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 #1269088  by lpetrich
 
Here Are LAX's Two Plans For an Airport People Mover - Ride to the Airport - Curbed LA
They are a "spine" and a "scissors".

The spine would go in between the terminal buildings, and cost $1.5 - 2 billion. It would have two airport stations. It would require a sizable walk to those buildings, about 700 ft.

The scissors would go alongside them, and cost $2 - 2.5 billion. It would have four airport stations, two on each prong. It would require less walking to the terminal buildings.

Both of them are to have a station at the upcoming Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line. Metro shelves direct rail line to LAX - Los Angeles Times (2014 Jan 23): "High cost and risks of tunneling below the airport put the plan on the back burner." Its cost would be about $3 billion.
 #1281218  by lpetrich
 
Train station to connect Metro rail lines with LAX approved - Los Angeles Times
They've decided on the "spine" route. From west to east,
  • The terminal building -- 2 stations
  • The Intermodal Transportation Facility (ITF) -- 1 station
  • Aviation Blvd. -- 1 station shared with the Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line
  • The Consolidated Rental Car Facility (CONRAC) -- 1 station
The Crenshaw/LAX line is already to have a station at Aviation Blvd. and Century Blvd., and that shared station will be an additional station a little bit north of Century Blvd.

Crenshaw/LAX should open around 2019, and this airport light-rail system could open as early as 2022.

Expo Line phase 2 and the Gold Line Foothill extension should open in 2016.

In other news,
“Notice to Proceed” granted for construction of Regional Connector project! | Metro's The Source
Metro staff recommend contractors to build Purple Line Extension’s first phase | Metro's The Source

The Valley Could Get its Own Metro Light-Rail Train | The Informer | Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events | LA Weekly
Light Rail in the San Fernando Valley - Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian Representing the 46th California Assembly District
Today, Governor Brown signed AB 577 to allow the installation of above-ground rail transit along the Los Angeles Metro Orange Line. AB 577 authored by Assembly Member Nazarian (D- Sherman Oaks) provides the flexibility needed to address the growing demands of public transportation in the Greater San Fernando Valley.
Meaning that it may now be converted to a light-rail line. That may not happen anytime soon, however, since it would have to compete with several other projects for funding.
 #1296784  by lpetrich
 
Metro breaks ground on key downtown L.A. subway link - LA Times
During a symbolic groundbreaking in Little Tokyo, local and federal representatives touted the 1.9-mile, $1.4-billion Downtown Regional Connector's potential to help unite a sprawling and congested region. ...

The project is scheduled to open in 2020. It will allow Metro Blue, Gold and Expo lines to run through the urban core between a 7th Street subway station in the southwest section of downtown and Union Station on the Central City's northeastern edge.

"This morning, we boldly go where no transit agency has gone before," said Star Trek actor George Takei, the ceremony's master of ceremonies, echoing a signature line from the series. "We go underground, under Little Tokyo."

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority project will add three train stations in downtown, at 1st Street and Central Avenue, 2nd Street and Broadway, and 2nd and Hope streets. Officials predict that the improvement will attract more than 17,000 new daily riders.
Video: George Takei serving as M.C. at Regional Connector groundbreaking | Metro's The Source

Ground is broken for Regional Connector project to link Blue, Expo and Gold Lines | Metro's The Source - lots of detail, lots of pictures, some video
 #1302858  by lpetrich
 
It's finally begun.

Metro Breaks Ground on Purple Line Subway Extension | Streetsblog Los Angeles (Nov. 7)
This morning Metro broke ground on its fifth simultaneous rail construction project: the Purple Line Extension. The new phase will extend the subway from downtown to La Cienega Boulevard, with two additional future phases planned to extend the line to Century City and Westwood.
Stations will be constructed in cut-and-cover fashion, while in between, the tunnels will be bored.

Here are the rail-transit projects that L.A. Metro is now working on, with estimated completion dates:
  • Gold-Line Foothill Project -- Pasadena to Azusa -- 2016
  • Expo Line II -- Culver City to Santa Monica -- 2016
  • Crenshaw/LAX -- Expo Line to Green Line -- 2019
  • Regional Connector -- Blue Line to Gold Line -- 2020
  • Purple Line -- Koreatown to La Cienega -- 2023 (now under construction)
  • Purple Line -- La Cienega to Century City -- 2026 (planned)
  • Purple Line -- Century City to Westwood -- 2035 (planned)
 #1307622  by lpetrich
 
Construction photos: joining together of Expo Line phase one and phase two! | Metro's The Source This work included connecting the tracks, electrical cables, and fiber-optic cables of the two phases. It also included the removal of bumper posts and dead-end overhead-cable posts.

Expo Line Phase 2 has some recent-looking construction pictures, and New construction photos of Expo Line Phase 2 | Metro's The Source shows more recent ones. The bottom one shows the end of the line, the Downtown-Santa-Monica station, which will have 2 platforms and 3 tracks. One can see the ocean in the distance.

One more work week needed to finish decking for future Crenshaw/Expo underground station | Metro's The Source That's because of recent rains. Parts of that line will be underground.


Testing begins on Foothill Gold Line Pasadena to Azusa section | Railway Track & Structures, Clearance testing begins today for Gold Line Foothill Extension project | Metro's The Source, Clearance testing begins today for Gold Line Foothill Extension project | Metro's The Source has some pictures and video of the test car that the Gold Line's builders will be using for testing. It's a LRV pulled by a road-rail truck tractor. It's pulled slowly, with construction workers walking along it to see how well it does. If they find something that's too close for it, they'll stop and decide whether or not to continue.

Go for a (video) ride on the Gold Line Foothill Extension from Arcadia to Azusa! | Metro's The Source By road-rail vehicle, speeded up to 6 minutes.

Video: installing the tracks for the Gold Line Foothill Extension! | Metro's The Source: drainage, conduits, pole foundations, pre-ballast, ballast, ties, rails, more ballast, track adjustments, poles, cables. But the tracks and the grade crossings are now done and the Pasadena bumping posts removed.


Metro staff seeks approval to secure federal funding for Phase 2 of Purple Line Extension subway | Metro's The Source That's to Century City.

Metro Board approves $1.6-billion contract to construct first phase of the Purple Line Extension subway | Metro's The Source contains a schedule for Phase 1. Much of the construction time is for building the extension's three stations, more than for tunneling between those stations.
 #1325515  by lpetrich
 
Expo Line Tests Are Pushing L.A. Commuter Trains West | L.A. Weekly
A car this week is being pulled by a hi-rail vehicle between Venice Boulevard in Palms and Military Avenue in West L.A., officials said. It has also be moving on its own power, a Metro spokesman told us.
It's for doing clearance testing. The article showed pictures of LRV's with brushes(?) for testing side clearances. One of the pictures showed a LRV using a freeway underpass that's a rather tight squeeze.

More pictures at Photos: Expo Line clearance testing begins! | Metro's The Source
 #1325579  by lpetrich
 
Connecting LAX about the upcoming LAX airport light-rail system (ALRS), complete with several artist's-conception illustrations (The Solution | Connecting LAX). From the looks of it, they've decided on:
  • LAX terminals: 3 stations on a center line
  • Intermodal center: 1 station
  • The Crenshaw-LAX Metro line: 1 station
  • The Consolidated Rental-Car Facility (CONRAC): 1 station
The terminal stations will be connected to the terminals with some rather long walkways. Will they have horizontal escalators in them?

From Approval Process | Connecting LAX
Approval Process

We are in the beginning phases of the approval process and have many steps to go through before construction begins. This work includes public outreach, environmental review, procurement, funding approvals, right-of-way acquisitions and final design.
They expect to start construction by 2017 or some following year.
 #1338848  by lpetrich
 
Two train lines connecting Azusa to Santa Monica enter final testing stage
If test drives prove successful, electric rail cars along the base of the San Gabriel Mountains and the streets of Santa Monica will carry passengers the farthest east and west since the last Red Car train ride in 1961. That moment — predicted for March 2016 — would allow two key rail lines in car-centric Southern California to open simultaneously, a quirky, record-book first.

More importantly, these disparate rail projects — Gold Line’s Foothill extension and the Expo Line Phase 2 — when added to existing light-rail and subway trains could remove the primary barrier separating east and west SoCal residents: traffic.
Another project is on the way:
While passengers would still have to change trains at 7th Avenue and at Union Station, those inconveniences will be eliminated when a third project, the $1.5 billion Regional Connector, is completed in 2020, creating a quicker, transfer-free ride.
Latest construction PowerPoint for Purple Line Extension | Metro's The Source -- it's displayed as Scribd web graphics, so you won't need MS PPT to view it.
 #1352470  by lpetrich
 
California High Speed Rail Blog » LA Could Add Five Major New Rail Projects
Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill this week allowing Metro to go to Los Angeles County voters in November 2016 with a request to raise the sales tax to fund transit and road projects. Metro had been on the ballot in 2012 but narrowly “lost” even though they got 66% of the vote (they needed 66.7%). Unfortunately, the bill doesn’t lower the threshold required for passage, but it would make possible a major expansion of passenger rail throughout the region.
noting Five rail lines Metro could build with $120 billion in new sales tax revenue - LA Times

Sepulveda Pass tunnel for both road and rail, bypassing I-405. Its rail tunnel would be part of a line that runs between the San Fernando Valley and LAX.

Purple Line extension to Santa Monica making it the Subway to the Sea

LAX rail connection an airport light-rail system from the Green Line to the LAX terminal buildings

Mid-City connection is a north-south line connecting Hollywood and the Crenshaw Blvd. LRT

Orange Line upgrading to rail
 #1374228  by lpetrich
 
Expo Line Phase 2 Opening Announced for May 20 | Streetsblog Los Angeles
Passengers will be able to ride a train to Santa Monica for the first time in more than half a century starting on Friday May 20, Metro officials announced today.

... Once Metro’s Regional Connector subway is complete, likely in 2021, Expo will also connect with the Eastside Gold line, offering passengers a one-seat ride from East Los Angeles to downtown Santa Monica.
 #1385864  by lpetrich
 
Let’s make some history: LIVE updates of today’s opening of the Expo Line extension |
Has lots of pictures and video.

Video: 63 years later, streetcar enthusiast takes the train again to Santa Monica | -- Alan Weeks, now 84 years old and retired. In its last years, the Santa-Monica line was single-tracked, and one can see what remained of the second track in the video.

Foothill Gold Line -- "Congratulations Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale & Azusa, service started 3/5/16!"
Completion of the Glendora to Montclair segment of the Foothill Gold Line will cost approximately $1 billion. No funding has been secured for this segment of the extension. Once funding is secured, final design and construction will take approximately five years to complete.
Construction continues on Crenshaw/LAX, the Regional Connector, and the Purple Line.

The Regional Connector will use a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM): Regional Connector Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). They are having a naming contest for it, a contest that will close June 1. It will be assembled over the next three months and it should start work in fall this year.
 #1393424  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Today's New York Times has a "feature" article regarding the Expo Line. I note "feature" as the reporting hardly can be said as "in depth":

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/18/us/la ... onica.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:
LOS ANGELES — When the so-called subway to the sea began running between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica this year, it was greeted with a kind of revelry and attention usually reserved for only the hottest celebrity-studded film screenings.

Now, nearly two months later, the sheen has mostly worn off, replaced by workaday concerns of daily commuters, who most often have their heads deeply bowed to their phones as the train lurches along Exposition Boulevard
Uh, am I imagining something; but wasn't there some kind of municipal rail transit that ran along that very route - and a few other places in the region as well?
Last edited by Gilbert B Norman on Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 #1393459  by ExCon90
 
I think if it happened before the reporter was born it doesn't count. (When ACE began operating between Stockton and San Jose the UP (!) announced that it was the first passenger train UP ever operated over Altamont Pass. Technically true, but still--California Zephyr? What was that?)
 #1393665  by Ryand-Smith
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote:Today's New York Times has a "feature" article regarding the Expo Line. I note "feature" as the reporting hardly can be said as "in depth":

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/18/us/la ... onica.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:
LOS ANGELES — When the so-called subway to the sea began running between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica this year, it was greeted with a kind of revelry and attention usually reserved for only the hottest celebrity-studded film screenings.

Now, nearly two months later, the sheen has mostly worn off, replaced by workaday concerns of daily commuters, who most often have their heads deeply bowed to their phones as the train lurches along Exposition Boulevard
Uh, am I imagining something; but wasn't there some kind of municipal rail transit that ran along that very route - and a few other places in the region as well?
Isn't the Expo successor line to the old Pacific coast line?
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