Los Angeles Metro Rail

The **Los Angeles Metro Rail** is an urban transit system in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). The system has a total of six lines and 107 stations. Four lines are light rail (A, C, E, K), and two are rapid transit (B and D). The Los Angeles Metro Rail system also connects to the Metro Busway (G & J), Metrolink, Amtrak, and other transit services.

The A Line is the oldest in the system. It opened on July 14, 1990. Since then, the system continued to expand to more places. More expansions are currently under construction such as the D Line Extension to West Los Angeles.

, the Los Angeles Metro Rail light rail system is the busiest in the United States. The rapid transit lines are the ninth busiest.

### Lines

The Los Angeles Metro Rail system includes six lines and 107 stations. The lines used to be named by colors, but are now known by letters since 2020. Metro also uses the same line letter naming system for its Metro Busway lines. Below is the list of the rail lines and how many stations each go to:
|Line Name|Stations|Termini|Type|Opened|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|A Line|48|Pomona North Downtown Long Beach|Light rail|July 14, 1990|
|B Line|14|North Hollywood Union Station|Rapid transit|January 30, 1993|
|C Line|11|LAX/Metro Transit Center Norwalk|Light rail|August 12, 1995|
|D Line|8|Wilshire/Western Union Station|Rapid transit|January 30, 1993|
|E Line|29|Downtown Santa Monica Atlantic|Light rail|April 28, 2012|
|K Line|13|Expo/Crenshaw Redondo Beach|Light rail|October 7, 2022|

### Stations

The Los Angeles Metro Rail system has 107 stations. The light rail stations are mostly above ground, but some are underground. All rapid transit stations (B and D lines) are underground. Each station has TAP Card machines, maps, electronic displays, and public artwork. All stations are accessible with elevators or ramps.

The underground stations are larger and have two levels. The top level is where passengers can buy tickets. The bottom level is where passengers board trains. The underground stations are built to withstand earthquakes.

### Fares

To travel on Metro Rail, all passengers need a Transit Access Pass (TAP) card. Riders can buy the card and add money to it at TAP Card machines at every station, at certain retail locations, or by using a mobile app. With a TAP card, one can switch between Metro lines for free within two hours after starting their ride. There are fare inspectors throughout the system who check if someone has a valid TAP card.

Since July 2023, Metro has replaced its 1-Day, 7-Day, and 30-Day passes with fare capping. This means that riders never pay more than $5 (for up to 3 rides) in a day or $18 (for up to 11 rides) within seven days. Fares for students, seniors, disabled, or low-income riders are cheaper. The table below shows the different fare types and their prices:
|Fare type|Regular|Senior (62+) Disabled/Medicare|Students (K-12; College)|Low Income||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**One-way trip**|$1.75|$0.35 (all other times) $0.75 (rush hours)|$0.75|rowspan="3"|20 free rides then Regular fare|
|**1-Day Cap**|$5|$2.50|$2.50|||
|**7-Day Cap**|$18|$5|$6|||

### Safety

The Los Angeles Metro Rail has the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department watch around half of the system's trains and stations. The Los Angeles Police Department is also responsible for stations in the city of Los Angeles. Security staff monitor the system via closed-circuit television cameras.

## History

Before the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, the Pacific Electric Railway and Los Angeles Railway were the two urban train systems in Los Angeles County. The systems were in operation from 1901 to 1961. In 1927, the two systems started replacing their rail lines with buses since more people in the county were using cars for transport. In 1958, the systems were taken over by a government agency. It was known as the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). By 1963, all rail lines were gone and replaced with buses.

In the 1970s, people started wanting the return of rail transit. This was because traffic was increasing on the county's freeways and roads. Also, gas prices and the population of the area were growing quickly. During the decade, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) began planning the first new train lines. In 1980, Proposition A was passed to pay for the construction of the new lines.

The Blue Line (now the A Line) was the first light rail line in Los Angeles constructed since Proposition A. It opened on July 14, 1990. It initially ran from Downtown Long Beach to Downtown Los Angeles at 7th Street/Metro Center station. From its start, the line was very popular.

Los Angeles's first rapid transit lines (B and D) opened later in January 1993. The light rail system continued to expand with the C Line in 1995, the L Line in 2003 (now part of the A and E Lines), and the E Line in 2012. The newest line, the K Line, opened in 2022.

## Infobox (public transit)

- **name**: Los Angeles Metro Rail
- **image**: Lametro.svg
- **lines**: 6
- **stations**: 107
- **owner**: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
- **chief executive**: Stephanie Wiggins
- **began operation**: July 14, 1990
- **map**:
- **ridership**: 184,400 (weekdays, Q4 2023)