pacific Railroad. It runs weekday peak commuter hours only, with very little midday and reverse co ...
in June. The ''Orange County Commuter'' train was discontinued on March 28, 1994, and replaced by Metrolink's
Orange County Line
The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passengers ...
. In May 2002, Metrolink added additional service to stations in Orange and Riverside counties with the opening of the
91 Line
The 91/Perris Valley Line, formerly known as the 91 Line, is a commuter rail route operated by Metrolink that runs from Los Angeles to Perris in Southern California, paralleling State Route 91 between Riverside and Santa Fe Springs. Operating si ...
.
Light rail service arrived at Union Station on July 26, 2003, when Metro's
Gold Line began operating to Pasadena from tracks 1 and 2. The line was expanded south over US 101 in November 2009 with the opening of the Gold Line Eastside Extension.
In February 2011, the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) approved the purchase of Union Station from Prologis and
Catellus Development (a descendant of the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads) for $75 million. The deal was closed on April 14, 2011. Since taking over ownership of the station, Metro has focused on increasing services for passengers at the station. One of the most noticeable changes is the addition of several retail and dining businesses to the concourse.
Amtrak opened a Metropolitan Lounge at Union Station on September 23, 2013. The lounge is open to Amtrak passengers traveling in sleeping car accommodations or business class as well as some
Amtrak Guest Rewards members (Select Plus and Select Executive levels only). The lounge features a staffed ticket counter, complimentary refreshments, complimentary
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
, and a conference room. Passengers using the Metropolitan Lounge receive priority boarding.
Metro plans to install
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
beacons in Union Station to enable sending
text messages
Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible compute ...
to travelers'
smartphones
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...
.
On March 15, 2021, it was announced that the station would serve as a joint venue of the
93rd Academy Awards
The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 2021 ...
along with the
Dolby Theatre
The Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) is a live-performance auditorium in the Ovation Hollywood shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Si ...
due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial effect on certain films in the early 2020s, mirroring its impacts across all arts sectors. Across the world and to varying degrees, cinemas and movie theaters have been closed, festivals have been ca ...
. The ceremony was criticized for limiting access to the station and its
COVID-19 testing
COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral ...
site due to security measures mandated by the Academy.
On October 19, 2022, Greyhound moved its primary Los Angeles station to the Patsaouras Transit Plaza at Union Station.
Architecture
Union Station was partially designed by
John and Donald Parkinson
John and Donald Parkinson were a father-and-son architectural firm operating in the Los Angeles area in the early 20th century. They designed and built many of the city's iconic buildings, including Grand Central Market, the Memorial Colise ...
, the father-and-son architectural firm who had also designed
Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall, completed in 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is located in the Civic Cente ...
and other landmark Los Angeles buildings. They were assisted by a group of supporting architects, including Jan van der Linden. The structure combines
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
,
Mission Revival
The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...
, and
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...
style, with architectural details such as eight-pointed stars, and even elements of
Dutch Colonial Revival architecture
Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Rev ...
(at the suggestion of the Dutch-born Jan von der Linden).
Enclosed garden patios are on either side of the waiting room, and passengers exiting the trains were originally directed through the southern garden. The lower parts of the interior walls are covered in
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
marble; the upper parts have an early form of acoustical tile. The floor in the large rooms is
terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
with a central strip of inlaid marble (including travertine, somewhat unusual in floors since it is soft). The ceiling in the grand waiting room has the appearance of wood, but is actually made of steel.
The original ticket lobby has high ceilings and a counter. It is closed to the public, but occasionally rented out for film shoots or special events.
Public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
has been added to the station including an aquarium with a wall featuring etchings of
Gabrielino Indians and Latino settlers such as
Pío Pico
Don Pío de Jesús Pico (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a Californio politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the last governor of California (present-day U.S. state of California) under Mexican rule. A member of ...
.
Inside the grand waiting room is the Traxx restaurant and bar, which is Art Deco-themed, reflecting the history and architectural grandeur of its home. The restaurant opened in the late 1990s, and became a "top draw" at Union Station, according to the Los Angeles Times. Traxx closed between May and September 2019 as ownership of the restaurant changed.
Attached to the main building to the south is the station restaurant designed by the famed Southwestern architect
Mary Colter
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
. It was the last of the "
Harvey House
The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses alongside railroads in the Western United States. It was founded in 1876 by Fred Harvey to cater to the growing n ...
" restaurants to be constructed as a part of a passenger terminal. The vast rectangular dining room has a rounded central counter, streamlined booths and spectacular inlaid cement tile floor reproduces the pattern of a
Navajo blanket
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...
.
Colter also designed a sleek,
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...
cocktail lounge. The restaurant closed in 1967 and for decades remained largely empty, used only for the occasional film shoot or special event.
In October 2018, following a four-year renovation process, the dining room re-opened as the "Imperial Western Beer Co.," a restaurant and bar with its own attached brewery, and the cocktail lounge re-opened as "The Streamliner," a smaller craft cocktail bar.
Even with its grand scale, Union Station is still considered small in comparison to other
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 ...
s.
Public art
Although Union Station contains no distinct sculptures or artworks from its early years, Metro rail development in the 1990s funded the installation of a variety of notable
public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
murals and sculptural installations for the station's new subterranean lobbies, portals and subway platforms. The following Union Station public artworks include murals, granite seating sculptures, electronic wall-mounted art, glass mosaics, and a river-themed sculptural installation incorporating found objects from the subway excavation and an aquarium of native sea life.
* ''L.A.: City of Angels'' (1993) by
Cynthia Carlson
Cynthia Carlson (born 1942) is an American visual artist, living and working in New York.
Personal life and education
Carlson was born in 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from Kelvyn Park High School in Chicago and then attended the Scho ...
* ''Traveler'' (1993) by Terry Schoonhoven
* ''Union Chairs'' (1993) by Christopher Sproat
* ''La Sombra del Arroyo'' (1995) by
East Los Streetscapers
* ''City of Dreams'' (1996) by
Richard Wyatt Jr.
Richard Wyatt Jr. (born 1955) is a contemporary muralist best known for his public art in and around the city of Los Angeles. His murals can be found at the Watts Towers, the Capitol Records Building, White Memorial Hospital, the Ontario Airport, ...
* ''River of History'' (1996) by
May Sun
May Sun (born 1954) is a Los Angeles-based artist known primarily for her public art projects. Sun works in the mediums of sculpture, mixed media, photography and installation. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She wa ...
* ''Riverbench'' (1996) by May Sun and Paul Diez
* ''A-Train'' (1996) by
Bill Bell
* ''Solar Shift: San Bernardino and Santa Monica'' (2006) by
Roy Nicholson
Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin.
In Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman language, Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' ...
Location
Union Station is located in the northeastern corner of
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
, on the property bounded by
Alameda Street
Alameda Street is a major north-south thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California. It is approximately 21 miles in length, running from Harry Bridges Boulevard in Wilmington; and through Carson, Compton, Lynwood, Watts, Florence-Graham, Hunti ...
,
Cesar Chavez Avenue
Cesar Chavez Avenue (Spanish: Avenida César Chávez) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Downtown Los Angeles, the Eastside and East Los Angeles, measuring 6.19 miles (9.96 km) in length. Named in honor of union leader César Chávez, t ...
, Vignes Street, and the
Hollywood Freeway
The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California (the boundaries of which it does not leave) and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route through the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortcut ...
. It is across Alameda Street from L.A.'s historic
Olvera Street
Olvera Street (also ''Calle Olvera'' or ''Placita Olvera'', originally Calle de los Vignes, Vine Street, and Wine Street) is a historic street in downtown Los Angeles, and a part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument, the area immediatel ...
and
El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park. The historic
Terminal Annex building is on the opposite side of the Chavez Avenue underpass.
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
and
Civic Center
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...
are a short distance away.
The site of the
Tongva
The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...
village of
Yaanga
Yaanga was a large Tongva (or Kizh) village originally located near what is now downtown Los Angeles, just west of the Los Angeles River and beneath U.S. Route 101. People from the village were recorded as ''Yabit'' in missionary records althou ...
, which was "believed to have been the largest of the Tongva villages," was in the vicinity.
The
Patsaouras Transit Plaza
Patsaouras Transit Plaza is a bus station on the east side of Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, near the El Monte Busway. It was originally named the Gateway Transit Plaza but was renamed after Nick Patsaouras, former Rapid Transit District ...
on the east side of Union Station hosts several connecting bus lines, including Metro Local, Metro Rapid and Metro Express lines, as well as downtown
DASH
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
shuttles, many municipal bus lines,
FlyAway express bus service to
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
, and
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
campus shuttles. The Transit Plaza is named after
Nick Patsaouras, former RTD board member and advocate for public transportation.
The Gateway Transit Center includes the station itself and the Patsaouras Transit Plaza, both of which were designed by
Ehrenkrantz & Eckstut, along with the western terminus of the El Monte Busway, as well as Metro's headquarters building.
, Amtrak and Metrolink share 12 of Union Station's 14 outdoor tracks, with 94 trains departing on most weekdays (95 on Wednesday, 96 on Friday).
Services
Amtrak
Amtrak long-distance routes
Union Station is the western terminus for four of Amtrak's long-distance trains:
* ''
Coast Starlight
The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formati ...
'', to
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
(daily, service began 1971)
* ''
Southwest Chief
The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff ...
'', to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
(daily, service began 1939 as ''
Super Chief
The ''Super Chief'' was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The streamliner claimed to be "The Train of the Stars" because of the various celebrities it carried between Chicago, Ill ...
'', renamed ''Southwest Limited'' in 1974 and ''Southwest Chief'' in 1984)
* ''
Sunset Limited
The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...
'', to
(tri-weekly, service began 1939)
* ''
Texas Eagle
The ''Texas Eagle'' is a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Chicago and San Antonio in the central and western United States. Prior to 1988, the train was known as the ''Eagle''.
Trains #21 (southbound) and 22 (northbound) ...
'', to Chicago (tri-weekly, service began 1982): Runs combined with the ''Sunset Limited'' to San Antonio, where the train is split.
Amtrak California regional routes
Amtrak California
Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supported Amtrak commuter rail routes in Californiathe ''Capitol Corridor'', the ''Pacific Surfliner'', and the ...
operates multiple-times-daily regional rail services to cities across the state:
* ''
Pacific Surfliner
The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
The service carried 2,924,117 passengers during fiscal year 2016, a 3.4% increase from F ...
'', from
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
to
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
via Los Angeles (service began 1939 as ''
San Diegan,'' renamed ''Pacific Surfliner'' in 2000): 13 daily round trips, most of which originate and terminate here; three run to
Goleta
Goleta or La Goleta may refer to:
* ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus
* Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County
* La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette
La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), i ...
and two run to San Luis Obispo.
* Connections to the ''
San Joaquin'' to
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
or
Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
are provided through Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach services. ''(
see below)''
Metrolink
The station is the hub for
Metrolink and six of Metrolink's seven lines serve the station:
*
Antelope Valley Line
The Antelope Valley Line is a commuter rail line that serves the Northern Los Angeles County area as part of the Metrolink (Southern California), Metrolink system. The northern segment of the line is rural in character because it travels through t ...
, to
Lancaster (service began 1992)
*
Riverside Line
Metrolink's Riverside Line is a commuter rail line running from Los Angeles Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles to Riverside along the Union Pacific Railroad. It runs weekday peak commuter hours only, with very little midday and reverse co ...
, to
Riverside
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
(service began 1993)
*
Orange County Line
The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passengers ...
, to
Oceanside (service began 1990 as the
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
''
Orange County Commuter
The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passengers ...
'')
*
San Bernardino Line
The San Bernardino Line is a Metrolink (Southern California), Metrolink line running between Downtown Los Angeles east through the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire (California), Inland Empire to San Bernardino, California, San Bernardino, ...
, to
San Bernardino
San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...
(service began 1992)
*
Ventura County Line
The Metrolink Ventura County Line is a commuter rail line serving Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, in the Southern California system. The line is the successor of the short lived CalTr ...
, to
Ventura (service began 1992)
*
91/Perris Valley Line, to
Perris
Perris is an old railway city in Riverside County, California, United States, located east-southeast of Los Angeles and north of San Diego. It is known for Lake Perris, an artificial lake, skydiving, and its sunny dry climate. Perris is wit ...
(service began 2002)
Metro Rail
Three
Metro Rail lines (the B (Red), D (Purple), and L (Gold) Lines) serve the station with about 300 Metro Rail trains departing every weekday.
Metro B Line/Metro D Line
The
Metro B and
Metro D subway lines have their eastern terminus at Union Station and share two tracks below Union Station. There are two entrances to the platform: one is located inside Union Station's main concourse on the west side of the complex, near Alameda Street, and the other is located near the Patsaouras Transit Plaza on the east side of the complex.
Metro L Line
The
Metro L Line (Gold) is a light rail line that passes through Union Station as it travels between
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
...
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 ...
. Trains use Tracks 1 and 2 of Union Station's 14 outdoor tracks. The platform is accessible via
staircase and
elevator
An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
from the main passenger tunnel. From the Gold line's opening on July 26, 2003, until the segment to East Los Angeles opened on November 15, 2009, this station was the southern terminus. The platform features an art installation, entitled ''Images of Commonality/Nature and Movement'', created by
Beth Thielen
Beth may refer to:
Letter and number
*Bet (letter), or beth, the second letter of the Semitic abjads (writing systems)
*Hebrew word for "house", often used in the name of synagogues and schools (e.g. Beth Israel)
Name
*Beth (given name) lists p ...
.
The platform station will be served by the
A Line, which will run from
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 ...
to Azusa, once the
Regional Connector
The Regional Connector Transit Project is a transit project currently constructing a light rail tunnel for the Los Angeles Metro Rail system in Downtown Los Angeles. It is designed to connect the A Line and E Line, which currently end at 7th S ...
is complete in 2023.
Metro Busway
Metro J Line
One
Metro Busway bus rapid transit line makes a stop at the
Patsaouras Transit Plaza
Patsaouras Transit Plaza is a bus station on the east side of Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, near the El Monte Busway. It was originally named the Gateway Transit Plaza but was renamed after Nick Patsaouras, former Rapid Transit District ...
. The
Metro J Line operates between
El Monte Bus Station
El Monte Station is a large regional bus station in the city of El Monte, California, United States, adjacent to Interstate 10, serving the Metro J Line, Foothill Transit, Greyhound Lines, and El Monte Transit. It is the Metro J Line's easter ...
,
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
,
Harbor Gateway Transit Center
Harbor Gateway Transit Center, formerly Artesia Transit Center, is a large bus station at the southern end of the Harbor Transitway that serves as a transport hub (known locally as a transit center) for the South Bay region of Los Angeles County ...
and select trips to
San Pedro using the
El Monte Busway
The El Monte Busway (also known as the I-10 ExpressLanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (transitway, busway) and high occupancy toll lane, high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running along Interstate 10 in California, Interstate 10 between Un ...
and
Harbor Transitway
The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running in the median of Interstate 110 (Harbor Freeway) between Downtown L ...
.
Bus and coach services
Long-distance motorcoach
=Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach
=
Amtrak California
Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supported Amtrak commuter rail routes in Californiathe ''Capitol Corridor'', the ''Pacific Surfliner'', and the ...
operates several motorcoach routes under the
Amtrak Thruway
Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transit ...
brand from Union Station using dedicated bus bays at the north side of the station.
Connections to ''
San Joaquins
The ''San Joaquins'' is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. Six daily round trips run between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton, with onward service to Sacramento (all round trips) an ...
'' trains are provided through bus route 1 that travel to and from the
Bakersfield Amtrak Station
Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
.
Direct rail service to Bakersfield is not possible because passenger trains are not normally allowed on the
Tehachapi Loop
The Tehachapi Loop is a long spiral, or helix, on the Union Pacific Railroad Mojave Subdivision through Tehachapi Pass, of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, south-central California. The line connects Bakersfield and the San Joaquin V ...
near Bakersfield. When trains are not running during the overnight hours several bus routes provide service along the Pacific Surfliner route (to Santa Barbara, San Diego and select intermediate stations) and the San Joaquin route (to Fresno and select intermediate stations.):
*
Route 1: Bakersfield – Los Angeles – Santa Ana – San Diego
*
Route 4: Santa Barbara – Los Angeles
=Flixbus
=
While it does not stop on the Union Station property,
Flixbus provides intercity service to destinations across the Western United States from a parking lot across the street from the station on the northwest corner of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Vignes Street.
= Greyhound
=
Greyhound Lines operates its main Los Angeles station from the Patsaouras Transit Plaza.
Metro and municipal buses
Bus services using the
Patsaouras Transit Plaza
Patsaouras Transit Plaza is a bus station on the east side of Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, near the El Monte Busway. It was originally named the Gateway Transit Plaza but was renamed after Nick Patsaouras, former Rapid Transit District ...
:
*
Los Angeles Metro Bus
Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
, there are ...
: , , , Rapid , Rapid , (L Line Shuttle)
*
Antelope Valley Transit Authority
Antelope Valley Transit Authority is the transit agency serving the cities of Palmdale, Lancaster and Northern Los Angeles County. Antelope Valley Transit Authority is operated under contract by MV Transportation, and is affiliated with and offers ...
:
785
__NOTOC__
Year 785 ( DCCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The article denomination 785 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent meth ...
*
*
City of Commerce Municipal Bus Lines
City of Commerce Municipal Bus Lines is Commerce, California's transportation service, providing local routes that serve the need of those traveling within the city itself. CMBL complements the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Author ...
: Citadel Outlets Express
*
City of Santa Clarita Transit
City of Santa Clarita Transit is a local bus service, administered by the City's transit division, that serves the City of Santa Clarita, California and nearby surrounding unincorporated areas. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per we ...
:
794
__NOTOC__
Year 794 ( DCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 794 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...
*
*
LAX FlyAway
*
LADOT Commuter Express: Bunker Hill Shuttle*, *, *, *, *
*
LADOT DASH
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, commonly referred to as LADOT, is a municipal agency that oversees transportation planning, design, construction, maintenance and operations within the city of Los Angeles. LADOT was created by city or ...
: D
*
Mount St. Mary's College
Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles (known as Mount St. Mary's College until January 2015) is a private, Catholic university primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. Women make up ninety percent of the student body.
It was found ...
Shuttle*
*
OC Bus
OC Bus is the transit bus service operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), serving every city in Orange County. Some of the lines serve the Los Angeles County border communities of Lakewood, La Mirada, Cerritos, Hawaiian ...
: *
*
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
Shuttles:
UPC,
HSC, ICS
Bus services using the Union Station Patsaouras Bus Plaza Station, which is located in the median of the
El Monte Busway
The El Monte Busway (also known as the I-10 ExpressLanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (transitway, busway) and high occupancy toll lane, high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running along Interstate 10 in California, Interstate 10 between Un ...
next to US-101:
*
Los Angeles Metro Busway
Metro Busway (previously known as Metro Liner and Metro Transitway) is a system of bus rapid transit (BRT) routes that operate primarily along exclusive or semi-exclusive roadways known locally as a busway or transitway. There are currently two lin ...
:
J Line
*Los Angeles Metro Bus: Express , Express *
*
Foothill Transit
Foothill Transit is a public transit agency that is government funded by 22 member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys. It operates a fixed-route bus public transit service in the San Gabriel Valley region of eastern Los Angeles Cou ...
:
Silver Streak, *, *, *, *, *, *, *
Bus services using the bus stop on Cesar Chavez Avenue & Vignes Street (northeast corner of station):
*Los Angeles Metro Bus: , , ,
*LADOT DASH: Lincoln Heights/Chinatown
Bus services using the bus stop on Alameda Street & Los Angeles Street (outside western entrance):
*
Big Blue Bus
Big Blue Bus (stylized, big blue bus) is a municipal bus service serving the city of Santa Monica and the greater Westside region of Los Angeles County. The service, operated by the city of Santa Monica, was founded on April 14, 1928 and thro ...
:
Rapid 10*
*LADOT DASH: B
*
Torrance Transit
Torrance Transit is a transit agency primarily serving the South Bay region of Los Angeles County. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
History
Torrance Transit inaugurated service on January 15, 1940 using three ...
: 4X*
Bus service using the bus stop on the west side of Union Station (near the taxi stand and the Mozaic Apartments):
*
Dodger Stadium Express
Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...
:
* Indicates commuter service that operates only during weekday rush hours.
Platforms and tracks
Future expansion
Link Union Station
With the number of trains using Union Station expanding, the
stub-end layout of trackage is limiting the station's capacity. Trains can only enter or exit from the north side of the station. The configuration forces trains without cab-cars to slowly reverse in or out of the station and trains heading to or from the south to make a near-180 degree turn. Compounding the problem, is that while the station has 14 boarding tracks, multiple trains must squeeze onto just 5 tracks.
Originally, there were more tracks at "the throat", but Metrolink had some removed to allow for faster speeds along the curves in and out of the station to improve efficiency as they enter or exit the station. This choke-point can delay arriving trains as they are forced to wait outside of the station to allow a departing train to exit the station. Departures are usually given priority, to free up platforms and to keep them from experiencing delays along their route.
Therefore, Metro has proposed the Link Union Station (Link US, formerly named Southern California Regional Interconnector) Project, which would extend tracks 3–10 as run-through tracks, which will exit Union Station and cross over the
El Monte Busway
The El Monte Busway (also known as the I-10 ExpressLanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (transitway, busway) and high occupancy toll lane, high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running along Interstate 10 in California, Interstate 10 between Un ...
and
US Route 101/Santa Ana Fwy on a long, elevated "S-curve" that will tie into the existing tracks along the Los Angeles River. The plan also includes tracks along the river that would create a "loop" around the station allowing all trains (including those to/from the north or west) to use the run-though tracks.
Metro authorized preliminary engineering for the project in July 2012. A Request For Proposals (RFP) for Link Union Station was being prepared as of June 2013. The $31-million contract for the engineering work on the project was approved on April 24, 2014.
The project's estimated value is $350 million.
A draft environmental impact report on Link Union Station is expected in 2017
During construction, several tracks may be taken out of service due to their extension. To make up for the temporary loss of those platforms, track 13 was revitalized for use and tracks 14 & 15 were re-constructed. The project was completed on October 17, 2012. Once the Link US project is finished, the run-through tracks and tracks 13–14 will be in regular use (track 15 will be used for storage), resulting in a 40% increase in track capacity.
On July 27, 2019, the Metro board officially approved and certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Link US Union Station run-through tracks project. The FIER has an expanded central concourse hallway to replace the new elevated concourse proposed in the Draft EIR, and also eliminated the loop tracks. These modifications reduced project costs while prioritizing rider convenience while transferring between trains. A funding plan for the project was approved on April 21, 2020, with the project's completion targeted for 2026.
In 2021, this project began construction, causing partial closure of platforms at this station.
Former Run-Through Tracks Project
California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacrame ...
(Caltrans) and the
Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
previously drafted a plan to create run-through tracks at Union Station, but the project involved just four tracks and lacked the station "loop" limiting usage of the tracks just to trains heading to or from the south.
The final
environmental impact report for the "Los Angeles Union Station Run-Through Tracks Project" was published by the FRA in November 2005.
California High-Speed Rail
Union Station is planned to be a major hub for the future
California High-Speed Rail
California High-Speed Rail (also known as CAHSR or CHSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system currently under construction in California in the United States. Planning for the project began in 1996, when the California Legislature and Gover ...
System. Upon completion, it is projected that passengers will be able to get from Union Station to the
Transbay Transit Center
The Transbay Transit Center (officially the Salesforce Transit Center for sponsorship purposes) is a transit station in downtown San Francisco. It serves as the primary bus terminal — and potentially as a future rail terminal — for the San ...
in the city of San Francisco in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
As a part of its Master Plan, Metro studied how to best integrate tracks and platforms for high-speed trains arrival into Union Station. Options included an aerial structure above the existing platforms, an underground structure under Alameda Street, an underground structure under Vignes Street and an aerial structure east of Vignes.
All plans include a new concourse for high-speed rail passengers and three platforms with six tracks.
Since that time, the Link US project has resulted in changes to how High-Speed Rail (HSR) will be brought into Union Station. That project's Final Environmental Report (FEIR) released in June 2019 indicates that HSR will approach the station from the north, on tracks 3 thru 6, use rebuilt station platforms 2 and 3, then exit to the south onto a new viaduct over the El Monte Busway and Santa Ana Freeway, which curves east (over a rebuilt and relocated Commercial Street) to return to the existing rail corridor along the west bank of the
Los Angeles River
, name_etymology =
, image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg
, image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge
, image_size = 300
, map = LARmap.jpg
, map_size ...
. Thus, only four tracks and two platforms at Union Station will be used for HSR, with the remaining six tracks being converted to thru status and using the new viaduct to be shared by Metrolink and Amtrak lines. Tracks 13 thru 15 will remain stubs, ending at the south side of the station.
West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor
Metro selected Union Station as the eventual northern terminus of the planned
West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor in 2022. The new light rail line will serve new platforms either at the Forecourt or behind the Metropolitan Water District Building and may open as early as 2043.
In popular culture
The facility served as a backdrop for the 1950 film ''
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 ...
'',
which starred
William Holden
William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
and
Nancy Olson
Nancy Ann Olson (born July 14, 1928) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Sunset Boulevard'' (1950). She co-starred with William Holden in four films, and later appeared in ...
. It has since been used in numerous films as a
filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...
, including:
* ''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
''
* ''
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
''Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid'' is a 1982 American neo-noir mystery comedy film directed, co-written by, and co-starring Carl Reiner and co-written by and starring Steve Martin. Co-starring Rachel Ward, the film is both a parody of and a homage to ...
''
* ''
Drag Me to Hell
''Drag Me to Hell'' is a 2009 American supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. It stars Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, and Adriana Barraza. The plot, written with his older brother Ivan, ...
''
* ''
Gable and Lombard
''Gable and Lombard'' is a 1976 American biographical film directed by Sidney J. Furie. The screenplay by Barry Sandler is based on the romance and consequent marriage of screen stars Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. The original music score w ...
''
* ''
Bugsy
''Bugsy'' is a 1991 American biographical crime drama film chronicling the life of American mobster Bugsy Siegel and his relationship with Virginia Hill. It is directed by Barry Levinson, written by James Toback, and stars Warren Beatty as Siegel ...
''
* ''
Nick of Time''
* ''
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
''
* ''
Chandler
Chandler or The Chandler may refer to:
* Chandler (occupation), originally head of the medieval household office responsible for candles, now a person who makes or sells candles
* Ship chandler, a dealer in supplies or equipment for ships
Arts ...
''
* ''
In the Mood
"In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition "Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was released by E ...
''
* ''Private Eye'' (1987
TV movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
starring
Josh Brolin
Joshua James Brolin (; born February 12, 1968) is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''The Goonies'' (1985), ''Mimic'' (1997), ''Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Grindhouse'' (2007), ''No Country for Old Men'' (2007), '' American Gangste ...
)
* ''
Silver Streak''
* ''
The Way We Were
''The Way We Were'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Arthur Laurents wrote both the novel and screenplay based on his college days at Cornell University and his ...
''
*''
Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth''
* ''
Under the Rainbow
''Under the Rainbow'' is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Steve Rash and starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Eve Arden, and Billy Barty. Set in 1938, the film's plot is loosely based on the gathering of little people in a Hollywood hotel ...
''
* ''
To Live and Die in L.A.''
* ''
Muppets Most Wanted
''Muppets Most Wanted'' is a 2014 American musical crime comedy film and the eighth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Directed by James Bobin and written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller, the film is a sequel to ''The Muppets'' (2011) and stars ...
''
* ''
The Island''
* ''
The Italian Job
''The Italian Job'' is a 1969 British comedy caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley, directed by Peter Collinson, and starring Michael Caine. The film's plot centres around Cockney criminal Charlie Croker, rece ...
''
* ''
Cry Danger
''Cry Danger'' is a 1951 film noir thriller film, starring Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming. The film was directed by Robert Parrish, a former child star and later editor in his debut as a director.
Plot
Rocky Mulloy was sentenced to life in prison ...
''
* ''
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 ...
''
* ''
Garfield: The Movie''
* ''
The Dark Knight Rises
''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is th ...
''
Union Station has been featured in numerous television shows, such as ''
Adam-12
''Adam-12'' is an American television police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol the stre ...
'',
''24'', ''
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and L ...
'', and
''Euphoria''.
It has also been featured in video games; Union Station, as it was in the late 1940s, appears in ''
L.A. Noire
''L.A. Noire'' is a 2011 action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. Set in 1947 Los Angeles, the game follows detective Cole Phelps's rise among the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department as he so ...
'', while a smaller fictionalized version of the station appears in ''
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' as Unity Station.
Union Station was featured in ''Visiting... with
Huell Howser
Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...
'' Episode 222.
The music videos of "
Drops of Jupiter
''Drops of Jupiter'' is the second studio album by American pop rock band Train, released in 2001. The album's title is derived from "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)", its lead single, which was a hit internationally and won the Grammy Award for Best ...
" by American band
Train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
, directed by Nigel Dick; and "Last Train Home (John Mayer song), Last Train Home" by John Mayer, directed by Cameron Duddy; were filmed in Union Station. A significant portion of the music video for "Vermilion (song), Vermilion" by the band Slipknot (band), Slipknot was filmed within Union Station.
See also
* List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
* Los Angeles County Metro Rail
* Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
* Los Angeles Metro Rail rolling stock
* Martin F. Betkouski, City Council member accused of profiting from land transactions in the area before Union Station was built
References
Notes
Further reading
* Musicant, Marlyn, ed., with Deverell, William and Roth, Matthew W. ''Los Angeles Union Station'' (Los Angeles): Getty, 2014. xvi, pp. 109; heavily illustrated.
External links
*
Union Station overview (LA Metro)Map of connections in the Union Station area (LA Metro)Map of bus services from Union Station (LA Metro)
Public Art Works at the Union Station and in El Pueblo"Union Station" ''Visiting... with Huell Howser'' (Episode 222 – September 26, 1994)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Station Los Angeles
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