The long-awaited subway under Wilshire Boulevard opens, connecting Beverly Hills to the city.
In a moment of public transportation hype, Los Angeles on Friday celebrated the long-awaited opening of a subway extension along Wilshire Boulevard that connects Beverly Hills to the city.
The three new Metro stops opening Friday — Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega — mark the first phase of the long-awaited subway that runs under LA’s most prominent and busiest street, a route long considered the city’s key to public transportation. The new stations provide easy train access to several LA destinations such as recently reimagined Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Academy Museum, and is only a few blocks from the Grove and Beverly Center.
“This is a milestone for the future of LA,” said Fernando Dutra, chairman of LA Metro’s board of directors. “I’m very proud to be reinventing public transportation in Los Angeles.”
Although there was a celebratory atmosphere for Friday morning’s opening, Dutra acknowledged how long it took to bring the project to fruition.
More than sixty years ago, California leaders began working on a railroad that would run under Wilshire, but efforts struggled to gain momentum due to severe funding shortfalls, political battles, neighborhood opposition and engineering concerns.
Maybe that’s why Friday felt so memorable.
“Today we celebrate progress, collaboration, and something Angelenos deserve: a city that’s easy to walk in and easy to connect to and build for the future,” Mayor Karen Bass said at the celebration. “It makes our great city much smaller and more connected.”
Three new stops for D line extension make up about four miles of the $9.7-billion project, which will eventually run nine miles west, ending in Westwood, near the UCLA campus. The next two phases of the project, which include a total of four new stops, are scheduled for completion in 2027.
It is part of the Southern California rail expansion, which aims to create an efficient public transport grid connecting the scattered communities of LA, aimed at early completion to help those visiting Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
While transit experts expect that the densely populated and popular areas along the D line extension will quickly draw riders, it remains to be seen if large numbers of Angelenos are ready to ditch their cars to take the train.
Metro officials estimate that rail will be faster than driving, with a commute from Union Station to Wilshire/La Cienega taking 21 minutes, while driving would normally take 45 minutes.
Many potential passengers who spoke to The Times this week said they were excited to try the new line, but often said they felt wary about long waits at night and ongoing concerns about public safety, among other reservations. Metro has worked to improve policing across its network, and has put forward additional safeguards, such as the ambassador system, with real success.
D Line trains are scheduled to run from 4 a.m. to about 12:30 a.m. each day, arriving every 10 minutes during most of the day and every 20 minutes at night, starting at 9 p.m., according to Metro officials.
Staff writer Jenny Jarvie contributed to this report.
