Green Line (Los Angeles Metro)

Metro Green Line     Los Angeles Metro rapid transit line
A Green Line train at the western terminus Marine/Redondo station.
Overview
System	Metro Rail
Operated by	Metro (LACMTA)
Line number	803
Type	light rail
Status	in service
Opened	August 12, 1995
Daily ridership	45,259 (July 2011) [1]
Website	Green Line
Route
Character	Fully elevated, mostly in freeway median.
Termini	Norwalk Redondo Beach
Stations	14
Line length	20.0 mi (32.2 km)
Technical
No. of tracks	2
Track gauge	standard: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	750 V DC overhead catenary
Rolling stock	Siemens P2000
Train length (typical)	one or two cars
Yard	Division 22 (Lawndale)
Route map Legend Redondo Beach Douglas El Segundo Mariposa Aviation LAX Shuttle Interstate 405 Hawthorne Dominguez Channel Crenshaw Vermont Harbor Freeway Harbor Transitway Avalon Compton Creek Imperial/Wilmington/Rosa Parks Metro Blue Line Long Beach Interstate 710 Los Angeles River Lakewood State Route 19 San Gabriel River Interstate 605 Norwalk This route map: view · talk · edit

The Green Line is a light rail line running between Redondo Beach and Norwalk within Los Angeles County; it is one of five forming the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. In addition to Redondo Beach and Norwalk, the route also serves El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lynwood, South Gate, and Willowbrook (in Los Angeles). A free shuttle bus to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is available at the line's Aviation station.

The fully grade-separated route runs partly in the median of the Century Freeway (Interstate 105) with an elevated section to the west. The line is operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Green Line is internally known as Line 803: this designation appears on internal operating schedules, as well as in the hyperlink on Metro's timetable website.

Service description

Route

The entire route of the Green Line is elevated, either on track supports, or in the median of the Century Freeway (Interstate 105). The line begins in the west at Redondo Beach station, then heads roughly north through El Segundo. At Aviation/LAX, passengers can transfer to any one of several bus lines from different operators, particularly the shuttle bus to LAX. From here, the Green Line heads east in the median of the Century Freeway, with major connections at the Harbor Transitway and Imperial/Wilmington (transfer point to the Metro Blue Line). Finally, the line terminates in Norwalk just east of the 605 Freeway.

History

As part of the consent decree signed by Caltrans in 1972 to allow construction of the fiercely opposed Century Freeway, provisions were made for a transit corridor (without designating the type thereof) in the freeway's median. In the original Metro Rail master plan of the early 1980s, this corridor was designated as a light rail line.

Construction on the Green Line began in 1987. One of the reasons for construction was that the Green Line would serve the Aerospace and Defense industries in the El Segundo area. Construction of the line cost $718 million. However, by the time the Green Line opened in 1995, the Cold War was over, and the aerospace sector was hemorrhaging jobs. Furthermore, during the 1980s, the bedroom communities in the Gateway Cities region of southeastern Los Angeles County were rapidly losing their population of middle-class aerospace workers (primarily whites and blacks), a process that radically accelerated in the early 1990s. The working-class and poor Hispanics who filled the vacuum generally had no connection to the aerospace sector. This rationale for Green Line construction was a principal argument cited by the Bus Riders Union when it contended that MTA was focusing its efforts on serving middle-class whites and not working-class minorities. As a result, ridership has been below projected estimates, averaging approximately 44,000 daily weekday boardings in June 2008.^[1]

At the time the Green Line opened, the line used train cars made by Nippon Sharyo similar to those used on the Metro Blue Line. In 2000, the Nippon Sharyo train cars were transferred to the Blue Line and the Green Line received new train cars made by Siemens.

The Green Line's western alignment was originally planned and partially constructed to connect with LAX, but the airport was in the planning stages of a major remodeling during the line's construction. Los Angeles World Airports wanted the connection to LAX to be integrated with this construction, but there were concerns that the overhead lines of the rail would interfere with the landing paths of airplanes.^{[citation needed]} In addition, citizens of neighboring communities to LAX opposed the expansion of the airport,^{[citation needed]} and owners of parking lots surrounding LAX were fearful that a train operating to LAX would create competition,^{[citation needed]} since there is ample free parking at numerous points along the Green Line. As a compromise, a free shuttle from Aviation station station transports riders to LAX. Today, passengers on the Green Line can see the provision for the LAX extension—two concrete ramp stubs west of Aviation/LAX station.

The Green Line's eastern terminus also suffers from the fact that it stops two miles (3 km) short of the heavily used Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink station, where several Metrolink lines operate. Local bus service is provided between the Metrolink station and the Green Line terminus, but schedules are not coordinated with Green Line arrivals. Because of this, and the Green Line's re-routed western alignment away from LAX, critics have labeled the Green Line as a train that goes "from nowhere to nowhere." ^[2] Also, along those lines, it is the only Metro rail line not to serve Downtown Los Angeles; a transfer to the Blue Line can be made at the Imperial/Wilmington station by riders destined to go there.

In 2007, the Metro Green Line began placing advertisement banners on the sides of trains, similar to those on the Gold Line. Later, the advertisement banners have been removed. The advertisement banners made a comeback in April 2009.

Future extensions

Various studies have suggested extending the Green Line north to LAX, Westchester, Loyola Marymount University, and even Santa Monica. A possible southern extension could take the Green Line's southern terminus farther southeast, to the South Bay Galleria or beyond. And on the line's east end, the line may one day be extended from its current terminus at Norwalk station to Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs station.

Northern Extension to LAX

Map showing the future Northern Extension to LAX.

When the Crenshaw Corridor is completed, the Metro Green Line will begin a new operational pattern near LAX, with northern and southern branches. The southern branch will operate as the Green Line currently does: westbound trains will continue through El Segundo down to Redondo Beach. The northern branch will allow westbound trains to head north along Aviation and terminate at Aviation/Century station, allowing transfers to the Crenshaw Line and the LAX Automated People Mover (which will transport riders to the LAX terminals).^[3]

Southern Extension to South Bay

Metro is currently working on the initial environmental study of a corridor extension of the Green Line, from its Redondo terminus toward the southeast. The "South Bay Metro Green Line Extension" would roughly follow the Harbor Subdivision ROW into the South Bay, to the Torrance Regional Transit Center (RTC). Metro and the public are considering two alternatives in the DEIR: an elevated light-rail extension, and an at-grade extension over existing tracks, with vehicle type still to be determined.

Study of the South Bay Extension will lead to publication of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). The study is expected to be completed in 2011. The project is prioritized in the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and has funding in Measure R.^[4]

Operations

The Green Line is operated out of the Division 22 Yard (Aviation Street Yard). This yard stores the fleet used on the Green line. It is also where light maintenance is done on the fleet (Heavier maintenance is done at the Blue Line yard in Long Beach). The Yard is located between Redondo Beach and Douglas stations. Trains enter the yard via a junction halfway between the two stations. Douglas bound trains (Northbound) may enter but there is no exit track to continue North. Redondo Beach bound trains (Southbound) my enter and exit the Yard to continue south.

Station listing

The Green Line consists of the following stations (from west to east):

Station	Connections	Date Opened
Redondo Beach	*Metro Local: 126, 215	August 12, 1995
Douglas	*Metro Local: 125	August 12, 1995
El Segundo	*Gardena Transit: 5	August 12, 1995
Mariposa	*Metro Local: 232	August 12, 1995
Aviation/LAX	*Metro Local: 120, 625 *Santa Monica Transit: 3, Rapid 3 *Culver City Transit: 6, Rapid 6	August 12, 1995
Hawthorne	*Metro Local: 40, 126, 212, 312 *Metro Express: 442 *Metro Rapid: 740	August 12, 1995
Crenshaw	*Metro Local: 126, 210 *Metro Rapid: 710, 757	August 12, 1995
Vermont	*Metro Local: 204, 206, 209 *Metro Rapid: 754	August 12, 1995
Harbor Freeway	*Metro Local: 45, 81, 120, 445, 450X, 550 Silver Line  Harbor Transitway *Metro Rapid: 745
Avalon	*Metro Local: 48, 51, 52, 53, 352	August 12, 1995
Imperial/Wilmington	*Metro Local: 55, 120, 121, 205, 355, 612 Blue Line *Gardena Transit: 5	August 12, 1995
Long Beach	*Metro Local: 60, 251 *Metro Rapid: 760	August 12, 1995
Lakewood	*Metro Local: 117, 265, 266	August 12, 1995
Norwalk	*Metro Local: 111, 115, 121, 125, 270, 311 *Metro Express: 460, 577X

References

1. ^ "Metro Facts at a Glance". Metro. http://www.metro.net/news_info/facts.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-27. 
2. ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-expoline8oct08,0,5078716,full.story Los Angeles Times
3. ^ http://www.metro.net/projects/crenshaw_corridor/draft-environmental-impact-report-deir/
4. ^ http://www.metro.net/projects/south-bay/

External links

• MTA Home Page
• Green Line Home Page
• Green Line connections overview
• Green Line schedule