E Line (Los Angeles Metro)
The E Line is a light rail line that runs between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The line is named after Exposition Boulevard, which it runs alongside for most of its route. It is one of the six lines in the Metro Rail system, and is operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The E Line largely follows the right-of-way of the former Pacific Electric Santa Monica Air Line. Passenger service ended in 1953; freight-only service ended by March 1988. Several Expo Line stations are built in the same location as Air Line stations, although no original station structures have been reused.
Metro renamed the current Expo Line as E Line in late 2019, while retaining its aqua coloring. When the Regional Connector is complete in 2022, the current E Line will be joined with the Eastside portion of the Gold Line to create an extended E Line, which will be colored gold on maps.
Service description
Construction
An independent agency, the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, was given the authority to plan, design and construct the line by state law in 2003. After construction of the second phase was completed, the line was handed over on January 15, 2016, to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.The line was built in two phases; the first phase comprised the section between Downtown Los Angeles and Culver City. Construction began in early 2006 and most stations opened to the public on April 28, 2012. The Culver City and Farmdale stations opened on June 20, 2012.
Design and construction on the portion between Culver City and Santa Monica started in September 2011. Testing along the phase 2 segment began on April 6, 2015, and the segment opened on May 20, 2016.
Hours of operation
The E Line operates from approximately 4:30 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. on weekdays and until 2:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.Headways
As of December 2016, trains run approximately every 6 minutes during peak hours, every 12 minutes during middays, every 10 minutes during the evening, and every 20 minutes after midnight.Speed
Maximum speed on the route is : speeds within Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Santa Monica are reduced.History
The Expo Line largely follows right of way used by the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad steam railroad, built in 1875, which was converted by Pacific Electric to electric traction and operated as the Santa Monica Air Line by 1920, providing both freight and passenger service between Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Passenger service and freight service stopped in 1988. Local advocacy groups including Friends 4 Expo Transit supported the successful passage of Proposition C in 1990, which allowed the purchase of the entire right-of-way from Southern Pacific by Metro.Metro released a Major Investment Study in 2000 which compared bus rapid transit and light rail transit options along what was now known as the "Mid-City/Exposition Corridor"; construction of the first phase to Culver City began in mid-2006, and most stations opened to the public on April 28, 2012. The Culver City and Farmdale stations opened on June 20, 2012.
Design and construction of the portion between Culver City and Santa Monica started in September 2011. Testing along the phase 2 segment began on April 6, 2015, and the segment opened on May 20, 2016.
The New Blue Closure
On June 1, 2019, the northern half of the Metro Blue Line closed. The Expo Line terminated at 23rd Street starting on June 22, 2019. Bus shuttles replaced train service between LATTC/Ortho Institute Station and 7th Street/Metro Center Station starting on June 22, 2019 through late August.On August 19, 2019, Metro announced that Expo Line service to the Pico and 7th Street/Metro Center stations would resume with the start of service on August 24, 2019.
Proposed developments
Regional Connector Transit Project
The Regional Connector is an under-construction light-rail subway corridor through Downtown Los Angeles that is to connect the current Blue and Expo Lines to the current Gold Line, and to allow a seamless one-seat ride between the Blue and Expo lines' current 7th Street/Metro Center terminus and Union Station.Once the Regional Connector is completed, the Blue, Expo, and Gold Lines will be simplified into two rail lines: a north-south line connecting Long Beach and Azusa, and an east-west line connecting Santa Monica and East Los Angeles.
In 2019, Metro began using a renaming system where each rail and bus rapid transit line receives a letter and color. As a result, the Expo Line became the E Line in 2019, and will be recolored from aqua to gold upon completion of the Regional Connector.
The groundbreaking for the project took place on September 30, 2014, and the alignment is expected to be in public service by mid 2022.
Station listing
The following is the complete list of stations from Downtown Los Angeles traveling west.| Station | Date opened | City/Neighborhood | Major connections and notes |
| February 15, 1991 | Los Angeles | Connects with,, and | |
| July 14, 1990 | Los Angeles | Connects with and | |
| April 28, 2012 | Los Angeles | Connects with | |
| April 28, 2012 | Los Angeles | ||
| April 28, 2012 | Los Angeles | ||
| April 28, 2012 | Los Angeles | ||
| April 28, 2012 | Los Angeles | ||
| April 28, 2012 | Los Angeles | Park and ride: 450 stalls | |
| June 20, 2012 | Los Angeles | ||
| April 28, 2012 | Los Angeles | ||
| April 28, 2012 | Los Angeles | Park and ride: 494 stalls | |
| June 20, 2012 | Culver City | ||
| May 20, 2016 | Los Angeles | ||
| May 20, 2016 | Los Angeles | ||
| May 20, 2016 | Los Angeles | Park and ride: 260 stalls | |
| May 20, 2016 | Los Angeles | Park and ride: 217 stalls | |
| May 20, 2016 | Santa Monica | ||
| May 20, 2016 | Santa Monica | Park and ride: 65 stalls | |
| May 20, 2016 | Santa Monica |
Operations
Maintenance facilities
Previously, the light rail vehicles used on the Expo Line were maintained at the division 11 yard in Long Beach, California, the same maintenance facility that is used by the Blue Line. However, the new division 14 yard, located east of Stewart Street and north of Exposition Boulevard in the vicinity of the 26th Street/Bergamot station in Santa Monica, was opened with the completion of Phase 2.Rolling stock
Compatible with the rest of Metro's light-rail network, the Expo Line shares standard Metro light rail vehicles with the Blue Line. Metro estimates that it has 47 light rail cars to provide service on the Expo Line under the peak-hour assumption of 3-car trains running at 6-minute headways.Bikeway
The Expo Line Bikeway parallels the route of the light rail line, and includes a mixture of bike lanes on Exposition Boulevard and off-street paths alongside the rail tracks.Incidents
- On November 29, 2018, a pedestrian was struck and killed. The man had been attempting to cross the tracks.
- On January 15, 2019, a passenger fell from the platform, between the cars, and was dragged to death. They "have not yet been able to identify the individual as pieces of the victim’s body are spread out."