LACMTA Gold Line

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Diagram of the Metro Gold Line.

The Metro Gold Line of the Los Angeles County Metro Rail is a light rail line in Los Angeles County. It is the newest rail addition to the Metro system. It operates between Downtown Los Angeles and eastern Pasadena. The Southwest Museum, Chinatown, and the shops of Old Town Pasadena are some of the tourist attractions that can be accessed via the Gold Line. The Gold Line has two other official names: the C Line and Line 804. These are rarely used by residents, but occasionally appear on documents.

[edit] History

A line through Pasadena was proposed in the early 1980s as a part of a more extensive regional urban rail network, however it would not come to fruition until almost two decades later. Initial planning and construction was done by the LACMTA. After the project was halted due to a lack of funding the 'Los Angeles Pasadena Blue Line Construction Authority' was established by State legislation to reactivate and complete the then 11% completed project.

The Gold Line was originally planned as a part of the Blue Line. Because this light rail line did not connect to the Blue Line, to avoid confusion the line was given a different color. The Rose Line was a strong contender because of Pasadena's Rose Bowl and Rose Parade; however because the line will eventually be extended to places far from Pasadena the LACMTA board voted to name the line the "Gold Line."

[edit] Information

The Gold Line, which opened in July 2003, operates on the former right-of-way of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, where "real" trains as well as Amtrak's Southwest Chief and the Desert Wind once operated. Trains start at Union Station's tracks 1 & 2 and procedes on an elevated rail line running between Union Station (where it meets the Metro Red Line and Metro Purple Line) to Chinatown, and then cross the Los Angeles River and adjacent to the Golden State Freeway, Interstate 5 before serving the hillside communities just north of downtown.

The line runs underground for a very short segment underneath Figueroa Street, and then runs in the median of streets in Highland Park. After crossing the Pasadena Freeway, the Gold Line serves the city of South Pasadena, and then downtown Pasadena. This portion of the line has a longer underground segment almost half a mile long where the line passes under Pasadena's main thoroughfare, Colorado Boulevard. The Memorial Park station, just north of Colorado Boulevard, is below grade. The last leg of the Gold Line runs in the median of the Foothill Freeway, Interstate 210 and terminates at Sierra Madre Villa station, just east of the Pasadena city limit.

At just over 18,000 average weekday boardings^[1], Gold Line ridership has been below projections, which has resulted in cuts in service midday and at night. This should change with the opening of the under-construction East Los Angeles extension around 2009, the planned Azusa extenstion in 2010, and the eventual extension from Azusa to Montclair (or possibly as far as Ontario Airport) in 2015. Service currently operates every 15 minutes during the day with limited stop service during rush hour every half hour (see below), which is long by Los Angeles standards but is similar to other light rail lines in the United States such as the San Diego Trolley and UTA TRAX.

The Gold line uses two-car trains, with the exception of one-car trains used during the evenings and weekend mornings. The cars are Siemens P2000 LRVs.

Stations are not equipped with marquees, which displays a train arriving and other information, unlike the other Metro Rail lines.

[edit] Issues

The major complaint from riders is that the Gold Line is extremely slow through the Highland Park area, where trains reach speeds of only 15 mph (25 km/h), and through the curves, where trains travel at about 25 mph (40 km/h), while the vehicles can easily reach 60mph. South Pasadena residents (who were vocal against the Gold Line) complain about the bells and whistles at Gold Line crossings and on the trains. This can be seen when riding the train through banners hoisted by residents which say "NO BELLS, NO HORNS, SLOW TRAINS TO 20mph". The crossing bells have been retrofitted to direct sound toward the street and not adjoining homes. Transit advocates have proposed running the line below grade through South Pasadena, as is done further north on the line in Pasadena, in order to reduce noise and traffic problems. No funds are available at this time for this project.

[edit] Limited Stop Service

On February 13, 2006, for the first time in the Metro Rail system, the Gold Line began implementing limited-stop service during rush hours in both directions. According to the press release this eliminates five minutes of travel time from end-to-end. The only stations served by limited trains are Union Station, Highland Park, Mission, Del Mar, and Sierra Madre Villa. Additionally, all morning express trains to Sierra Madre Villa and all afternoon express trains to Union Station stop at Memorial Park station. Also, all morning express trains to Union Station and all afternoon express trains to Sierra Madre Villa stop at Lake Station. Limited trains run every 30 minutes in each direction during weekday rush hours. Originally, there were six express trains in each direction during the morning rush hours, but as of April 10, 2006, a service change was implemented, reducing the number of express trains to four in favor of more local trains^[2].

Since October 29, 2006, Metro Rail Operation systems and rail signal modifications have decreased end to end travel time by five minutes. This reduced run time will result in 30% less waiting time at stations. Express trains now complete a one-way trip in 24 minutes, down from 29 minutes. Local trains now complete a one-way trip in 29 minutes, down from 34 minutes. According to Metro, the implementation of this limited stop service resulted in weekday ridership hitting an all time high for September 2006 at almost 21,000 boardings. ^[3]

[edit] Future Extensions

[edit] Eastside Extension

By 2009 the Eastside extension to Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights, and East Los Angeles is scheduled to open.^[4] On December 19, 2005, tunnel boring machines were lowered into a pit at First Street and Boyle Avenue in Boyle Heights, which is to be the first of the two underground stations, and began the tunneling of twin 1.7 mile (2.8 km) long tunnels. This is to be completed in less than one year. There will be two underground stations located in these tunnels – Mariachi Plaza Station and Soto Station. Construction is currently underway and progressing. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) nicknamed “Lola” reached the underground station box at First and Soto Streets Friday evening, July 21, 2006. Sister TBM "Vicki" is scheduled to arrive about four weeks later.^[5] On November 14, 2006, Lola reached the station box at First and Lorena Streets.^[6] On December 12, 2006, both TBMs finished boring the entire tunnel of the line, exactly as scheduled.^[7]

[edit] Foothill Extension

Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension. See the main website

An extension of the Gold Line eastward from its terminus on the east side of Pasadena (officially called the "Foothill Extension") to the city of Azusa is in the final design stage. On February 28, 2007, the Metro Gold Line Construction Authority will vote to approve the Final Environmental Impact Report. Opening of this extension is scheduled in 2010 and a future extension to Montclair opening in 2014^[8]. This segment would be entirely above ground, with a small portion in the median of Interstate 210. As of April 2006 a draft environmental impact study and report was submitted, and final FTA project approval is pending^[9]; community meetings are being held to gather input on station design and artwork.

No construction funding has been assigned to this project, though funding has been appropriated to continue the design process. Additionally, the construction authority continues to receive operational funding from all of the cities along the proposed alignment. While the extension to Azusa is under the auspices of the construction authority that constructed the Gold Line from Union Station to Pasadena, construction of the other extension from Union Station to East Los Angeles is under the direct control of the LACMTA. The Foothill Extension has strong political support from the governments of multiple cities along its proposed route, while the original segment went through only three jurisdictions (the cities of Los Angeles, South Pasadena and Pasadena). Due to this strong support among the participating cities as well as the area's congressional delegation, eventual construction of the line seems likely, although the project may be pushed back as local Republican congressman David Dreier was the chief supporter of the route for Federal funding. The city of Ontario has joined the group of cities supporting the Gold Line extension citing that the Gold line should make LA/Ontario International Airport its Eastern Terminus, instead of the Montclair Transit station. ^[10] The LACMTA has already purchased the entire right of way needed for this project. If all of the proposed extensions were constructed, this would be the longest light rail line in the USA at 53 miles.

[edit] List of stations

Gold Line train platform at Union Station. When extension is complete in 2009, the train will proceed from here towards the camera, eventually reaching East Los Angeles.

Memorial Park Station in Pasadena. This station is in an open cut. Memorial Park is to the left and the Holly Street Apartments are directly above the tracks.

Fillmore station in Pasadena, a typical "at-grade" station.

Stations are listed from west to east.

Note: The opening dates are unknown at this time.

[edit] References

1. ^ Metro Facts at a Glance
2. ^ http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2006/04/24/news/news_briefs/at08.txt
3. ^ Metro Media Relations. "Metro Gold Line Trains Now Run Faster, More Frequently", Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 3, 2006. (Retrieved on February 10, 2007)
4. ^ Eastside extension main project page
5. ^ Recent construction notices showing the active construction of the Eastside extension
6. ^ http://www.mta.net/news_info/press/Metro_200.htm
7. ^ Metro Finishes Boring Twin Tunnels for Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension Under Boyle Heights
8. ^ Foothill Extension project website
9. ^ Foothill Extension April 2006 newsletter
10. ^ http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=121273

[edit] External links

• Official Gold Line website