Metro Gold Line
Metro Gold Line train using AnsaldoBreda P2550 trains at Atlantic Station.
Overview
Type	Light rail
System	Metro Rail
Status	In service
Termini	Sierra Madre Villa Atlantic
Stations	21
Daily ridership	42,417 weekday daily boardings (Oct 2012)[1][2]
Line number	804
Website	Gold Line
Operation
Opened	July 26, 2003
Operator(s)	Metro (LACMTA)
Character	Mostly at-grade in private right-of-way, with some street-running, elevated and underground sections.
Depot(s)	Division 21 (Chinatown)
Rolling stock	AnsaldoBreda P2550
Technical
Line length	19.7 mi (31.7 km)
Track length	two or three cars
No. of tracks	2, 3 near Mission Station
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC overhead catenary
Route map Legend Atlantic East L.A. Civic Center Maravilla Interstate 710 State Route 60 Indiana Soto Mariachi Plaza Pico/Aliso Metrolink Los Angeles River Metrolink and Amtrak Future Regional Connector Little Tokyo/Arts District U.S. Route 101 Union Station Connections: Metrolink, Amtrak, & FlyAway        Union Station Chinatown Los Angeles River Yard Los Angeles River Metrolink and Amtrak Interstate 5 Lincoln/Cypress Arroyo Seco Low Bridge State Route 110 Heritage Square Figueroa Street Southwest Museum Highland Park State Route 110 Arroyo Seco High Bridge South Pasadena State Route 110 Fillmore Del Mar Memorial Park Lake Allen Sierra Madre Villa Arcadia Wash Arcadiaopens 2015 Santa Anita Canyon Monroviaopens 2015 Monrovia Canyon Duarte/City of Hopeopens 2015 Interstate 605 San Gabriel River Irwindaleopens 2015 Interstate 210 Azusa Downtownopens 2015 APU/Citrus Collegeopens 2015 This route map: view talk edit

The Gold Line is a light rail running from Pasadena 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).

Service description [edit]

Route [edit]

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 Third Street to Indiana Street, where it turns north for two blocks to First 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 (Interstate 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 Sierra Madre city limit.

Ridership [edit]

Following the extension to East Los Angeles, the line's ridership increased to more than 34,000 daily boardings.^[1] As of October 2012, average weekday daily boardings stand at 42,417.^[1][2]

Speed [edit]

The Gold Line takes 54 minutes^[3] to travel its 19.7-mile (31.7 km) length.^[4] This means the Gold Line averages 21.9 mph (35 km/h) over its length, making the Gold Line the slowest of all of Metro Rail's lines. In particular, the Gold Line is slow through the Highland Park area, where trains reach speeds of only 20 mph (32 km/h), and through the curves, where trains travel at about 25 mph (40 km/h).

History [edit]

Planning [edit]

The Gold Line's initial route was formerly the right-of-way of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, where passenger trains like the Southwest Chief and the Desert Wind once operated, until Amtrak service was re-routed along the Southern Transcon to San Bernardino via Fullerton.

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 the LACMTA. 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 Blue Line. Making that connection as originally planned would require a new "Regional Connector" to connect Metro Center with Union Station. Because this light rail line did not connect to the Blue Line, to avoid confusion the line was given a different color. The Rose Line was a strong contender because of Pasadena's Rose Bowl and Rose Parade. Because planned extensions would go beyond Pasadena, the LACMTA board voted to name the line the "Gold Line".

Operation [edit]

Gold Line Maravilla station under construction in December 2008.

The original Gold Line, between Union Station and Sierra Madre Villa, opened in July 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 on 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 were 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.^[5]

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 the 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.^[6]

In November 2009, Metro opened the first phase of the Gold Line Eastside Extension. The project extended the Gold Line from Union Station to Atlantic Blvd. near Monterey Park. The extended route now serves Little Tokyo, Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles. The project added eight stations.

Proposed developments [edit]

Foothill Extension [edit]

Map of the Gold Line, with the Foothill Extension along the top.

Metro and the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority plan to extend the Gold Line beyond Pasadena into the northeastern part of the county. The Gold Line Foothill Extension project will extend the Gold Line through the foothill region to Montclair, California. The Construction Authority is also working to extend the line even further, to Ontario, California.

Eastside Extension Phase 2 [edit]

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 the San Gabriel River.

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).^[7]

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

Regional Connector Transit Corridor [edit]

Once the Regional Connector Transit Corridor is constructed, the northern leg of the Gold Line through the San Gabriel Valley 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 by that time will be running between downtown Los Angeles and near the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. Names and/or colors for these new lines have not yet been determined. In the construction of this project, the current Gold Line Little Tokyo station will be demolished, and a new below grade station will be constructed.

Station listing [edit]

The following table lists the current stations of the Gold Line, from south to north.

Station	Station Connections	Date Opened	City/ Neighborhood
Atlantic	Metro Local: 260 Metro Rapid: 762 Montebello Transit: 10, 40, 341, 342 El Sol: City Terrace/ELAC, Whittier Blvd/Saybrook Park	November 15, 2009	East Los Angeles
East L.A. Civic Center	Metro Local: 258 Montebello Transit:40 El Sol: City Terrace/ELAC, Union Pacific/Salazar Park, Whittier Blvd/Saybrook Park	November 15, 2009
Maravilla	Metro Local: 256 Montebello Transit: 40 El Sol: Union Pacific/Salazar Park, Whittier Blvd/Saybrook Park	November 15, 2009
Indiana	Metro Local: 30, 68 Shuttle (Weekdays Only), 254, 620, 665 Montebello Transit: 40 Whittier Blvd/Saybrook Park	November 15, 2009
Soto	Metro Local: 30, 251, 252, 605 Metro Rapid: 751	November 15, 2009	Boyle Heights
Mariachi Plaza	Metro Local: 30, 620	November 15, 2009
Pico/Aliso	Metro Local: 30	November 15, 2009
Little Tokyo/Arts District	Metro Local: 30, 40 Metro Rapid: 730 LADOT: DASH Routes: A, D	November 15, 2009
Union Station	Metro Red Line   Metro Purple Line   Metro Silver Line   Metro Local: 40, 68, 70, 71, 78 79, 378 Metro Express:485, 487, 489 Metro Rapid: 704, 728, 733, 740, 745, 770 Foothill Transit: Silver Streak Amtrak Metrolink	July 26, 2003
Chinatown	Metro Local: 45, 76, 81, 83, 84, 90, 91, 94, 96 Metro Rapid: 794 LADOT DASH: B, Lincoln Heights/Chinatown; Commuter Express: 409, 419	July 26, 2003
Lincoln/Cypress	Metro Local:81, 84, 90, 91, 94, 251 Metro Rapid: 751, 794	July 26, 2003
Heritage Square	Metro Local: 81, 83	July 26, 2003
Southwest Museum	Metro Local: 81, 83	July 26, 2003
Highland Park	Metro Local: 81, 83, 256 DASH: Highland Park/Eagle Rock	July 26, 2003
South Pasadena	Metro Local: 176	July 26, 2003	South Pasadena
Fillmore	Metro Local: 260, 686, 687 Metro Rapid: 762	July 26, 2003	Pasadena
Del Mar	Metro Local: 177, 256, 260, 686, 687 Metro Rapid: 762	July 26, 2003
Memorial Park	Metro Local: 180, 181, 256, 260, 267, 686, 687 Metro Rapid: 762, 780	July 26, 2003
Lake	Metro Local: 180 Metro Express: 485	July 26, 2003
Allen	Metro Local: 256, 686	July 26, 2003
Sierra Madre Villa	Metro Local: 181, 264, 266, 268 Metro Express: 487 Foothill Transit: 187	July 26, 2003

Operations [edit]

A new Breda P2550 train at Highland Park

The Gold Line is operated out of the Division 21 Yard (Los Angeles River Yard) located on Elysian Park Drive overlooking the Los Angeles River. This yard stores the fleet used on the Gold Line. It is also where maintenance is done on the fleet. Trains access this yard via a single track junction near North Broadway. Northbound Trains may enter without difficulty, while soutbound trains must transfer onto a side track then reverse into the yard.

Rolling stock [edit]

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 September 2010, the Gold Line uses two types of LRV: Siemens P2000 LRVs and AnsaldoBreda P2550 LRVs. As of January 2010, the Metro Gold Line has 53 active cars (227–242, 244–250, 301, 302, 704–742).

The Metro Gold Line has approximately 31 AnsaldoBreda P2550 cars (701–750) in use. Currently, cars 704–742 are in service. P2550s have been featured in many television ads by Metro. Metro plans to transfer the Gold Line's Siemens P2000 trains to the Blue Line to transfer some overhauled Nippon Sharyo P850 (100–153) cars to Expo Phase 1 while the Ansaldobreda P2550 cars will replace the Siemens P2000 trains on the Gold Line.

Commemorative cars [edit]

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".^[8]

Advertising [edit]

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.

Gallery [edit]

• 

  Gold Line train platform at Union Station.

• 

  Gold Line train crosses W Avenue 33 at Artesian St with gates down, northeast of Lincoln Heights / Cypress Park Station

• 

  Gold Line train runs through South Pasadena.

• 

  Memorial Park Station in Pasadena. This station is in an open cut. Memorial Park is to the left and the Holly Street Apartments are directly above the tracks

Incidents [edit]

The following noteworthy incidents have occurred on the Gold Line since opening.

• August 12, 2004 – An SUV flipped and crashed into the center wall of the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) near the Madre Street exit killing three and injuring five others, including an 8-year-old boy who was hurled onto the adjacent Metro Gold Line tracks where his foot was severed by a passing train. No train passengers were hurt. Investigators believe the driver drifted to the right and then swerved to the left to avoid hitting another vehicle.^[9]

• 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.^[10][11]

• 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.^[12][13][14]

• 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.^[15][16]

• 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.^[17]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Gold Line Eastside Extension website
• Gold Line schedule
• Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority

v t e Gold Line Stations Allen Atlantic Chinatown Del Mar East LA Civic Center Fillmore Heritage Square Highland Park Indiana Lake Lincoln/Cypress Little Tokyo/Arts District Maravilla Mariachi Plaza Memorial Park Pico/Aliso Sierra Madre Villa Soto South Pasadena Southwest Museum Union Station Under construction Arcadia Azusa Downtown APU/Citrus College Duarte/City of Hope Irwindale Monrovia Metro Rail Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

v t e Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro services Metro Rail Metro Red Line Metro Purple Line Metro Blue Line Metro Green Line Metro Gold Line Metro Expo Line Metro Transitway Metro Orange Line Metro Silver Line Metro Bus Metro Local (routes) Metro Rapid Metro Express Facilities and stations Union Station Metro Rail stations Metro Transitway stations El Monte Busway Harbor Transitway MTA Building Capital projects Expo Line (Phase 2) Gold Line Foothill Extension Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor Purple Line Extension Regional Connector Transit Corridor Historic Downtown Los Angeles Streetcar Other information Bus fleet Rail fleet Transit Access Pass (TAP) Transportation in Los Angeles Metrolink

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