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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

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 We ...

. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande Station 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 Pac ...

, Santa Fe, and Southern Pacific 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 Unit ...

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 desig ...

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 ...

in 1980. Today, the station is a major transportation hub for

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and 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 populous urban ...

, 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, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

'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, on the east side of the station, serves dozens of bus lines operated by Metro 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 or the construction of a Union station to consolidate the city's two mainline railroad stations (

and La Grande Station). 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 Aust ...

. 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 ...

'', 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 fou ...

, 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 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 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 ...

and

, which had itself replaced the Arcade Depot in 1914. Passenger service was provided by the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and

, 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 syst ...

and Los Angeles Railway (LARy). The famed '' Super Chief'' 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 = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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

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 fa ...

that began operating on October 18, 1982, between Los Angeles and Oxnard. 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

-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 passenger ...

''. 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 line running between Downtown Los Angeles east through the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire to San Bernardino, with express service to Redlands. It is one of the three initial lines (along with th ...

, the Santa Clarita Line (later renamed the Antelope Valley Line) and the Ventura County Line. 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 com ...

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 passenger ...

. 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 s ...

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 Catellus Development Corporation is an Oakland, California based real estate developer founded in 1984 to be the real estate division of Santa Fe Pacific Corporation, as part of the Santa Fe–Southern Pacific merger. It was spun off into its ow ...

(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 waves ...

, 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 compu ...

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, whic ...

. On March 15, 2021, it was announced that the station would serve as a joint venue of the 93rd Academy Awards 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. ...

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 c ...

. 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 p ...

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, 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 Ce ...

and other landmark Los Angeles buildings. They were assisted by a group of supporting architects, including Jan van der Linden. The structure combines

, and

style, with architectural details such as eight-pointed stars, and even elements of Dutch Colonial Revival architecture (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 p ...

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 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 physically acce ...

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 t ...

. 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. It was the last of the " Harvey House" 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. Colter also designed a sleek,

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 stations.

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 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 physically acce ...

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 S ...

* ''Traveler'' (1993) by Terry Schoonhoven * ''Union Chairs'' (1993) by Christopher Sproat * ''La Sombra del Arroyo'' (1995) by

East Los Streetscapers East Los Streetscapers Public Art Studios is a muralist art collective and fine art studio based in East Los Angeles, California. Its members have executed over twenty murals and large-scale public artworks, primarily in the Los Angeles area. Hist ...

* ''City of Dreams'' (1996) by Richard Wyatt Jr. * ''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

Location

Los-Angeles-Civic-Center-and-Union-Station-Aerial-view-from-south-August-2014

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 a ...

, 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, H ...

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, ...

, 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 shortcu ...

. 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 The United States Post Office – Los Angeles Terminal Annex, also known simply as Terminal Annex, located at 900 North Alameda Street in Los Angeles, California, was the central mail processing facility for Los Angeles, from 1940 to 1989. Ac ...

building is on the opposite side of the Chavez Avenue underpass.

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

village of Yaanga, which was "believed to have been the largest of the Tongva villages," was in the vicinity. The Patsaouras Transit Plaza 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 ...

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 ...

, and

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

campus shuttles. The Transit Plaza is named after

Nick Patsaouras Nikolas "Nick" Patsaouras (born 1943) is a Greek-American engineer, urban planner, and public official in Los Angeles, California. Background and education Patsaouras was born in Greece, and is an immigrant to the United States. He is an eng ...

, 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 format ...

'', 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 region o ...

(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 Flags ...

'', to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

(daily, service began 1939 as '' Super Chief'', 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 betw ...

'', to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

(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 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 eighth most populous city in the United States ...

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 hal ...

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 ...

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, to Lancaster (service began 1992) *

, to Riverside (service began 1993) *

, to Oceanside (service began 1990 as the

'') *

, to San Bernardino (service began 1992) * Ventura County Line, to Ventura (service began 1992) *

91/Perris Valley 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 ...

, 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 w ...

(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 Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Intercontin ...

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 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 cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ...

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. 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. Incorporat ...

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 ...

is complete in 2023.

Metro Busway

Metro J Line

El Monte Busway stop at Patsaouras Transit Plaza, November 2020

One Metro Busway bus rapid transit line makes a stop at the Patsaouras Transit Plaza. The Metro J Line operates between El Monte Bus Station,

, Harbor Gateway Transit Center and select trips to San Pedro using the El Monte Busway and Harbor Transitway.

Bus and coach services

Long-distance motorcoach

=Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach

Union Station Amtrak Thruway Bus Boarding Area

Amtrak California 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, transi ...

brand from Union Station using dedicated bus bays at the north side of the station. Connections to '' San Joaquins'' trains are provided through bus route 1 that travel to and from the Bakersfield Amtrak Station. 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 Joaqui ...

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 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads number ...

: Bakersfield – Los Angeles – Santa Ana – San Diego *

Route 4 Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries: International * AH4, Asian Highway 4 * European route E04 * European route E004 * Cairo – Cape Town Highway Albania * SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...

: 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: *

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 ar ...

: , , , Rapid , Rapid , (L Line Shuttle) * Antelope Valley Transit Authority: 785* *

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: 794* * 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 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, Hawai ...

: * *

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 next to US-101: * Los Angeles Metro Busway: 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 :* 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 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 Sacram ...

(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 sa ...

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 The West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor is a planned light rail line, mostly following the Pacific Electric's historic West Santa Ana Branch, connecting Downtown Los Angeles to the City of Artesia and other cities in southeastern Los Angele ...

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

Kim Novak at Los Angeles Union Station, 1956

The facility served as a backdrop for the 1950 film '' Union Station'', 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 ...

. 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 wi ...

, 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's ...

'' * '' Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid'' * '' Drag Me to Hell'' * ''

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 was ...

'' * ''

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 ...

'' * '' Chandler'' * '' In the Mood'' * ''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 Gan ...

) * '' Silver Streak'' * '' The Way We Were'' *'' Trancers II: The Return of Jack Deth'' * '' Under the Rainbow'' * '' To Live and Die in L.A.'' * '' Muppets Most Wanted'' * '' 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, r ...

'' * ''

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'' * '' 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 st ...

'', ''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, an ...

'', and ''Euphoria''. It has also been featured in video games; Union Station, as it was in the late 1940s, appears in '' L.A. Noire'', 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 s ...

'' Episode 222. The music videos of " Drops of Jupiter" 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 transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

, directed by Nigel Dick; and " Last Train Home" by

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 wit ...

, directed by

Cameron Duddy Cameron Duddy (born December 6, 1985) is an American music video director and musician. As a director, he is known for his work with Bruno Mars, OneRepublic, and Fifth Harmony. He is also the bass guitarist in the country music band Midland. Ca ...

; were filmed in Union Station. A significant portion of the music video for "

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It i ...

" by the band Slipknot was filmed within Union Station.

References

Notes

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 Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles Railway stations in Los Angeles Transit centers in the United States Public transportation in Los Angeles

Metrolink stations in Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles Metro Rail stations located above ground Los Angeles Metro Rail stations located underground Los Angeles Metro Busway stations L Line (Los Angeles Metro) stations D Line (Los Angeles Metro) stations B Line (Los Angeles Metro) stations J Line (Los Angeles Metro)

Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles Railway stations in the United States opened in 1939 History of Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Clock towers in California Towers in California John and Donald Parkinson buildings Art Deco architecture in California Art Deco railway stations Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California Mission Revival architecture in California Streamline Moderne architecture in California Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in Los Angeles County, California Bus stations in Los Angeles 1939 establishments in California Proposed California High-Speed Rail stations

History

Architecture

Public art

Location

Services

Amtrak

Amtrak long-distance routes

Amtrak California regional routes

Metrolink

Metro Rail

Metro B Line/Metro D Line

Metro L Line

Metro Busway

Metro J Line

Bus and coach services

Long-distance motorcoach

=Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach

=Flixbus

= Greyhound

Metro and municipal buses

Platforms and tracks

Future expansion

Link Union Station

Former Run-Through Tracks Project

California High-Speed Rail

West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor

In popular culture

See also

References

Notes

Further reading

External links