The E Line's first 10 stations opened in April 2012
The E Line was built on the path of the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad. The train route transported people and freight west from Los Angeles to Santa Monica since 1875. Passenger service stopped in 1953, and freight service stopped in 1988. This happened because fewer people were using transit as cars became more popular.[5] The tracks on the railroad were also older than other nearby lines.[6]
A group called Friends 4 Expo Transit convinced Los Angeles Metro to buy the land of the old train route to build a new light rail line. Metro listened and later released a Major Investment Study in 2000 to compare bus and light rail transit options. Metro eventually decided to build a light rail line along that corridor.
The project was built in two phases by the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority. The first phase went from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City, and it started construction in 2006.[7] The second phase went from Culver City to Santa Monica. That phase started construction in 2012. The light rail line later became known as the Expo Line.
The first 10 stations of the Expo Line from 7th Street/Metro Center to La Cienega/Jefferson station opened on April 18, 2012. On June 20, 2012, two more stations opened, expanding the line to Culver City.[8] On May 20, 2016, the second phase finished construction, adding 7 stations west to Downtown Santa Monica.[9] The line was renamed to the E Line in late 2019.[10]
The E Line continued to expand with another project called the Regional Connector tunnel. It opened on June 16, 2023.[11] It added two new underground stations in Downtown Los Angeles. The project also connected the E Line to the track of the L Line at the eastern end of the underground tunnel. This allowed the E Line to reach East Los Angeles, using tracks and seven stations that the L Line served. Once this happened, the L Line stopped operating.[12]
In 2035, the E Line is planning to get another eastern expansion with the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2. It will extend the line from East Los Angeles to Whittier.[13]
Operations
Service
The E Line begins service at 4:30 a.m. and ends around 11:45 p.m. each night. During the day, trains on weekdays are scheduled to come every 8-10 minutes. Trains on the weekends are scheduled to come every 10 minutes. In the early mornings and late nights, trains are scheduled to come every 20 minutes.[14]
A Kinki Sharyo P310 train at one of Metro's train divisions.
Rolling stock
The rolling stock (trains) used on the E Line are called the Kinki Sharyo P3010. Metro operates those trains with three cars on weekdays and two on weekends, except for weekend days with big city events. The E Line is operated out of two divisions, a place for the maintenance or storage of the system's rolling stock.[15]
Division 14 is located right next to the line in Santa Monica. It opened in 2016 when the second phase of the E Line (Expo Line) opened.[16]
Division 21 is in Chinatown between Elysian Park and the Los Angeles River. To access it trains travel on the A Line tracks from Little Tokyo/Arts District station to the north of Chinatown station. The division was originally opened in 2003 for the A Line but is not used by A Line trains anymore.
Stations
The E Line stops at 29 stations from Downtown Santa Monica to Atlantic station. Most of those stations are above ground, however six of them are underground. The E Line shares the same station platform with the A Line at five stations in Downtown Los Angeles. The following table is the complete list of stations, from west to east:
↑"Facts At A Glance". Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. June 2023. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
↑"Expo Line project fact sheet"(PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2012. Archived(PDF) from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
↑Hymon, Steve (March 21, 2012). "Expo Line Maintenance Facility". The Source. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
