page_title: Crenshaw/LAX Line
section_title: Service
hierarchical_section_title: Crenshaw/LAX Line / Route / Service
caption_attribution_description: English: Operating plan approved for the new Crenshaw/LAX line in Los Angeles
context_page_description: The Crenshaw/LAX Line is an under-construction light rail line that will run through southwest Los Angeles, in a north to south direction. It will connect the Crenshaw neighborhood and Leimert Park to the City of Inglewood and Los Angeles International Airport. When completed, the line will be a part of the Los Angeles County Metro Rail System.
  The project is being built by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The project has been given high priority by Metro in its long-range plan; it has funding set aside in Measure R. The Final EIR was certified on September 22, 2011. The Federal Transit Administration gave its approval to build the $1.766 billion light rail line in January 2012.
  Metro began pre-construction in July 2012, and a Notice to Proceed was issued by Metro in September 2013. An official ground-breaking ceremony for the project was held on January 21, 2014. Heavy construction began in June 2014 and initial revenue service is projected to begin by mid-2021. According to internal Metro documents, current plans are for some or all of the new line to be designated as part of the K Line.
context_section_description: The question of how the new segment would be integrated into the Metro Rail system was the subject of some controversy in 2018 as completion of the project seemed looming. Early proposals had suggested that a new line would operate between Expo/Crenshaw station in the north and Aviation/Century station in the south or possibly extend to Redondo Beach station once the stations west of Aviation/LAX station could accommodate 3-car trains, with the stretch southwest of the wye continuing to be served by the C Line as well. An additional service would have connected Norwalk station to the new Aviation/Century station and planned 96th Street Transit station, as well as the Airport Metro Connector.
  The service plan would have required trains passing all three directions through the wye connecting the new and existing infrastructure, which Metro staff felt would unduly wear down the points. Instead, in 2018 Metro proposed a service plan that would see the newly opened segment connected to the bulk of the current C Line; the southwest segment of the C Line in the South Bay would operate as a separate shuttle between Redondo Beach and the new Aviation/Century station. The arrangement was meant to provide a seamless rail option for the many passengers who currently transfer between the C Line and north to south bus lines in the area, as well as operationally combine the Norwalk-LAX and Crenshaw/Expo-LAX legs, which have matching capacity needs, rather than combining either with the more sparsely used Redondo Beach leg.
  However, the new plan was met with resistance from some board members, particularly Supervisor Janice Hahn, because it would require South Bay passengers to make multiple transfers to complete trips then possible with only one transfer. A faction of the Metro board led by Hahn proposed a one-year pilot of an alternative routing scheme under which one line would travel from Norwalk station to Expo/Crenshaw station and another from Redondo Beach station to Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station. The proposal, dubbed C-3, was approved by the Metro board on December 6, 2018. This option will entail an additional $10 million annual operating cost over Metro's initial proposal, in large part because a substantial segment of the current C Line between Willowbrook and Aviation/LAX will see three-minute headways at peak hours. The adopted proposal will also limit the potential length of trains on the new segment to two cars due to power constraints; it will preclude a one-seat ride from the South Bay to LAX but maintains the ability of South Bay passengers to transfer directly to the J and A Lines.
caption: Operating plan approved for the Crenshaw/LAX Line
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