Metro Red Line (LACMTA)

Infobox rail line
name = color box|#LACMTA color|Red Metro Red Line


image_width = 200px
caption = Passengers at 7th/Metro Center
type = Rapid transit
system = Los Angeles County Metro Rail
status =
locale = Los Angeles, California
start = Union Station (south)
end = North Hollywood (north)
stations = 14
routes = A or 802
ridership = 153,928 (combined with Metro Purple Line) [http://metro.net/news_info/press/metro_122.htm]
open = January 30, 1993
close =
owner =
operator = Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA)
character =
stock = Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie A650
linelength =
tracklength =
notrack =
gauge = RailGauge|sg
(standard gauge)
el = Third rail
speed =
elevation =

infobox rdt|Metro Red Line|The Metro Red Line of the Los Angeles County Metro Rail is a heavy rail rapid transit line in Los Angeles. It is one of Los Angeles' two rapid transit lines (along with the Metro Purple Line), and also the busiest of the five Metro Rail lines (the other three are light rail, largely surface lines). Unlike LACMTA's other rail lines, the Red-Purple Line subway tunnels run entirely within the city of Los Angeles.

Although they separate in different directions west of downtown Los Angeles, the two subway lines (Purple and Red) were until recently considered two branches of one line, and are still marked this way in most stations, on schedules, and on older rail maps. As of March 2006, the combined Red and Purple lines averaged over 138,000 daily weekday boardings. For scheduling and operations, the line is known as the A Line (which it shares with the Purple Line), and Line 802.

History

The Red Line opened in several segments. The first segment, from Union Station to MacArthur Park, opened in 1993. A western extension into Koreatown at Wilshire/Western opened in 1996, along the alignment later designated the Purple Line. In 1999, the second branch was extended from Wilshire/Vermont to Hollywood/Vine station, and in 2000, to North Hollywood.

The line was originally intended to run along the Wilshire Corridor to Santa Monica, but a 1985 methane gas explosion at a Ross Dress For Less in the Fairfax area resulted in Rep. Henry Waxman's (D-CA) legislation for a ban on Federal money being used for tunneling under Wilshire Blvd in his district due to methane gas safety concerns and anti-subway sentiment by developers and neighborhood associations along the proposed route. Metro had always maintained that technological advances would allow it to tunnel safely.

In 1995, during construction of the subway, a sinkhole appeared on Hollywood Boulevard, barely missing several workers and causing damage to buildings on the street. Subway construction was halted until the situation was resolved and a replacement contractor, Tutor Saliba, was hired.

A 1998, Los Angeles County initiative introduced by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky was passed by the voters, which banned the use of existing sales tax revenues for subway construction (which has been linked to voters perceptions of problems with Red Line construction and costs).

In 2000, an urban art group known as Heavy Trash placed "Coming soon" signs advertising the "Aqua Line," extending the Red Line to the ocean, with ten prospective station stops. It was a hoax, but showed the frustrations surrounding the lack of a subway connecting Santa Monica and the Westside with Downtown Los Angeles. The Aqua Line name was repurposed as the proposed name for the Expo Line.

In late October 2005, the new Orange Line Transitway with train-like two-cabin articulated bus bodies went into service. It links up with the Red line at the North Hollywood station in 13 stops over a 14-mile (23 km) exclusive use corridor to Warner Center in the far west San Fernando Valley. The busway had been constructed instead of a further Red Line rail extension in the Valley at a relatively low cost. Within days, the traffic was doubling predicted levels and most "bus-trains" were running full.

Fossils found

Construction of the city's subway system turned up more than 2,000 fossils, including 64 extinct species of fish, the tusk of an Ice Age elephant and the bones of an ancient longhorn bison, a report funded by the MTA found. The report was authored by paleontologist Bruce Lander of Paleo Environmental Associates in Irvine. Lander worked with a team of 28 scientists during construction of the Metro Rail Red Line.

Fossil evidence showed that tens of thousands of years ago, ground sloths, horses, elephants and camels roamed among redwood trees in what is now Los Angeles, according to an MTA summary of the 300-page report. The scientists also found evidence of a great flood in the San Fernando Valley 9,000 years ago that swept away trees.

Among the 64 extinct species of marine fish were 39 never before discovered, the report said. The scientists found bones of an American mastodon, a western camel and a Harlan's ground sloth. They found wood and pollen of land plants including incense cedar and coast redwood trees and bones of birds, shrews, cottontails, gophers, mice and kangaroo rats. Some of the fossils are as much as 16.5 million years old.

Incidents

On December 22, 2006, a man spilled a vial of mercury on the platform at the Pershing Square station. He then located a passenger information intercom and told the operator that he spilled mercury before boarding a train. [Blankstein, Andrew and Jean Guccione. [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mercury19jan19,1,6614611.story "MTA admits subway spill errors"] . Los Angeles Times. January 19, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2007.] The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department did not respond until the next day, eight hours later. Metro has responded since the incident by giving hazardous materials (Hazmat) training to its field employees and operators so they can identify hazardous substances and take correct action in the future. [Blankstein, Andrew and Jean Guccione. [http://www.latimes.com/la-me-mercury24jan24,0,1158830,full.story "Transient held in MTA mercury spill"] , Los Angeles Times. January 24, 2007. (Retrieved on January 31, 2007)]

Possible Red Line extensions

After the 1986 ban on construction in the "methane zone," the planned Red Line route was changed to travel to the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus depot (formerly a Los Angeles Railway streetcar depot until 1963) near Pico and San Vicente Boulevards in Mid-City. On the other end of the line, the Red Line was originally intended to continue east beyond Union Station to East Los Angeles. At the north end of the route, the Red Line was to turn westward to Warner Center. A 1998 proposition was passed that banned using county sales tax revenue for subway construction due to the high cost of construction and problems associated tunneling under Hollywood Blvd. In 2005, years of traffic gridlock building along the Wilshire corridor led to plans to once again continue along the Wilshire Corridor beyond the current terminus at Wilshire/Western. The route to Warner Center was turned into the Metro Orange Line.

Westward expansion

:"See also Metro Purple Line"The westward extension has been for decades mired in political and socioeconomic debate with politicians giving vent to anti-subway sentiments and NIMBY isolationism. In the past, Westside residents, specifically affluent Hancock Park denizens, reportedly balked at a subway that would make their community more accessible from the "economically disadvantaged" Eastside and South Los Angeles. [http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/the-subway-mayor/349/ LA Weekly] An initiative in 1968 that would have built a subway to West Los Angeles was rejected by voters. The Bus Rapid Transit Line that currently operates along Wilshire Blvd. runs at capacity. Los Angeles mayor and MTA head Antonio Villaraigosa has declared an extension of a subway line to downtown Santa Monica a major priority and is offering visionary slogans such as "subway to the sea" and "..the most utilized subway in the nation, maybe the world," and "..the most cost-effective public-transportation project in America."

With present density and traffic gridlock, many people (the residents and government of the city of Beverly Hills included) have done a complete turnaround on the idea of a Wilshire Boulevard subway. Congressman Henry Waxman, who sponsored the tunneling ban in 1985, championed its reversal upon a committee's ascertation that tunneling through the methane zone was safe. In August 2006, the LACTMTA voted to designate the Wilshire/Western branch of the Red Line as the Purple Line. [http://www.metro.net/board/Items/2006/08_August/20060824RBMItem37.pdf Metro Board Meeting, August 8, 2005] Currently, LACMTA is considering two alternate routes for the Westside extension of the subway. One contemplates continuing along Wilshire Boulevard while the other contemplates a spur from the Hollywood/Highland station, down Santa Monica Boulevard through West Hollywood.

West Valley service

The new Orange Line transitway service is feeding about 15,000 new boardings into the Red Line at the North Hollywood terminus. Currently, little chance exists for further underground Red line extension at its northern terminus, though Mayor Villaraigosa has mentioned extending the Red Line along Lankershim Boulevard to the northeastern San Fernando Valley, with a terminus in Sylmar.

One long-term possibility might be an underground extension of another mile or two to a future high-rise housing district, or to a multi-modal transportation hub at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, a distance of approximately four miles. It would possibly go under Vineland Avenue and Vanowen Street. In 2006 a large number of housing units, including a high-rise tower was completed very near the North Hollywood (NoHo Arts District) station. A master planned multi high-rise complex further to the north could justify a future short extension, and also allow more commuter parking to be developed. No plan of this sort has been formally proposed, though some transit advocates have suggested that the Orange Line may be extended along the same route as mentioned above.

Eastward plans

Although plans of extending the Red Line to the Eastside have been set aside, construction of the Metro Gold Line extension to that region is now underway. As a replacement for the abandoned subway segment, 1.8 miles of the Gold Line Eastside Extension is being built as a subway underneath the densely-built low-income neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Although there are no plans to do such, it is conceivable that plans for a future eastward extension could involve the San Gabriel Valley rather than the Eastside. Some citizen proposals have included the conversion of the El Monte Busway to heavy rail, although this would disrupt the existing bus and Metrolink service along that corridor. Other rights-of-way that could host a Red Line extension, whether subway or at-grade, include the Union Pacific's Alhambra Trench, the former Pacific Electric two-track right of way extending through the City Terrace area to El Monte and Covina, and the median of Huntington Drive, which also held a two-track Pacific Electric line extending as far as Azusa, until the 1950's, when it was removed.

Hours of operation

Trains run between approximately 4:30 am and 1:00 am the following morning. First and last train times are as follows:To/From North Hollywood
"Eastbound"
*First Train to Union Station: 4:31 am
*Last Train to Union Station: 12:54 am

"Westbound"
*First Train to North Hollywood: 4:30 am
*Last Train to North Hollywood: 12:17 am

Rolling stock

The Red Line uses Ansaldobreda A650 75-foot electric multiple unit cars built by Ansaldobreda in Italy. Trains usually run in six-car consists. The acceleration for cars #530 and up is similar to that of cars used by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority because they both use General Electric traction motors. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob9oItpOyEc&feature=related Red line train] , [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlutTFq4WjA&feature=related Washington Metro train] The cars are maintained in a yard on Santa Fe Drive near 4th Street alongside the Los Angeles River in downtown Los Angeles.

List of stations, from East to West

In fiction

*In the videogame "" Market Station in Los Santos is a fictional train station served by Brown Streak Railroad in the game is one of the stations based on the Metro Red Line, possibly the Civic Center station.
*In "Heroes", Hiro Nakamura rides the Red Line
*On the popular television series "Alias", the CIA black ops unit Authorized Personnel Only is located behind a maintenance door at the Civic Center station near the Los Angeles City Hall.
*In Season 6, hour 2 (7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.) of "24", Jack Bauer follows a suicide bomber to a red line station. After the terrorist boards a train bound for Union Station, Jack confronts the terrorist. A brief skirmish ensues, with Jack ejecting the terrorist through the back window of the train only seconds before the terrorist detonates the bomb.
*Part of the movie "Speed" transpires on a Red Line train departing Pershing Square station and ultimately crashing through the street surface at the then-under construction Hollywood & Highland station.
*Part of the movie "Volcano" takes place on the Wilshire branch of the Red Line where lava stops the train from operating and the passengers must be rescued in the tunnel.
*In "The Italian Job", a heist takes place underneath the Hollywood/Highland station and through the Red Line tunnels until it reaches the Blue Line tunnel opening between 7th/Metro Center station and Pico station.
*The Red Line is also featured in "S.W.A.T." where police chase a fugitive from Pershing Square station to Wilshire/Normandie station. The "Pershing Square" exterior is 7th St/Metro Center, while the interior is Wilshire/Western.
*In the P. T. Anderson-directed music video for "Fast as You Can" by Fiona Apple, much of the action takes place on a moving Red Line train, which originates at the Hollywood/Western station. Anderson directed another music video for Apple, "Paper Bag," which was filmed at Union Station, but that was because of the Art Deco surroundings; the Red Line terminus was not featured.
*In the music video for "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter, the Red Line Pershing Square Station and vicinity is used as part of the daily commute for two singles and eventually where they meet.
*In the music video for "All for You" by Janet Jackson, Janet and company ride a subway to Venice (Beach), California, a trip which is not currently possible. While not explicitly shown to be the Red Line, it is an interesting nod to proposals to extend the subway from midtown to the beach.
*In the music video for "Wait a Minute" by The Pussycat Dolls, the opening scenes take place in a Red Line subway station and aboard a train; also in the music video for "When I Grow Up", they perform in front of the Hollywood/Vine portal that currently has construction activities occurring for the W Hotel.

References

External links

* [http://www.mta.net MTA Home Page]
* [http://www.metro.net/riding_metro/virtual_tour/qtvr.htm Take a Virtual Tour of the Red Line] (QuickTime Required)
* [http://www.transit-rider.com/ca.losangeles/lacmta.cfm?id=802 Transit Rider Photos]