The A Line's current Azusa–Long Beach service was introduced in June 2023 with the opening of the Regional Connector, incorporating the Union Station–Pasadena–Azusa portion of the former Gold Line.[4] The A Line is currently the longest light rail line in the world.[5]
Service description
Route description
The A Line runs 48.5 miles (78.1 km) between Azusa and Downtown Long Beach, with 44 stations. It is the longest light rail line in the world.
The line's northern terminus is at APU/Citrus College station just west of Citrus Avenue and the two universities. The line runs west through Azusa before stopping at Azusa Downtown station at Azusa Avenue, north of Foothill Boulevard, near the downtown shops and government buildings.
Continuing west, the line parallels Duarte Road, entering Monrovia, before diverging northwest just before arriving at Monrovia station. In this area, the line runs adjacent to single-family homes. Entering Arcadia, the train crosses all street crossings on bridges except for First Avenue at the at-grade Arcadia station.
Continuing west, the line reconverges with and enters the median of I-210 and continues west to Sierra Madre Villa station in Pasadena. Six stations serve different parts of Pasadena, with three of them in the freeway's median. In Old Pasadena, the line travels underground for almost half a mile, passing under Pasadena's main thoroughfare, Colorado Boulevard, which makes the Memorial Park station below grade. The station serves most of Pasadena's fine dining, shops, malls, and civic center. The Pasadena City Hall is visible upon exiting the station. The line continues south through downtown Pasadena and South Pasadena, primarily at grade.
North of Highland Park, the route crosses over the Arroyo Seco Parkway (State Route 110) via the grand Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge towards Highland Park. After Highland Park station, the train runs in the median of Marmion Way, where trains go at only 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). After 50th Avenue, the L Line operated primarily at grade in its own right of way, except for a short underpass below Figueroa Street.
The new tunnel ends at the north end of 7th Street/Metro Center station, the previous terminal built in the early 1990s, and the line continues south under Flower Street. After rising to street level, the A and E Lines run south along Flower Street. Passengers can connect to the bus rapid transit J Line at 7th Street/Metro Center, Pico, and Grand stations. The two lines diverge at Flower Street and Washington Boulevard. E Line trains continue south along Flower Street. At the same time, the A Line turns east onto Washington Boulevard before turning south into the former Pacific Electricright-of-way at Long Beach Avenue. This historic rail corridor has four tracks, two for A Line trains and two for freight trains. Along the corridor, there are some flyovers to either eliminate grade crossings in more densely populated areas or pass over diverging freight tracks. Passengers can connect with the C Line at the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station. Just south of Willow station, A Line trains exit the rail corridor and begin street running in the median of Long Beach Boulevard into the city of Long Beach, where trains travel through the Long Beach Transit Mall while making a loop using 1st Street, Pacific Avenue, and 8th Street.
Hours and frequency
A Line trains run every day between approximately 4:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. Trains operate every 10 minutes during peak hours Monday through Friday, and every twelve minutes during the daytime on weekdays and all day on the weekends. Evening service (after 7 p.m.) is every 20 minutes.[6]
Time
4-5A
6-7A
8A-1P
2-6P
7P
8-11P
Weekdays
10-21
10
12
10
10-20
20
Weekends/Holidays
20
10-20
12
20
Speed
As listed on the official timetable, trains take two hours to travel the 49.5-mile (79.7 km) length of the line,[7] an average speed of 24 miles per hour (39 km/h).
Station listing
The following is the complete list of stations, from north to south.
Much of the current A Line follows the route of the Pacific Electric's Long Beach Line, which ended service in 1961. The old route gave the new light rail trains a private right-of-way between Washington and Willow Street stations allowing them to reach higher speeds between stops.[11]
The line initially opened as the Blue Line on Saturday, July 14, 1990, for US$877 million (equivalent to $1.96 billion in 2022 adjusted for inflation),[7] and ran from Pico to Anaheim Street. The Long Beach Loop section to Long Beach opened in September 1990,[12] followed by the tunnel into 7th Street/Metro Center in February 1991.
The route was a success, and from 1999 to 2001, the Blue Line underwent a US$11 million project to lengthen 19 of its platforms so that they could accommodate three-car trains.[13] Plans were also made to extend the Blue Line north to Pasadena, but the connection across downtown was deferred, and the northern portion opened as the Gold Line in 2003. That original plan for the Blue Line became a reality when the Regional Connector was announced in 2009. Ground was broken for the Regional Connector across downtown in 2014, and it opened on June 16, 2023.[14]
The Blue Line was renovated in 2019, with the southern half of the line being closed for the first five months and the northern half closing for the following five months (10 months total). Metro provided a bus shuttle service to compensate for the lack of rail service. Metro officially reopened the line on November 2, 2019, rebranding it as the A Line.[2][3][15]
Much of the L Line's right-of-way through the San Gabriel Valley was built by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad in 1885, eventually taken over by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, as part of the Pasadena Subdivision, which saw Amtrak service until 1994, when construction began on the conversion to light rail. The project was initially called the "Pasadena Metro Blue Line." Planners envisioned extending the existing Blue Line from Long Beach. Still, when a ban on sales tax spending on subway tunnels passed in 1998, the project became a separate line terminating at Union Station.[4]
The now-renamed Gold Line, between Union Station and Sierra Madre Villa station in East Pasadena, opened on July 26, 2003.
Foothill Extension
Phase 2A (the section between LA and Pasadena was Phase 1) of the Foothill Extension, running between Sierra Madre Villa and APU/Citrus College station in Azusa, opened on March 5, 2016.
The Regional Connector Transit Project constructed a 1.9-mile (3.1 km) light rail tunnel across Downtown Los Angeles that connected the L Line with the A and E lines. The project finally completed the late 1990s vision of the "Pasadena Blue Line," connecting the northern (Union Station–Azusa) segment of the L Line to the A Line (formerly the Blue Line), which ran between Los Angeles and Long Beach. The southern (Pico/Aliso–East LA) segment was combined with the existing E Line between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The new east–west line kept the E Line name but uses the L Line's gold color.
The at-grade Little Tokyo/Arts District station was demolished in 2020 and was rebuilt as a subway station approximately 500 feet (150 m) south and on the opposite side of Alameda from its former location.
With this project completed, service was simplified into the following configuration:[16]
A Line
The northeastern segment of the L Line (north of Little Tokyo/Arts District) became an extension to the previously existing A Line.
The southern portion of the current L Line to the Eastside was combined with the existing E Line, which kept the E Line name but now uses the L Line's gold color.
The groundbreaking for constructing the Regional Connector occurred on September 30, 2014, and opened on June 16, 2023.[14]
Phase 2B of the Foothill Extension, running between APU/Citrus College station in Azusa and the Pomona–North Metrolink station in Pomona, is currently under construction, with a current estimated completion in the fall of 2024.[17] This extension, like the original Gold Line to Pasadena, and the first phase of the Foothill Extension is being built by a specialized construction authority, independent of Metro. The original plan called for the extension to end at Montclair in San Bernardino County, but budget challenges forced the construction authority to cut the line back to Pomona.
It is served by the A Line due to the completion of the Regional Connector project on June 16, 2023.[14]
Current issues
Capacity limits
A Line train arriving at 7th Street Metro Center.
The line often operates at capacity, and various options to increase capacity have been considered, such as four-car or more frequent trains. Both have problems: it would be difficult or impossible to lengthen some of the station platforms, and the number of trains already causes delays for other vehicles at level crossings. Thus it may not be possible to increase A Line ridership without a costly grade-separation project, either by elevation, by an entrenchment method similar to that used by the nearby Alameda Corridor freight rail "expressway," or by building another parallel transit corridor to relieve capacity strains from the A Line. With the Regional Connector Transit Project linking the A and E Line tracks with the former L Line tracks in Little Tokyo, this may result in even more capacity problems, with ridership expected to grow. Pico station, which is served by both A and E line trains, is a major limiting factor for service frequency. The very busy grade crossing immediately adjacent to the station makes reliably running high-frequency service on both lines logistically very difficult.
Safety at level crossings
A Metro A Line train heading to Long Beach arrives at Willow station.
Over 120 motorists and pedestrians have been killed at A Line level crossings since 1990. There have been more than 800 collisions,[18][19] making the line easily the country's deadliest and most collision-prone rail line.[20]
In 1998, the MTA commissioned Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. to evaluate the cause of Blue Line collisions and recommend affordable solutions. The study reported the high ridership (over 70,000 per day) was a contributor:
The MBL has one of the highest ridership counts for light rail lines in the Country. This factor is perhaps the most important contributor to the grade-crossing accident rate. The high ridership results in increased pedestrian traffic near stations compared to other light rail systems. In addition, although MTA Operations does not allow high passenger loads to dictate safe operations, there is pressure to maintain travel times and headway schedule requirements (e.g., a passenger trip from Los Angeles to Long Beach in less than one hour).
Other contributing factors identified were the high population density leading to more pedestrian and vehicular traffic around the tracks, the diverse varied socio-economic community around the line that creates literacy and language difficulties for public education campaigns, driver frustration due to the slow traffic speeds around the line that leads to more risk-taking behavior, and the shared right-of-way with freight traffic in the fastest running section from Washington station to Willow station, where trains operate at a maximum of 55 mph (89 km/h) between stations.
The collision rate has declined somewhat following the installation of four-quadrant gates at some crossings where the A Line shares the right-of-way with freight rail between Willowbrook station and Artesia station. The gates prevent drivers from going around lowered gates. In addition, cameras along some problem intersections issue traffic tickets when drivers go around gates.
Operations
On Metro Rail's internal timetables, the A Line is called line 801.
Because of the length of the line, operators do not take trains from end to end, swapping out at Union Station. Trains are operated between APU/Citrus College and Union Station by employees based at Division 24 in Monrovia. Between Long Beach and Union Station, operators are based out of Division 11 in Rancho Dominguez.[21]
Maintenance facilities
The A Line is operated out of two divisions, Metro’s term for train maintenance and storage facilities.
Division 11 is located at 4350 East 208th Street in Cota, North Long Beach between Del Amo and Wardlow stations. The facility can house and maintain 86 light rail vehicles and can perform heavy maintenance including repainting. Trains get to this yard via a wye junction on the southbound tracks. Northbound trains can enter and exit the yard via the cross tracks on the north and south side of the junction.
Division 24 is located south of the I-210 freeway in Monrovia between Monrovia and Duarte/City of Hope stations. Just like Division 11, trains access the yard via the westbound/southbound tracks from either direction of its wye junction. Crossovers from the eastbound track to the yard junction are located near the California Avenue and Mountain Avenue railroad crossings.
Rolling stock
Blue Line train in the 1990s
The A Line operates trains with three light rail vehicles on weekdays and two on weekends.[21] The line currently uses three different types of light rail vehicles: the Siemens P2000, the Kinki Sharyo P3010 and the AnsaldoBreda P2550, but has seen every type light rail rolling stock on Metro's roster throughout its history of operation.
When the A Line, then known as the Blue Line, first opened in 1990 the line had 54 Nippon Sharyo P865 light rail vehicles, numbered 100–153. These cars wore a unique livery consisting of several blue stripes and a single red stripe, reflecting the Blue Line's color designation and its Pacific Electric Red Car heritage.
In 2000, Metro transferred all 15 Nippon Sharyo P2020 (numbered 154-168) light rail vehicles from the Green Line (now the C Line) to the Blue Line fleet. These light rail vehicles were nearly identical to the older P865 model but were about five years newer and originally had equipment for automatic train operation.[22]
In 2012, Metro transferred some Siemens P2000 light rail vehicles from the Gold Line to the Blue Line fleet.
In 2017, the Blue Line received 78 Kinki Sharyo P3010 light rail vehicles, the first new cars for the line since it opened in 1990. As the P3010 fleet was introduced, Metro gradually retired all of the remaining P865 light rail vehicles, followed by the P2020 fleet.
^ ab"Facts at a Glance". Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority. November 18, 2013. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
