119-496: The Southeast Gateway Line (formerly the West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor ) is a planned light rail line, mostly following the Pacific Electric 's historic West Santa Ana Branch , connecting Downtown Los Angeles to the city of Artesia , along with other cities in southeastern Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has $ 4 billion in funds available for construction planned to begin in 2022. The plan included in
238-724: A "light rail" vehicle (it is a heavy rail vehicle), and is only included for comparison purposes. Low-floor LRVs have the advantage of a low-floor design, allowing them to load passengers directly from low-rise platforms that can be little more than raised curbs. High-floor light rail systems also exist, featuring larger stations. Historically, the track gauge has had considerable variations, with narrow gauge common in many early systems. However, most light rail systems are now standard gauge . Older standard-gauge vehicles could not negotiate sharp turns as easily as narrow-gauge ones, but modern light rail systems achieve tighter turning radii by using articulated cars . An important advantage of
357-598: A bill was authorized to create a new independent construction authority to finish the line. The agency, now known as the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, resumed light rail construction in 2000 and completed the line three years later. The now-renamed Gold Line, between Union Station and Sierra Madre Villa station in East Pasadena, opened on July 26, 2003. In 2016, the Gold Line
476-458: A bus, there will be even more capacity when there is a combination of cars and light rail. Table 3 shows an example of peak passenger capacity. The cost of light rail construction varies widely, largely depending on the amount of tunneling and elevated structures required. A survey of North American light rail projects shows that costs of most LRT systems range from $ 15 million to over $ 100 million per mile. Seattle's new light rail system
595-403: A chaotic breakdown inflow and a dramatic drop in speed (a traffic jam ) if they exceed about 2,000 vehicles per hour per lane (each car roughly two seconds behind another). Since most people who drive to work or on business trips do so alone, studies show that the average car occupancy on many roads carrying commuters is only about 1.5 people per car during the high-demand rush hour periods of
714-1102: A common right-of-way (however, Link converted to full separation in 2019). Some systems, such as the AirTrain JFK in New York City, the DLR in London, and Kelana Jaya Line in Kuala Lumpur , have dispensed with the need for an operator. The Vancouver SkyTrain was an early adopter of driverless vehicles, while the Toronto Scarborough rapid transit operated the same trains as Vancouver, but used drivers. In most discussions and comparisons, these specialized systems are generally not considered light rail but as light metro systems. Around Karlsruhe , Kassel , and Saarbrücken in Germany, dual-voltage light rail trains partly use mainline railroad tracks, sharing these tracks with heavy rail trains. In
833-538: A crossing shared with the City of Artesia, a $ 687 million dollar above ground bridge crossing. Cerritos prefers a $ 1.1 billion dollar underground rail options within its limits. Metro has stated a budget difference of $ 413 million in additional tax payer funds is not needed. By 2023, the Metro board sought to change the project's name to reflect that it would not reach Santa Ana or Orange County . The $ 8.5 billion project has been in
952-416: A light rail train may have three to four cars of much larger capacity in one train under the control of one driver, or no driver at all in fully automated systems, increasing the labor costs of BRT systems compared to LRT systems. BRT systems are also usually less fuel-efficient as they use non-electrified vehicles. The peak passenger capacity per lane per hour depends on which types of vehicles are allowed on
1071-435: A live rail. In outer areas, the trams switch to conventional overhead wires . The Bordeaux power system costs about three times as much as a conventional overhead wire system and took 24 months to achieve acceptable levels of reliability, requiring the replacement of all the main cables and power supplies. Operating and maintenance costs of the innovative power system still remain high. However, despite numerous service outages,
1190-536: A longer distance. Light rail cars are often coupled into multiple units of two to four cars. Light rail systems may also exhibit attributes of heavy rail systems, including having downtown subways, as in San Francisco and Seattle . Light rail is designed to address a gap in interurban transportation between heavy rail and bus services, carrying high passenger numbers more quickly than local buses and more cheaply than heavy rail. It serves corridors in which heavy rail
1309-631: A more diverse range of design characteristics than LRT, depending on the demand and constraints that exist, and BRT using dedicated lanes can have a theoretical capacity of over 30,000 passengers per hour per direction (for example, the Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit system operates up to 350 buses per hour per direction). For the effective operation of a bus or BRT system, buses must have priority at traffic lights and have their dedicated lanes, especially as bus frequencies exceed 30 buses per hour per direction. The higher theoretical of BRT relates to
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#17330848805031428-407: A result, has many of the operating characteristics of a metro system rather than a light rail system. A capacity of 1,350 passengers per train is more similar to the heavy rail than light rail. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is an alternative to LRT and many planning studies undertake a comparison of each mode when considering appropriate investments in transit corridor development. BRT systems can exhibit
1547-716: A separate line. It opened in 2003 and extended east to Azusa in 2016. Planning for the northern extension resumed in the early 2000s as part of the Regional Connector Transit Project , with construction starting in 2014. The project enabled A Line trains to run north to the San Gabriel Valley by constructing a light rail tunnel in Downtown Los Angeles, connecting the A Line to the L Line. The A Line's current Azusa–Long Beach service commenced in June 2023 with
1666-530: A top speed of 55–71.5 miles per hour (88.51–115.1 km/h) depending on the system, while the trains on the all-underground Montreal Metro can only reach a top speed of 72 kilometres per hour (44.74 mph). LACMTA light rail vehicles have higher top and average speeds than Montreal Metro or New York City Subway trains. Many light rail systems—even fairly old ones—have a combination of both on- and off-road sections. In some countries (especially in Europe), only
1785-474: A tramway, a light metro, and, in a narrow sense, rapid transit. This is especially common in the United States, where there is not a popularly perceived distinction between these different types of urban rail systems. The development of technology for low-floor and catenary-free trams facilitates the construction of such mixed systems with only short and shallow underground sections below critical intersections as
1904-462: Is a generic international English phrase for types of rail systems using modern streetcars/trams, which means more or less the same thing throughout the English-speaking world . Light rail systems can range from trams runnig in streets along with other traffic, to semi-metro systems having portions of grade separated track. People movers are even "lighter", in terms of capacity. Monorail
2023-565: Is a separate technology that has been more successful in specialized services than in a commuter transit role. The use of the generic term light rail avoids some serious incompatibilities between British and American English . The word tram , for instance, is generally used in the UK and many former British colonies to refer to what is known in North America as a streetcar , but in North America tram can instead refer to an aerial tramway , or, in
2142-602: Is a significant amount of overlap between the technologies; similar rolling stock may be used for either, and it is common to classify streetcars or trams as a subcategory of light rail rather than as a distinct type of transportation. However, some distinctions can be made, though systems may combine elements of both. Low-floor light rail lines tend to follow a reserved right-of-way and with trains receiving priority at intersections, and tend not to operate in mixed traffic, enabling higher operating speeds. Light rail lines tend to have less frequent stops than tramways, and operate over
2261-406: Is being studied as a possible underground light rail transit route. Six options were proposed. As of 2018, two options were being considered (both of which would connect to the southern alignment by paralleling the A Line between Washington and Slauson stations, as well as part of an existing freight rail line along Randolph Street): By March 2018, Cerritos had opted out of the project, leaving
2380-560: Is by far the most expensive in the US, at $ 179 million per mile, since it includes extensive tunneling in poor soil conditions, elevated sections, and stations as deep as 180 feet (55 m) below ground level. This results in costs more typical of subways or rapid transit systems than light rail. At the other end of the scale, four systems (Baltimore, Maryland; Camden, New Jersey; Sacramento, California; and Salt Lake City, Utah) incurred construction costs of less than $ 20 million per mile. Over
2499-426: Is especially important for wheelchair access, as narrower gauges (e.g. metre gauge) can make it challenging or impossible to pass the tram's wheels. Furthermore, standard-gauge rolling stock can be switched between networks either temporarily or permanently, and both newly built and used standard-gauge rolling stock tends to be cheaper to buy, as more companies offer such vehicles. Overhead lines supply electricity to
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#17330848805032618-579: Is expected to issue a record of decision to happen sometime during the summer of 2024. The board voted to certify the EIR at a meeting on April 25, 2024, paving the way for construction to begin by the end of 2024. Metro released an RFP right after the certification, seeking a contractor for pre-construction "Advanced Works". In October 2024, the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) awarded Metro $ 231 million for construction on
2737-498: Is expensive. Similarly, the most expensive US highway expansion project was the " Big Dig " in Boston, Massachusetts, which cost $ 200 million per lane mile for a total cost of $ 14.6 billion. A light rail track can carry up to 20,000 people per hour as compared with 2,000–2,200 vehicles per hour for one freeway lane. For example, in Boston and San Francisco, light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour, respectively, in
2856-575: Is hard to distinguish between what is called light rail, and other forms of urban and commuter rail. A system described as a light rail in one city may be considered to be a streetcar or tram system in another. Conversely, some lines that are called "light rail" are very similar to rapid transit ; in recent years, new terms such as light metro have been used to describe these medium-capacity systems. Some "light rail" systems, such as Sprinter , bear little similarity to urban rail, and could alternatively be classified as commuter rail or even inter-city rail. In
2975-549: Is impractical. Light metro systems are essentially hybrids of light rail and rapid transit. Metro trains are larger and faster than light rail trains, with stops being further apart. Many systems have mixed characteristics. Indeed, with proper engineering, a rail line could run along a street, then go underground, and then run along an elevated viaduct. For example, the Los Angeles Metro Rail 's A Line "light rail" has sections that could alternatively be described as
3094-472: Is limited by the capacity of the station and the grade crossing of Pico Boulevard immediately adjacent to it. The wye junction at Flower and Washington is a similar bottleneck, as trains on both lines must cross a busy intersection and freeway onramp at-grade. Accidents, gridlocked traffic, and signal delays at the junction can cause cascading service disruptions across both lines. Various grade separation projects have been considered to improve capacity and resolve
3213-480: Is one of the highest capacity ones, having been upgraded in a series of expansions to handle 40,000 passengers per hour per direction, and having carried as many as 582,989 passengers in a single day on its Line 1 . It achieves this volume by running four-car trains with a capacity of up to 1,350 passengers each at a frequency of up to 30 trains per hour. However, the Manila light rail system has full grade separation and as
3332-480: Is operated out of two divisions, Metro's term for train maintenance and storage facilities. Division 11 is located at 4350 East 208th Street in Cota, North Long Beach between Del Amo and Wardlow stations. The facility can house and maintain 86 light rail vehicles and can perform heavy maintenance including repainting. Trains get to this yard via a wye junction on the southbound tracks. Northbound trains can enter and exit
3451-446: Is planned to begin in 2025 with service starting in 2035. Metro estimates it will take 10 years to build. The A Line often operates at capacity, and various options to increase capacity have been considered, such as four-car or more frequent trains. Both have problems: it would be difficult or impossible to lengthen some of the station platforms, and the number of trains already causes delays for other vehicles at level crossings . Since
3570-456: Is pressure to maintain travel times and headway schedule requirements (e.g., a passenger trip from Los Angeles to Long Beach in less than one hour). Other contributing factors identified were the high population density leading to more pedestrian and vehicular traffic around the tracks, the diverse, varied socio-economic community around the line that creates literacy and language difficulties for public education campaigns, driver frustration due to
3689-407: Is similar to that of a traditional tram, while operating at a higher capacity and speed, often on an exclusive right-of-way. In broader use, it includes tram-like operations mostly on streets. A few light rail networks have characteristics closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail , yet only when these systems are fully grade-separated are they referred to as light metros . The term light rail
Southeast Gateway Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
3808-448: Is the longest light rail line in the world, surpassing the 42-mile (68 km) Coast Tram in Belgium . The line's northern terminus is at APU/Citrus College station just west of Citrus Avenue and north of the two universities. The line runs west through Azusa before stopping at Azusa Downtown station at Azusa Avenue, north of Foothill Boulevard. Continuing west, the line crosses over
3927-589: The B and D rapid transit lines, Metrolink commuter rail , Amtrak , and buses. The entire section of the line north of Union Station follows the current and former right of way of the Pasadena Subdivision . South of Union Station, trains use the Regional Connector through Downtown Los Angeles. In Little Tokyo , the line enters the new tunnel north of Temple Street to serve the replacement underground Little Tokyo/Arts District station , where
4046-535: The Cádiz TramBahia , where trams share track with commuter and long-distance trains from the main terminus in the city and curve off to serve cities without a railway connection. Some of the issues involved in such schemes are: There is a history of what would now be considered light rail vehicles operating on heavy rail rapid transit tracks in the US, especially in the case of interurban streetcars . Notable examples are Lehigh Valley Transit trains running on
4165-698: The E Line in Downtown Los Angeles . It operates for approximately 19 hours per day with headways of up to 8 minutes during peak hours . It runs for 48.5 miles (78.1 km), making it the world's longest light rail line since 2023. The A Line is the oldest and busiest light rail line in the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, carrying over 15 million passengers in 2023, with an average of 69,216 weekday riders in May 2024. Its initial segment from Downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach opened in 1990, utilizing much of
4284-568: The Gold Line to the A (then Blue) Line fleet. These vehicles were used before their refurbishment. As of 2023, some are currently being tested on the A Line, and they made a rocky return to the A Line in late 2024. In 2017, the Blue Line received 78 Kinki Sharyo P3010 light rail vehicles, the first new cars for the line since it opened in 1990. As the P3010 fleet was introduced, Metro gradually retired all of
4403-654: The I-210 freeway and runs parallel to it, entering Irwindale before stopping at Irwindale station at Irwindale Avenue. After this station, the line continues west, crossing over the San Gabriel River and underneath the I-605 freeway, diverging from I-210 and entering Duarte , before stopping at Duarte/City of Hope station located on the north side of Duarte Road, across from the City of Hope National Medical Center . Continuing west,
4522-597: The Kinki Sharyo P3010 , the Siemens P2000 , and the AnsaldoBreda P2550 , but has seen every type of light rail rolling stock on Metro's roster throughout its history of operation. When the A Line, then known as the Blue Line, first opened in 1990, the line had 54 Nippon Sharyo P865 light rail vehicles, numbered 100–153. These cars wore a unique livery of several blue stripes and a single red stripe, reflecting
4641-735: The London Underground and the New York City Subway . Conventional rail technologies including high-speed , freight, commuter , and rapid transit urban transit systems are considered "heavy rail". The main difference between light rail and heavy rail rapid transit is the ability for a light rail vehicle to operate in mixed traffic if the routing requires it. The world's first electric tram operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg , Russia , invented and operated on an experimental basis by Fyodor Pirotsky in 1880. The first tramway
4760-492: The Los Angeles River and Rio Hondo to connect with future planned development in the surrounding area. Light rail Light rail (or light rail transit , abbreviated to LRT ) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology while also having some features from heavy rapid transit . The term was coined in 1972 in the United States as an English equivalent for
4879-533: The Measure M transportation funding measure is to build improvements in two stages. In June 2017, Metro issued a request for proposal (RFP) to study alternatives for this new line. Metro has narrowed the options to two alternatives and are currently preparing to publish the Draft EIS /EIR for public comment. The draft EIS/EIR is planned to be released in 2020. The project's timeline was expected to be accelerated under
Southeast Gateway Line - Misplaced Pages Continue
4998-624: The Netherlands , this concept was first applied on the RijnGouweLijn . This allows commuters to ride directly into the city center, rather than taking a mainline train only as far as a central station and then having to change to a tram. In France, similar tram-trains are planned for Paris, Mulhouse , and Strasbourg ; further projects exist. In some cases, tram trains use previously abandoned or lightly used heavy rail lines in addition to or instead of still in use mainline tracks. In 2022, Spain opened
5117-831: The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa, Ontario , Canada, the River Line in New Jersey , United States, and the Sprinter in California , United States, which use diesel multiple unit (DMU) cars. Light rail is different from the British English term light railway , long-used to distinguish railway operations carried out under a less rigorous set of regulations using lighter equipment at lower speeds from mainline railways. Light rail
5236-673: The Philadelphia and Western Railroad high-speed third rail line (now the Norristown High-Speed Line ). Such arrangements are almost impossible now, due to the Federal Railroad Administration refusing (for crash safety reasons) to allow non-FRA compliant railcars (i.e., subway and light rail vehicles) to run on the same tracks at the same times as compliant railcars, which includes locomotives and standard railroad passenger and freight equipment. Notable exceptions in
5355-581: The Twenty-eight by '28 initiative. The environmental impact report released in 2021 set an estimated cost of $ 8.6 billion for the line. The City of Cerritos filed a lawsuit to force Metro to alter the planned route through that city. Under the plan, the new light rail will travel over 1.3 miles (2.09 km) within the city limits with three street crossings between I-605 and the proposed Pioneer station. Metro proposes in Cerritos, at 183rd and Gridley Street,
5474-530: The medians of roads . If run in streets , trains are usually limited by city block lengths to about four 180-passenger vehicles (720 passengers). Operating on two-minute headways using traffic signal progression, a well-designed two-track system can handle up to 30 trains per hour per track, achieving peak rates of over 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction. More advanced systems with separate rights-of-way using moving block signaling can exceed 25,000 passengers per hour per track. Most light rail systems in
5593-459: The "Pasadena Metro Blue Line." Planners envisioned extending the existing Blue Line (A Line) north of 7th Street/Metro Center, but it was canceled due to funding shortages. However, the mostly above-ground segment of the extension from Union Station to Pasadena advanced and began construction in 1994 as a separate line but was suspended again by 1998 due to the Proposition A ban. Later that year,
5712-619: The 1970s was proven to have been a technical failure by the following decade. After World War II, the Germans retained many of their streetcar networks and evolved them into model light rail systems ( Stadtbahnen ). With the exception of Hamburg , all large and most medium-sized German cities maintain light rail networks. The concept of a "limited tramway" was proposed by American transport planner H. Dean Quinby in 1962. Quinby distinguished this new concept in rail transportation from historic streetcar or tram systems as: The term light rail transit
5831-575: The 48.5-mile (78.1 km) line is approximately two hours, including a brief layover at Union Station to change train crews. Southbound trips over the full line are scheduled at 1 hour and 55 minutes, with northbound trips scheduled at 1 hour and 55 minutes. The line's scheduled average speed is approximately 25–26 miles per hour (40–42 km/h). Top speeds on the line vary, from below 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) at surface level in Downtown Los Angeles, to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) on grade-separated infrastructure. The following table lists
5950-502: The A Line due to the completion of the Regional Connector project on June 16, 2023. The Southeast Gateway Line is a planned light rail line, mostly following the Pacific Electric 's historic West Santa Ana Branch , connecting Downtown Los Angeles to the city of Artesia , along with other cities in southeastern Los Angeles County. It will link the southeast/Gateway cities with the A Line at Slauson station . Construction
6069-575: The A Line's right of way north of Union Station through the San Gabriel Valley was built by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad in 1885. It was eventually taken over by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , as part of the Pasadena Subdivision , which saw Amtrak service until 1994, when construction began on the conversion to light rail. The light rail project was initially called
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#17330848805036188-460: The A Line, with the remainder of the $ 3 billion route into downtown built as Phase 2. Metro staff were "optimistic" that it would be feasible to build the line to Slauson by 2028 with existing Measure M funds. Metro was also studying public–private partnerships that could accelerate the construction schedule of the entire line. The service is not planned to interline with the A Line to 7th Street/Metro Center due to operational constraints. Under
6307-464: The A, E, and L Line trains ran through the Regional Connector tunnel for final testing. The project officially opened for revenue service on June 16, 2023. Once the Regional Connector was completed, the alignment of the L Line was split into two parts at Little Tokyo/Arts District station, with the portion north of the station joined to the A Line, extending it to connect Long Beach with Azusa. The alignment east of Little Tokyo/Arts District station
6426-531: The Blue Line on Saturday, July 14, 1990, and ran from Pico to Anaheim Street . The Long Beach Loop section to Long Beach opened in September 1990, followed by the tunnel into 7th Street/Metro Center in February 1991. The initial light rail segment cost US$ 877 million ($ 2.05 billion in 2023 adjusted for inflation). The route reached full capacity after one decade of service, and from 1999 to 2001,
6545-490: The Blue Line underwent a US$ 11 million project to lengthen 19 of its platforms to accommodate three-car trains. There were also plans since the 1980s to extend the Blue Line north to Pasadena but the connection through downtown was postponed due to funding constraints from the voter-approved 1998 Proposition A. The proposition restricted local county subway funding, halting the process of the Blue Line extension and other rail transit projects from advancing. The Blue Line
6664-529: The Blue Line's color designation and its Pacific Electric Red Car heritage. In 2000, Metro transferred all 15 Nippon Sharyo P2020 (numbered 154-168) light rail vehicles from the Green Line (now the C Line ) to the Blue Line fleet. These light rail vehicles were nearly identical to the older P865 model but were about five years newer and originally had equipment for automatic train operation . In 2012, Metro transferred some Siemens P2000 light rail vehicles from
6783-491: The French city of Bordeaux , the tramway network is powered by a third rail in the city center, where the tracks are not always segregated from pedestrians and cars. The third rail (actually two closely spaced rails) is placed in the middle of the track and divided into eight-metre sections, each of which is powered only while it is completely covered by a tram. This minimizes the risk of a person or animal coming into contact with
6902-482: The German word Stadtbahn , meaning "city railway". Different definitions exist in some countries, but in the United States, light rail operates primarily along exclusive rights-of-way and uses either individual tramcars or multiple units coupled together, with a lower capacity and speed than a long heavy rail passenger train or rapid transit system. Narrowly defined, light rail transit uses rolling stock that
7021-489: The L Line to the A Line. This enabled A Line trains to run from Long Beach to Azusa through the new tunnel. The southern ( Pico/Aliso – East LA ) segment was combined with the existing E Line between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica . The new east-west line kept the E Line name but uses the L Line's gold color. Two new stations were also constructed in the tunnel, providing more service to destinations and communities in Downtown Los Angeles. Formal studies and planning for
7140-529: The Long Beach Transit Mall while making a loop using 1st Street, Pacific Avenue, and 8th Street. A Line service hours are from approximately 4:30 a.m. and 11:45 p.m daily. Trains operate every 8 minutes during peak hours, Monday to Friday. Trains run every 10 minutes, during midday on weekdays and weekends, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Night and early morning service is approximately every 20 minutes every day. The full travel time of
7259-452: The Regional Connector began in 2004 and was approved in 2012. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 30, 2014, marking the start of major construction. To accommodate the new tunnel, the existing at-grade L Line Little Tokyo/Arts District station was demolished in 2020 and rebuilt as a subway station approximately 500 feet (150 m) south and on the opposite side of Alameda Street from its former location. Starting on April 9, 2023,
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#17330848805037378-568: The Southeast Gateway Line as part of the $ 1.3 billion Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program Cycle 7. Groundbreaking on advance utility relocation began on October 31, 2024. The Southeast Gateway Line is proposed as a 19.3-mile (31.1 km) light rail transit line that would connect downtown Los Angeles to Artesia . Along the route, it would also serve the communities of Vernon , Huntington Park , Bell , Cudahy , South Gate , Downey , Paramount , Bellflower and Cerritos in
7497-642: The US are the NJ Transit River Line from Camden to Trenton and Austin's Capital MetroRail , which have received exemptions to the provision that light rail operations occur only during daytime hours and Conrail freight service only at night, with several hours separating one operation from the other. The O-Train Trillium Line in Ottawa also has freight service at certain hours. With its mix of right-of-way types and train control technologies, LRT offers
7616-455: The US as a whole, excluding Seattle, new light rail construction costs average about $ 35 million per mile. By comparison, a freeway lane expansion typically costs $ 1.0 million to $ 8.5 million per lane mile for two directions, with an average of $ 2.3 million. However, freeways are frequently built in suburbs or rural areas, whereas light rail tends to be concentrated in urban areas, where right of way and property acquisition
7735-634: The United States and in North America . In Britain, modern light rail systems began to appear in the 1980s, starting with the Tyne and Wear Metro from 1980 and followed by the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London in 1987, continuing into the 1990s including the establishment of the Manchester Metrolink in 1992 and the Sheffield Supertram from 1994. Due to varying definitions, it
7854-583: The United States are limited by demand rather than capacity (by and large, most American LRT systems carry fewer than 4,000 persons per hour per direction), but Boston's and San Francisco's light rail lines carry 9,600 and 13,100 passengers per hour per track during rush hour. Elsewhere in North America, the Calgary C-Train and Monterrey Metro have higher light rail ridership than Boston or San Francisco. Systems outside North America often have much higher passenger volumes. The Manila Light Rail Transit System
7973-472: The United States, "light rail" has become a catch-all term to describe a wide variety of passenger rail systems. Light rail corridors may constitute a fully segregated corridor, a dedicated right-of-way on a street, an on-street corridor shared with other traffic, a corridor shared with other public transport, or a corridor shared with pedestrians. The most difficult distinction to draw is that between low-floor light rail and streetcar or tram systems. There
8092-415: The ability of buses to travel closer to each other than rail vehicles and their ability to overtake each other at designated locations allowing express services to bypass those that have stopped at stations. However, to achieve capacities this high, BRT station footprints need to be significantly larger than a typical LRT station. In terms of cost of operation, each bus vehicle requires a single driver, whereas
8211-459: The bus rapid transit J Line at 7th Street/Metro Center, Pico , and Grand/LATTC stations. The A and E Lines diverge at Flower Street and Washington Boulevard . E Line trains continue south along Flower Street, and the A Line turns east onto Washington Boulevard before turning south into the former Pacific Electric right of way at Long Beach Avenue. This historic rail corridor has four tracks, two for A Line trains and two for freight trains. Along
8330-862: The case of the Disney amusement parks , even a land train . (The usual British term for an aerial tramway is cable car , which in the US usually refers to a ground-level car pulled along by subterranean cables .) The word trolley is often used as a synonym for streetcar in the United States but is usually taken to mean a cart, particularly a shopping cart, in the UK and elsewhere. Many North American transportation planners reserve streetcar for traditional vehicles that operate exclusively in mixed traffic on city streets, while they use light rail to refer to more modern vehicles operating mostly in exclusive rights of way, since they may operate both side-by-side targeted at different passenger groups. The difference between British English and American English terminology arose in
8449-421: The closure of Glasgow Corporation Tramways (one of the largest in Europe) in 1962. Although some traditional trolley or tram systems continued to exist in San Francisco and elsewhere, the term "light rail" has come to mean a different type of rail system as modern light rail technology has primarily post-WWII West German origins. An attempt by Boeing Vertol to introduce a new American light rail vehicle in
8568-519: The completion of the project, incorporating the Union Station–Pasadena–Azusa portion of the L Line. Subsequently, the L Line ceased service, and as part of the project, three additional downtown stations opened in the constructed tunnel alignment. Construction is underway to extend the A Line further east to Pomona and Montclair . The A Line runs 48.5 miles (78.1 km) between Azusa and Downtown Long Beach , serving 44 stations. It
8687-492: The corridor, there are some flyovers to either eliminate grade crossings in more densely populated areas or pass over diverging freight tracks. Passengers can connect with the C Line at the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station . Just south of Willow Street station , A Line trains exit the rail corridor and begin street running in the median of Long Beach Boulevard into the city of Long Beach, where trains travel through
8806-415: The day. This combination of factors limits roads carrying only automobile commuters to a maximum observed capacity of about 3,000 passengers per hour per lane. The problem can be mitigated by introducing high-occupancy vehicle ( HOV ) lanes and ride-sharing programs, but in most cases, policymakers have chosen to add more lanes to the roads, despite a small risk that in unfavorable situations an extension of
8925-750: The direct translation, which is city rail (the Norwegian term, by bane , means the same). However, UMTA finally adopted the term light rail instead. Light in this context is used in the sense of "intended for light loads and fast movement", rather than referring to physical weight. The infrastructure investment is also usually lighter than would be found for a heavy rail system. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in its Glossary of Transit Terminology, defines light rail as: ...a mode of transit service (also called streetcar, tramway, or trolley) operating passenger rail cars singly (or in short, usually two-car or three-car, trains) on fixed rails in
9044-643: The earliest. Metro is evaluating an optional station in Cerritos at Bloomfield Avenue (just north of the Los Angeles-Orange county line) to facilitate a possible future extension into Orange County; it would eventually connect to the under-construction OC Streetcar , which also uses part of the Pacific Electric WSAB right-of-way. Metro is evaluating an optional station in South Gate at the confluence of
9163-407: The extension back to its full original plan of reaching Montclair. Once construction is completed, it will be the first Metro Rail line to cross into another southern California county. Provided that there is approval and funding from the state and San Bernardino County, further extensions of the line can be considered, including one for a terminus at Ontario International Airport . It is served by
9282-467: The freeway's median. In Old Pasadena , the line travels underground for almost half a mile, passing under Pasadena's main thoroughfare, Colorado Boulevard , which makes the Memorial Park station below grade. The station serves most of Pasadena's fine dining, shops, malls, and civic center. The line continues south through downtown Pasadena and South Pasadena , primarily at grade. North of Highland Park,
9401-505: The high ridership (over 70,000 per day) was a contributor: The MBL has one of the highest ridership counts for light rail lines in the Country. This factor is perhaps the most important contributor to the grade-crossing accident rate. The high ridership results in increased pedestrian traffic near stations compared to other light rail systems. In addition, although MTA Operations does not allow high passenger loads to dictate safe operations, there
9520-466: The issues with this section of track. Over 120 motorists and pedestrians have been killed at A Line level crossings since 1990. There have been more than 800 collisions, making the line easily the country's deadliest and most collision-prone rail line. In 1998, the MTA commissioned Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. to evaluate the cause of Blue Line collisions and recommend affordable solutions. The study reported
9639-453: The late 19th century when Americans adopted the term "street railway", rather than "tramway", with the vehicles being called "streetcars" rather than "trams". Some have suggested that the Americans' preference for the term "street railway" at that time was influenced by German emigrants to the United States (who were more numerous than British immigrants in the industrialized Northeast), as it is
9758-524: The latter is described as light rail. In those places, trams running on mixed rights-of-way are not regarded as a light rail but considered distinctly as streetcars or trams. However, the requirement for saying that a rail line is "separated" can be quite low—sometimes just with concrete "buttons" to discourage automobile drivers from getting onto the tracks. Some systems such as Seattle's Link had on-road mixed sections but were closed to regular road traffic, with light rail vehicles and buses both operating along
9877-455: The light rail concept was the "Shaker Heights Rapid Transit" which started in the 1920s, was renovated in 1980-81 and is now part of RTA Rapid Transit . Many original tram and streetcar systems in the United Kingdom , United States , and elsewhere were decommissioned starting in the 1950s as subsidies for the car increased. Britain abandoned its tram systems, except for Blackpool , with
9996-559: The line continues, with a handful of stations serving the hillside areas north of downtown, including Lincoln Heights , Mount Washington , and the Southwest Museum of the American Indian . Northeast of Chinatown , the line crosses over the Los Angeles River on an elevated viaduct. Continuing on the elevated viaduct, the line stops at Chinatown station before arriving at Union Station . At Union Station, passengers can transfer to
10115-594: The line crosses over the Arroyo Seco Parkway (State Route 110) via the Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge towards Highland Park . After Highland Park station , the line runs in the median of Marmion Way, where trains go at only 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). After Avenue 50, the line runs primarily at grade in its own right of way, except for a short tunnel underneath the intersection of Figueroa Street and Pasadena Avenue. From here,
10234-455: The line merges with the E Line. The two lines turn west to run under 2nd Street and the 2nd Street Tunnel , as well as the B and D lines, with clearances as low as 7 feet (2.1 m). The Regional Connector tunnel connects to the north end of 7th Street/Metro Center station , the former northern terminal of the A Line. The line continues south along Flower Street, transitioning from underground to street level at 11th St. Passengers can connect to
10353-513: The line parallels Duarte Road, entering Monrovia , before diverging northwest just before arriving at Monrovia station . Entering Arcadia , the line crosses all street crossings on bridges except for First Avenue at the at-grade Arcadia station . Continuing west, the line reconverges with and enters the median of I-210 and continues west to Sierra Madre Villa station in Pasadena . Six stations serve different parts of Pasadena, with three of them in
10472-465: The old and new systems. Since the 1980s, Portland, Oregon , has built all three types of system: a high-capacity light rail system in dedicated lanes and rights-of-way, a low-capacity streetcar system integrated with street traffic, and an aerial tram system . The opposite phrase heavy rail , used for higher-capacity, higher-speed systems, also avoids some incompatibilities in terminology between British and American English, for instance in comparing
10591-431: The opening of the Regional Connector, ridership on the A Line continues to increase, potentially resulting in even more capacity problems. One of the biggest constraints on the capacity of the A and E lines is the at-grade section along Flower Street in Downtown Los Angeles, especially Pico Station and the wye junction at Flower and Washington. Pico Station serves both lines and cannot be bypassed, so service on both lines
10710-455: The original right of way of the former Pacific Electric Long Beach Line . Since its opening, the line has undergone numerous upgrades to improve its capacity, safety, and reliability. Plans to extend the line north to Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley surfaced in the 1980s but were postponed due to funding constraints. The Gold Line (renamed the L Line in 2020) completed a segment of the planned extension from Union Station to Pasadena on
10829-668: The original Gold Line to Pasadena, and the first phase of the Foothill Extension is being built by the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority. The original plan called for the extension to end at Montclair in San Bernardino County , but budget challenges forced the construction authority to cut the line back to Pomona and delay further construction. On July 9, 2024, the state of California released $ 500 million in funding to A Line extension projects, with San Bernardino County funding an extra $ 80 million, effectively reverting
10948-741: The peak direction during rush hour. A Line (Los Angeles Metro) The A Line (formerly and colloquially known as the Blue Line ) is a light rail line in Los Angeles County, California . It is one of the six lines of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). The A Line serves 44 stations and runs east-west between Azusa and Pasadena , then north-south between Pasadena and Long Beach , interlining and sharing five stations with
11067-495: The planning stage for two decades. Metro estimates it will take 10 years to build, starting in 2025 and opening in 2035. On January 22, 2024, the line's new name was announced by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn to be the Southeast Gateway Line. On March 29, 2024, Metro publicly published the final environmental impact report (EIR) for the project, pending certification by the Metro board of directors. The FTA
11186-521: The proposed plans, design for the initial segment would be complete by 2021 and construction would begin in 2022. By 2022, the Metro Board backed the Union Station option as the northern terminus. Construction on the segment south of Slauson is expected to begin construction in 2025 with an estimated opening of 2035. The second phase north of Slauson to Union Station is expected to be completed in 2043 at
11305-540: The required clearance height can be reduced significantly compared to conventional light rail vehicles. Reference speed from major light rail systems, including station stop time, is shown below. However, low top speed is not always a differentiating characteristic between light rail and other systems. For example, the Siemens S70 LRVs used in the Houston METRORail and other North American LRT systems have
11424-743: The right of way with freight rail between Willowbrook station and Artesia station. The gates prevent drivers from going around lowered gates. Metro also improved the safety of the A Line's pedestrian crossings by 2018. On Metro Rail's internal timetables, the A Line is called line 801 . Because of the length of the line, operators do not take trains from end to end, swapping out at Union Station. Trains are operated between APU/Citrus College and Union Station by employees based at Division 24 in Monrovia. Between Long Beach and Union Station, operators are based out of Division 11 in Rancho Dominguez. The A Line
11543-432: The right-of-way that is often separated from other traffic for part or much of the way. Light rail vehicles are typically driven electrically with power being drawn from an overhead electric line via a trolley [pole] or a pantograph ; driven by an operator onboard the vehicle; and may have either high platform loading or low-level boarding using steps." However, some diesel-powered transit is designated light rail, such as
11662-415: The road network might lead to increased travel times ( Downs–Thomson paradox , Braess's paradox ). By contrast, light rail vehicles can travel in multi-car trains carrying a theoretical ridership up to 20,000 passengers per hour in much narrower rights-of-way , not much more than two car lanes wide for a double track system. They can often be run through existing city streets and parks , or placed in
11781-401: The roads. Typically roadways have 1,900 passenger cars per lane per hour (pcplph). If only cars are allowed, the capacity will be less and will not increase when the traffic volume increases. When there is a bus driving on this route, the capacity of the lane will be higher and will increase when the traffic level increases. And because the capacity of a light rail system is higher than that of
11900-613: The same as the German term for the mode, Straßenbahn (meaning "street railway"). A further difference arose because, while Britain abandoned all of its trams after World War II except in Blackpool , eight major North American cities ( Toronto , Boston , Philadelphia , San Francisco , Pittsburgh , Newark , Cleveland , and New Orleans ) continued to operate large streetcar systems. When these cities upgraded to new technology, they called it light rail to differentiate it from their existing streetcars since some continued to operate both
12019-406: The slow traffic speeds around the line that leads to more risk-taking behavior, and the shared right of way with freight traffic in the fastest running section from Washington station to Willow station, where trains operate at a maximum of 55 mph (89 km/h) between stations. Due to this, Metro started in the early 2000s to install four-quadrant gates at crossings where the A Line shares
12138-574: The southeast area of the county. The southern portion route, east and south of Slauson, leaves the A Line corridor via the former Pacific Electric Whittier Line , continues south on a former Union Pacific Railroad line (Florence/Salt Lake to Paramount/Rosecrans), and then transitions to the old Santa Ana right of way (south of Paramount/Rosecrans). These corridors are owned by the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and Metro, requiring minimal property acquisition. The northern alignment through Downtown Los Angeles
12257-475: The southern terminus at Pioneer. In November 2018, Metro removed the A Line stations north of Slauson from the study area, citing redundant service and expedited travel times as the prime reasons. In 2019, Metro announced that as part of its design analysis, it would study opening the line in two stages, with the initial opening $ 1 billion segment running from Pioneer Station in Artesia north to Slauson Station on
12376-408: The standard gauge is that standard railway maintenance equipment can be used on it, rather than custom-built machinery. Using standard gauges also allows light rail vehicles to be conveniently moved around using the same tracks as freight railways. Additionally, wider gauges (e.g. standard gauge) provide more floor clearance on low-floor trams that have constricted pedestrian areas at the wheels, which
12495-465: The stations (including the six future stations) of the A Line, from north to south: Much of the initial segment of the A Line from Downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach follows the route of the Pacific Electric 's Long Beach Line , which ended service in 1961. The old route gave the new light rail trains a private right of way between Washington and Willow Street stations allowing them to reach higher speeds between stops. The line initially opened as
12614-551: The system was a success with the public, gaining up to 190,000 passengers per day. Automatic train operation is employed on light rail networks, tracking the position and speed of a train and hence adjusting its movement for safety and efficiency. One line of light rail (requires 7.6 m, 25' right of way) has a theoretical capacity of up to 8 times more than one 3.7 m (12 foot) lane on a freeway, excluding busses, during peak times. Roads have ultimate capacity limits that can be determined by traffic engineering , and usually experience
12733-499: The trams, making it safe on city streets. Several systems in Europe and a few recently opened systems in North America use diesel -powered trains. When electric streetcars were introduced in the late 19th century, conduit current collection was one of the first ways of supplying power, but it proved to be much more expensive, complicated, and trouble-prone than overhead wires . When electric street railways became ubiquitous, conduit power
12852-455: The vast majority of light rail systems. This avoids the danger potentially presented by an electrified third rail . The Docklands Light Railway uses an inverted third rail for its electrical power, which allows the electrified rail to be covered and the power drawn from the underside. Trams in Bordeaux , France, use a special third-rail configuration where the power is only switched on beneath
12971-434: The widest range of latitude of any rail system in the design, engineering, and operating practices. The challenge in designing light rail systems is to realize the potential of LRT to provide fast, comfortable service while avoiding the tendency to overdesign that results in excessive capital costs beyond what is necessary to meet the public's needs. The BART railcar in the following chart is not generally considered to be
13090-777: The yard via the cross tracks on the north and south sides of the junction. Division 24 is located south of the I-210 freeway in Monrovia between Monrovia and Duarte/City of Hope stations. Just like Division 11, trains access the yard via the westbound/southbound tracks from either direction of its wye junction. Crossovers from the eastbound track to the yard junction are located near the California Avenue and Mountain Avenue railroad crossings. The A Line operates trains with three light rail vehicles on weekdays and two on weekends. The line currently uses three different types of light rail vehicles:
13209-562: Was assigned to the E Line, extending it to connect Santa Monica and East Los Angeles directly. At this time, the L Line ceased to exist as a separate line. Phase 2B of the Foothill Extension, running between APU/Citrus College station in Azusa and the Pomona–North Metrolink station in Pomona, is currently under construction, with a current estimated completion in 2025. This extension, like
13328-527: Was coined in 1972 by the U.S. Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA; the precursor to the Federal Transit Administration ) to describe new streetcar transformations that were taking place in Europe and the United States. In Germany, the term Stadtbahn (to be distinguished from S-Bahn , which stands for Stadtschnellbahn ) was used to describe the concept, and many in UMTA wanted to adopt
13447-510: Was extended east from Pasadena as part of Phase 2A (Phase 1 was the initial Los Angeles to Pasadena segment) of the Foothill Extension , running between Sierra Madre Villa and APU/Citrus College stations in Azusa. The extension was constructed by the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority and added six new stations to the Gold Line serving the cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, and Azusa. A groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 2A
13566-481: Was held on June 26, 2010; construction began the following summer and was completed in September 2015, with the extension entering service on March 5, 2016. Like other lines in the Los Angeles Metro system, the Gold Line's designation became a letter in 2020. This was the beginning of a process where all Metro Rail and Busway lines would be identified by a letter name rather than a system of colors. The Gold Line
13685-662: Was introduced in North America in 1972 to describe this new concept of rail transportation. Prior to that time the abbreviation "LRT" was used for " Light Rapid Transit " and " Light Rail Rapid Transit ". The first of the new light rail systems in North America began operation in 1978 when the Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta , adopted the German Siemens-Duewag U2 system, followed three years later by Calgary, Alberta , and San Diego, California . The concept proved popular, with there now being numerous light rail systems in
13804-400: Was renamed to the L Line. The Regional Connector Transit Project constructed a 1.9-mile (3.1 km) light rail tunnel across Downtown Los Angeles that connected A and E lines to the L Line, with the purpose of reducing transfers and travel times through downtown. The project completed the late 1990s vision of the "Pasadena Blue Line," connecting the northern (Union Station–Azusa) segment of
13923-504: Was renovated in 2019, with the southern half of the line being closed for the first five months and the northern half closing for the following five months (10 months total). Metro provided a bus shuttle service to compensate for the lack of rail service. Metro officially reopened the line on November 2, 2019, rebranding it as the A Line. The renovation helped improve the line's speed and reliability by replacing and modernizing old tracks, signals, train control systems, and bridges. Much of
14042-610: Was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. It initially drew current from the rails, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. The first interurban to emerge in the United States was the Newark and Granville Street Railway in Ohio, which opened in 1889. An early example of
14161-517: Was used in those cities that did not permit overhead wires. In Europe, it was used in London, Paris, Berlin, Marseille, Budapest, and Prague. In the United States, it was used in parts of New York City and Washington, D.C. Third rail technology was investigated for use on the Gold Coast of Australia for the G:link light rail, though power from overhead lines was ultimately utilized for that system. In
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