The Gold Line is a 31-mile (50 km) light rail line running from Azusa to East Los Angeles via Downtown Los Angeles serving several attractions, including Little Tokyo, Union Station, the Southwest Museum, Chinatown and the shops of Old Town Pasadena. The line, which is one of six in the Metro Rail system, entered service in 2003 and is operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). The Gold Line serves 27 stations (including two subway stations).
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Service description
Route
Beginning in East Los Angeles, the Gold Line initially runs west toward Downtown Los Angeles. From its southern terminus at Atlantic, the line travels west along 3rd Street to Indiana Street, where it turns north for two blocks to 1st Street. From here, the line continues west to Little Tokyo, partly through a tunnel under Boyle Heights with two underground stations. At Alameda Street in Little Tokyo, the line turns north and crosses over the Hollywood Freeway, and stops at Union Station on tracks 1 and 2. At Union Station, riders can connect with the Metro Red and Metro Purple Lines, the Metro Silver Line bus rapid transit line as well as the Metrolink regional system.
From Union Station, the Gold Line proceeds north on elevated rail to Chinatown and then crosses the Los Angeles River adjacent to the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5). From here, the route continues north/northeast, serving the hillside communities north of downtown, including Lincoln Heights, Mount Washington and Highland Park. Through this stretch, the Gold Line operates primarily at grade, except for a short underpass below Figueroa Street.
North of Highland Park, the route crosses over the Arroyo Seco Parkway (State Route 110). The route continues through South Pasadena and then downtown Pasadena, primarily at-grade. In Old Town Pasadena, the line travels underground for almost half a mile long, passing under Pasadena's main thoroughfare, Colorado Boulevard. (Memorial Park station, just north of Colorado Boulevard, is below grade.) Finally, the Gold Line enters the median of the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) and continues east to Sierra Madre Villa station, in Pasadena just west of the Arcadia city limits.
East of Pasadena, the route crosses over the eastbound lanes of Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) west of Santa Anita Avenue, with stops at the Arcadia Station, located at the corner of First Avenue and Santa Clara Street, then it crosses over Huntington Drive and stops at the Monrovia Station, north of Duarte Road at Myrtle Avenue. It continues eastbound with a stop at the Duarte/City of Hope Station located at the north side of Duarte Road, across the street from the City of Hope Medical Center, then continues going over the San Gabriel River and stops at the Irwindale Station at Irwindale Avenue, continues over the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) over Foothill Boulevard and stops at the Azusa Station at Azusa Avenue, north of Foothill Boulevard, and its terminus is at the APU/Citrus College Station just west of Citrus Avenue.
Hours of operation
Metro Gold Line trains run between approximately 4:30 a.m. and 12:45 a.m. daily.
Headways
Trains on the Gold Line operate every six minutes during peak hours Monday through Friday. Middays consist of 12 minute headways, while weekends all day have a frequency of seven to eight minutes. Nighttime service operates every 15 minutes, with 20 minute headways during late night weekend service.
Speed
The Gold Line trains travel at a maximum speed of 55 mph. It takes 54 minutes to travel its 19.7-mile (31.7 km) length, at an average speed of 21.9 mph (35 km/h) over its length. The Gold Line is particularly slow through the Highland Park area, where trains reach speeds of only 20 mph (32 km/h) due to several street crossings and through the curves, where trains travel at about 25 mph (40 km/h).
Ridership
Following the extension to East Los Angeles in 2009, the line's ridership increased to almost 30,000 daily boardings. As of October 2012, the average weekday daily boardings for the Gold Line stood at 42,417 and as of December 2014 the average daily weekday boardings had increased to 44,707.
Gold Line Bus Video
History
The right-of-way through the San Gabriel Valley was originally built by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad in 1885. Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad was sold and consolidated on May 20, 1887 into the California Central Railway. In 1889 this was consolidated into Southern California Railway Company. On January 17, 1906 Southern California Railway was sold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, as part of the Pasadena Subdivision. The Pasadena and Los Angeles Electric Railway built a light rail line from Los Angeles to Pasadena that opened in May 6, 1895, this later became a Pacific Electric Railway Red Car line in 1906.
Planning
The Gold Line's initial route was formerly the right-of-way of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, (the Pasadena Subdivision) where passenger trains like the Southwest Chief and the Desert Wind operated until Amtrak service was re-routed along the Southern Transcon to San Bernardino via Fullerton in the early 1990s. The reuse of the line resulted in the rehabilitation and redevelopment at the site of the former Santa Fe depot.
A line through Pasadena was proposed in the early 1980s as a part of a more extensive regional urban rail network, however it would not come to fruition until almost two decades later. Initial planning and construction was done by Metro. After the project was halted due to a lack of funding the "Los Angeles Pasadena Blue Line Construction Authority" was established by State legislation to reactivate and complete the then 11% completed project.
The Gold Line was originally planned as a part of the Metro Blue Line. Making that connection as originally planned would require the "Regional Connector" to connect Metro Center with Union Station which is under construction.
Operation
Initial Union Station to Pasadena
The original Gold Line, between Union Station and Sierra Madre Villa, opened July 26, 2003.
Between February 13, 2006, and December 16, 2007, the Gold Line was the first in the Metro Rail system to implement both local and express limited stop service during rush hours in both direction calling at Union Station, Highland Park, Mission, Del Mar, and Sierra Madre Villa, eliminating five minutes of travel time from end to end.
Since October 29, 2006, end-to-end travel time was reduced by five minutes, resulting in 30% less waiting time at stations. Ridership hit an all-time high of 21,000 boardings in September 2006.
A noise barrier was constructed along the route in South Pasadena between the Mission and Fillmore stations to address noise complaints from South Pasadena residents between April 2007 and July 2007 during track construction.
In December 2007, Express Service was discontinued and (local) trains began to run more frequently at 8 minute intervals. Service was increased to every 6 minutes in June 2011, as a result of increased ridership.
Union Station to Eastside
On November 15, 2009, Metro opened the first phase of the Gold Line Eastside Extension. The project extended the Gold Line from Union Station to Atlantic Boulevard near Monterey Park. The extended route serves Little Tokyo, Arts District, Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles. The project added eight stations, two of which (Mariachi Plaza and Soto) are underground stations, only the second set of subway stations in the light rail portion of the Metro Rail system (after the 7th Street/Metro Center station).
Pasadena to Azusa
Metro and the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority extended the Gold Line beyond Pasadena into the northeastern part of Los Angeles county. The Gold Line Foothill Extension project will also extend the Gold Line through the foothill region just across the county line to Montclair in San Bernardino County. The Gold Line Construction Authority wanted the authority to extend the line even further to the Ontario Airport but San Bernardino Associated Governments is looking at other options for airport access that would be of greater benefit to San Bernardino County residents whose funding will pay for the project. This project was renamed "The Foothill Gold Line" in late 2014.
Proposed developments
Regional Connector Transit Corridor
The Regional Connector Transit Corridor (also known as the Regional Connector, Downtown Connector or Downtown Light-Rail Connector) is an under construction light rail subway corridor through Downtown Los Angeles that is designed to connect the current Blue and Expo Lines to the current Gold Line and allow a seamless one-seat ride between the Blue and Expo Lines' current terminus at 7th Street/Metro Center and Union Station.
Once the Regional Connector Transit Corridor is completed, the northern leg of the Gold Line through the San Gabriel Valley and Azusa will be joined with the current Blue Line connecting Downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach, creating what will be the longest light rail transit line in the United States. The Eastside leg of the Gold Line will be connected to the current Expo Line, which runs between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica. In one of the construction phases of this project, the current Gold Line Little Tokyo/Arts District station will be demolished and a new subway station (1st Street/Central Av station) is being constructed. Names and/or colors for these new lines have not yet been officially announced, but it seems likely that the Blue Line-northern leg of the Gold Line will become the new Blue Line and the current Expo Line-eastern leg of the Gold Line will become the new Gold Line. The groundbreaking for the construction of the Regional Connector Transit Corridor took place on September 30, 2014 and it is expected to be in public service by 2020.
Eastside Extension Phase 2
Metro is considering a new extension of the Metro Gold Line in the Eastside. This second phase of the Eastside Corridor would extend the Gold Line's southern leg eastward, from its current terminus at Atlantic station to Whittier
As of August 2010, Metro has completed the Alternatives Analysis phase. The next step for Metro is to conduct an initial environmental study, leading to publication and approval of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR).
The two alignments to be studied in the DEIR are:
- SR-60 LRT: Mixture of at-grade and aerial running along the Pomona Freeway to South El Monte
- Washington LRT: Aerial running south on Garfield Avenue and then east on Washington Boulevard to Whittier
Station listing
The following table lists the current stations of the Gold Line, from south to north.
Operations
Maintenance facilities
The Gold Line is operated in both the Division 21 Yard (Los Angeles River Yard) and Division 24 yard (Monrovia yard). Division 21 is located on Vin Scully Drive (Elysian Park Drive) overlooking the Los Angeles River, and Division 24 is located south of the I-210 freeway in Monrovia. These yards stores the fleet used on the Gold Line. It is also where maintenance is done on the fleet. Trains can access these yards via a single track junction.
Rolling stock
Gold Line trains are typically two-car trains, except in evenings and weekend mornings when they consist of single cars. On New Year's Day, the Gold Line uses three-car trains for service to the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game. Service operates from approximately 4 am to 1 am, with service approximately every 6 minutes during peak hours, 12 minutes middays, every 6 minutes on weekends and 20 minutes until the close of service.
Trains are composed of articulated light rail vehicles (LRVs) which are compatible with Metro's light rail systems. As of April 2012, the Gold Line uses 50 AnsaldoBreda P2550 LRVs. The Metro Gold Line has 50 active cars (701-750).
The Metro Gold Line has 50 AnsaldoBreda P2550 cars (701-750) in use. P2550s have been featured in many television ads by Metro. Metro transferred the last of the Gold Line's Siemens P2000 trains in April 2012 to the Blue Line to transfer some overhauled Nippon Sharyo P850 (100-153) cars to Expo Phase 1 while the Ansaldobreda P2550 cars replaced the Siemens P2000 trains on the Gold Line.
Commemorative cars
On December 21, 2007, Metro introduced cars 233 and 235, which are the special commemorative trains for the 119th Tournament of Roses Parade and the 94th Rose Bowl Game. These are known as the 2008 "Tournament Train".
Advertising
On October 3, 2007, Metro Gold Line trains began having advertisement banners on the sides of trains, like on the Metro Green Line. On February 13, 2008, Metro removed the banner ads on all Metro Gold Line trains. But in mid-June 2008, banners promoting the Long Range Transportation Plan were added on car 246. On July 14, 2008, banner ads were added on cars 229, 235, 236, 238, 239, 244, 250 and 302.
Incidents
The following noteworthy incidents have occurred on the Gold Line since opening.
- September 11, 2007 - A driver was critically injured and six passengers, including an LA County Deputy Sheriff and the train operator, suffered minor injuries when a pickup truck ran a red light at Avenue 55 and Marmion Way before being hit by a train.
- September 21, 2007 - Six people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including two minor injuries after an SUV broke off the crossing arms and was struck by a northbound Metro Gold Line train (243) at Avenue 50 and Marmion Way in Mt. Washington. The vehicle caught fire and a section of the train was also burnt. It was claimed that the female SUV driver had tried to beat the train. A local resident extinguished the fire in the car with a garden hose before Los Angeles Firefighters arrived.
- October 13, 2007 - Service was suspended for 12 hours at 1:20 am after a big rig hit the center divider of the eastbound Foothill Freeway at Sierra Madre Blvd. and went on the Metro Gold Line tracks. During the course of the accident, buses were provided to bypass the accident site.
- August 26, 2011 - An altercation between passengers resulted in a non-fatal stabbing during a trip through Pasadena. The train was stopped at the Memorial Park station where the victim was transported to a hospital and the suspect was detained.
- April 24, 2014 - Service was suspended between the Lake and Sierra Madre Villa stations after a collision between two tractor-trailers on the eastbound Foothill Freeway resulted in one vehicle landing on the Gold Line tracks, damaging the tracks and overhead wires. Full return to normal service took several days.
- March 6, 2016 - Service between Allen and Arcadia stations were disrupted for most of the evening - resuming Monday morning - one day after the opening of the Foothill Extension when a semi-truck driver lost control and sent his trailer onto to the tracks.
- December 29, 2016 - A pedestrian was struck and killed by a train heading eastbound into the Arcadia station at 12:12 am. Full service was restored by 5:30 am.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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