L.A. Metro’s E (Expo Line) celebrates 10th anniversary of first segment opening

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its E (Expo) Line, which opened April 2012 between 7th/Metro in downtown L.A. and La Cienega/Jefferson Station. 

In the time since, there have been 127 million boardings on the light-rail line, which opened to Culver City in June 2012 and then to Santa Monica in 2016. 

Much of the line was built atop an old rail line — which dated to 1875 — that was used by Pacific Electric streetcars until 1953 and a few freight trains until 1987. The right-of-way was acquired by L.A. Metro, which saw the corridor as a viable way to start building rail transit along the I-10 corridor and to the Westside. The original segment cost $932 million and included 10 new stations and two stations shared with the A (Blue) Line. 

Two current Metro Rail projects nearing completion will make the E Line even better. Riders will be able to transfer the upcoming Crenshaw/LAX Line at Expo/Crenshaw Station for rides south and, eventually, to LAX. And L.A. Metro’s Regional Connector project will allow E Line trains to continue to the Civic Center, Little Tokyo and Arts District in DTLA and then on to East Los Angeles. 

The E Line has proven to be a catalyst for major development in the corridor, including a new transit-oriented development — the Expo/Crenshaw project, a development with L.A. County that will have 400 residential units, including affordable housing, retail, and community space. To better integrate bicycling with transit, L.A. Metro included bike parking at all stations and a bike path parallel to the light-rail tracks.