Los Angeles Metro lines and modes

What are the transit lines in Los Angeles, and what operating mode do they have?

In my native town, Philadelphia, the website http://www.septa.org/ lists routes as
Regional Rail
Market-Frankford Line
Broad Street Line
Trolley Lines
Norristown High Speed Line
Buses
CCT Connect
which is helpful for foamers like me to decide how to get to ride the desired equipment and mileage, with the least amount of bus. They do however include trackless trolleys, and I'm talking about the ones that get their power from 2 overhead wires and not the diesel powered rubber tired vehicles that try to look like 1940's streetcars, in the bus category. That's kind of fitting since 9 times out of 13 they seem to use diesels instead of electric on the 3 lines that are supposed to be trackless trolley.
Their map http://www.septa.org/maps/system/index.html title is 'Regional Rail & Rail Transit Map'. The regional rail lines are gray, trolley lines are green, and the other 4 colors, although not stated, are for lines that are high level platform grade separated 3rd rail powered rail lines.

But Los Angeles http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/maps/ ... future.pdf doesn't tell me if I'll ride 3rd rail or light rail. All the rail lines have the same icon.

Blue line downtown 7th and Flowers Metro Center-Long Beach I know is light rail, which Los Angeles style means high level platforms. Everywhere else in the galaxy light rail usually means boarding from the street or platforms just a couple of steps higher than street level. Subway downtown, then private right of way with grade crossings, then street running in Long Beach.

Red line downtown Union Station-North Hollywood, blue line transfer station 7th St Metro Center, I know is traditional subway, high level platform grade separated 3rd rail powered. Is it also completely subway, or are there surface or elevated portions?

Green line not downtown Norwalk-Redondo Beach, Blue Line transfer station Imperial/Wilmington Station, I know is rail grade separated elevated or highway median. I think it uses the same equipment as the blue line, is that correct? Is there a track connection? Do they share storage and shop facilites?

Purple Line downtown Union Station-Wilshire/Western. Does it share the red line tunnel and equipment, in other words are the red and purple branches of the same trunk line? Is it all subway, or are there surface or elevated portions?

Gold Line east Los Angeles-downtown Union Station-Pasadena, Red and Purple line transfer Union Station. What kind of operation? Does it have the same equipment as the blue and green lines, in other words light rail? Is it grade separated or does it have highway grade crossings? Is there any street running?

Expo line under construction downtown 7th and Flowers Metro Center-Culver City. It seems they ran out of colors. A couple of links makes me think it's going to be light rail, share equipment with the blue and line, probably have grade crossings

http://www.metro.net/projects/exposition/ wrote: Although the alignment will be primarily at-grade, the project includes aerial stations at Expo/La Brea, La Cienega/Jefferson and Culver City.
MREC facts include:

* Metro will integrate the Expo Corridor into its existing light rail network and operate the line once construction is complete.

How'd they pick the name 'expo'?

http://www.metro.net/projects/connector/ wrote: The Regional Connector will connect the Metro Gold Line, Blue Line and Expo Line enabling passengers to travel from Azusa to Long Beach and from the Eastside to Culver City. By providing continuous through service between these lines, the Regional Connector will improve access to both local and regional destinations – and help create a true transportation network for the region.

http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/maps/ ... future.pdf also has a 'metro liner' category, which has a bus icon. I'm glad then that they put a space in the name instead of desecrating 'metroliner' which, I hope we all know, was a predecessor to Amtrak's Acela. I assume the orange and silver lines are bus rapid transit.

Very quick reply:

Red and Purple Lines are heavy rail, subway operations with typical third rail power source. All underground, no elevated structures. Red and Purple share the same trunk line.

Blue, Yellow, and Green Lines are all light rail (a high performance light rail with, as you noted, high level platforms plus relatively high speeds in dedicated rights of way) with overhead catenary and pantographs on the cars. There is no track connection that I saw between Green and Blue at Imperial, but I don't know a ton about LACMTA's operations.

jb9152 wrote:Very quick reply:

Red and Purple Lines are heavy rail, subway operations with typical third rail power source. All underground, no elevated structures. Red and Purple share the same trunk line.

Blue, Yellow, and Green Lines are all light rail (a high performance light rail with, as you noted, high level platforms plus relatively high speeds in dedicated rights of way) with overhead catenary and pantographs on the cars. There is no track connection that I saw between Green and Blue at Imperial, but I don't know a ton about LACMTA's operations.

Correct. There's no rail connection between Blue and Green, and it would be difficult to have it, given that Blue runs at ground level, whereas Green runs in the median of an elevated interstate.

Re: Expo line, it runs along Exposition Blvd.

Yes, Orange and Silver lines are busways; the Orange line ROW is used for that line only, while the Silver line ROW is shared with other express bus services.

You could find all this info and more on the relevant Wikipedia pages, btw

I had already checked a few pages at http://www.metro.net, which I assume to be official, and I don't often expect official answers at wikipedia. In fact about the only place I get information on which I can rely is the truth filled pages of railroad.net

The Green and Blue Lines have a track connection, according to world.nycsubway.org/United States/Los Angeles, California/Metro/Light Rail Track Map

It runs from the Green Line's east side to the Blue Line's south side, relative to their crossover point. Checking on http://maps.google.com I find both ends of this connection, though its middle is beneath the freeway. Might someone who lives in the LA area visit that intersection and check it out? I'm stuck in western Oregon for the near future.

The Green Line's yard is a little northwest of the Redondo Beach station, which is the western/southern end of the line.


The Gold Line's Foothill Extension (Pasadena - Azusa - Montclair - Orlando Airport) I've seen criticized as pork barrel, because the area's population/destination density is rather low. It's certainly a sight to see -- a city suffering from pork-barrel politics. However, in the SF Bay Area, some BART extensions getting built out into the East Bay suburbs may also qualify as pork ("We paid into the system, and we want service from it").

I couldn't find a photo of it but I have seen the connection between the Blue and Green Lines myself. It's sort of hidden and the track is surprisingly steep, but it's there. I doubt they would ever use it in revenue service, and I'm not sure how useful it is otherwise. Both lines have separate maintenance yards and they don't share vehicles. The trains on the Blue Line are made by Nippon-Sharyo and the trains on the Green Line are exclusively Siemens.

lpetrich wrote: The Gold Line's Foothill Extension (Pasadena - Azusa - Montclair - Orlando Airport) I've seen criticized as pork barrel, because the area's population/destination density is rather low. It's certainly a sight to see -- a city suffering from pork-barrel politics.

The Gold Line is doing better these days and trains are very full during rush hour.

The line will be much more useful and popular once the Regional Connector is completed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_C ... s_Metro%29

Patrick Boylan wrote:I had already checked a few pages at http://www.metro.net, which I assume to be official, and I don't often expect official answers at wikipedia. In fact about the only place I get information on which I can rely is the truth filled pages of railroad.net

Having checked the information on Metro Rail at Wikipedia, I can say that it is very accurate and all the basics are there.

The Blue-Green track connection could be useful for track-maintenance vehicles.

The Regional Connector is now going into preliminary engineering. It will be entirely underground, except for some track connections to the Gold Line. Though somewhat more expensive than making it partially above ground, it will completely avoid downtown-LA traffic.

I was told by someone involved at the time the Green Line was under construction that there was an assumption, by some of the planners at least, that the Green and Blue Lines would use the same equipment and a connecting track would eliminate the need for a second shop. Then someone told Mayor Bradley that fully automated operation was state of the art, and he said well, we want state of the art. When representations were made that manual operation of the Blue Line would be perfectly adequate he simply said This is Los Angeles--we must have the best. So now they have two shops and a connecting track--as well as an unnecessarily costly Green Line. Maybe micromanagement by politicians should be a separate line item in cost estimates.

right, my bad, the connector is obviously there to get equipment on and off the Green Line, since otherwise it wouldn't be connected to anything else in the system at ground level.

The Green Line has its own maintenance facility.

"Expo line under construction downtown 7th and Flowers Metro Center-Culver City. It seems they ran out of colors.

* Metro will integrate the Expo Corridor into its existing light rail network and operate the line once construction is complete.

How'd they pick the name 'expo'?"

Expo line is named for Exposition Boul which in turn is named for Exposition Park.

http://www.expositionpark.org/park-history

"Exposition Park enjoys a rich history. It was originally created in 1872 as an agricultural park, and 160 acres were set aside for the Southern District Agricultural Society. In 1913, it was renamed Exposition Park according to the “City Beautiful” movement with 4 anchor tenants: California Museum of Science and Industry (Exposition Building), National Armory, Domed National History Museum and the Sunken Garden (which in 1928 was later renamed the Rose Garden).

It is the only venue in the world to have hosted two Olympiads (X and XXIII), two Superbowls (I and VII) and the World Series (1959)."

"The Regional Connector is now going into preliminary engineering. It will be entirely underground, except for some track connections to the Gold Line. Though somewhat more expensive than making it partially above ground, it will completely avoid downtown-LA traffic."

The Regional Connector will be completely underground. The Gold Line Little Tokyo station will be rebuilt across the street and be underground. Service will be an east-west line connecting the Expo Line to the Gold Line East with thru service, and a north-south line with thru service from the Long Beach line to the Pasadena line. Passengers will be able to transfer at a number of stations between the two lines. This connector allows the Mta to run just 2 lines instead of 3. Without the connector there will be too much congestion at Metro Centre with 2 lines terminating there.

"Gold Line east Los Angeles-downtown Union Station-Pasadena, Red and Purple line transfer Union Station. What kind of operation? Does it have the same equipment as the blue and green lines, in other words light rail? Is it grade separated or does it have highway grade crossings? Is there any street running?"

Gold Line heading north from Union Station is elevated thru Chinatown until crossing the LA river and Pasadena Fwy. Then it is mostly grade crossings. It does cross the Pasadena Fwy 3 times. Heading thru Pasadena its grade crossings until just before Colorado Boul, then its underground until running in the middle of the Foothill Fwy. This is an old RR ROW. It used to host the Southwest Chief back in the 80's. The running in the middle of the Foothill Fwy is how the old Row was routed as well. I used to live near the current Del Mar station which used to be the passenger station. I remember taking the SW Chief downtown a few times to work when my car was in the shop.

The Gold Line's Foothill Extension (Pasadena - Azusa - Montclair - Orlando Airport)

Orlando eh? Wow, and I paid 340 bucks for a nonstop on Delta from LAX-MCO, you mean to tell me I could have waited and took the Gold Line?!

Just kidding, Ontario Airport is what you meant