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  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.

## Current system 
### 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:

### 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  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. The table below shows the different fare types and their prices:

### 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, Los Angeles County had two electric rail systems: the Pacific Electric Railway and the Los Angeles Railway. The systems operated in the early 1900s, with most lines closing by 1963. The Pacific Electric Railway (often called the Red Cars) ran long routes between cities in Southern California. These routes were similar to today’s Metrolink commuter rail system. The Los Angeles Railway (often called the Yellow Cars) ran streetcar and trolley bus routes mostly within Los Angeles. Real estate developers built many of these rail lines to serve new suburbs they were also building. Because these new suburbs grew around streetcar lines, they were often called “streetcar suburbs”. The two systems reached their largest size around 1925, carrying large numbers of riders on many routes. During World War II, ridership increased because gasoline was limited.

In the 1920s, cars became cheaper, and many people were moving to Southern California. More people began using cars instead of public transit for travel. Trains became slower as they started sharing space with vehicle traffic. There were many plans to expand and make rail transit better in Los Angeles. However, city leaders chose to spend more public funds on roads and freeways instead of rail transit. Starting in the mid-1920s, the electric rail lines began closing. Those routes were replaced with motor buses. Transit agencies thought buses were better because they were cheaper to run and could use the roads and freeways being built across the county. By 1963, the remaining lines were closed 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, gasoline 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  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.

## References