Expo Line to power up to Culver City tonight

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UPDATE: Source reader and photographer Dwight Sturtevant has many photos of trains running to and from Culver City on his Flickr photostream.

The overhead electrical wires that deliver power to Expo Line trains is scheduled to be turned on early Tuesday evening, meaning test trains will be able to run between the La Cienega/Jefferson station and the Culver City station at Venice and Robertson.

No opening date has been announced for the Culver City segment of the line — the last station that is part of the first phase of the project. Work on the Culver City station and parking lot has been proceeding and is almost complete.

In the meantime, grading work on the second phase of the Expo Line between Culver City and Santa Monica is also gearing up. Here’s the construction notice from the Expo Line Construction Authority.

 

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14 replies ›

  1. ( From Hello Expo on Facebook) Self-powered testing in Culver City has started. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc, will test the Culver City interlocking crossover near Hayden Ave. This interlocking crossover will be used to turn the trains around once the Culver City Station opens. Currently the interlocking crossover just east of La Cienega is being used to turn the trains around.

    Once Balfour Beatty Infrastructure finishes testing, Metro will start prevenue operations, which means revenue trains will unboard all passengers at La Cienega and continue to all the way to Culver City and then come back and board the passengers at La Cienega. The city wants the line to be opened on June 20, 2012.

  2. After riding the new Expo line,i see there are to many unnecessary stops and lights that could be eliminated with just better timing. The pedestrian’s lights need better timing for the train and pedestrians
    To long of unnecessary waits for both.

  3. What a giant disappointment that the Culver City station did not open with the rest of the line, even after months of delays on the opening! The most important station, the end of the line station, that truly connect Culver City with Downtown and W. Adams.
    Can’t plan anything in advance with Metro.

    Contractors should be fined..
    Leave it to Metro to leave passages in the middle of nowhere again! Hope it’s open before summer is over.

  5. Is there any way to open the section of the bikeway between stations sooner? Cyclists coming from the west tend to ride on National from Venice to get to the station at the end of the line now. That not a very bike-friendly section of road, as it’s narrow in places and car speeds can be high. Then there’s the blind curve under the Expo. The new path looks very comfortable, so I hope to ride there as soon as possable. Maybe a temporary entrance to the west end of the path if the Washington and National intersection tconstruction is going to take awhile? This construction scedule is diverting many cyclists onto a unusually hazardous part of the road to get to the Expo.

  6. While we wait for the CC station to be completed — open up the adjacent bikeway in the meantime!!

  7. Conor, valid point. But there are many projects in the pipeline (I would guess they won’t start work until 2013 though), and also the Helms bakery complex (with Father’s Office) is actually much closer to the station than DT CC.

  9. Cool. It will be interesting to see what kind of TOD will develop around said station. Right now the super immediate vicinity (closer than downtown Culver) in terms of pedestrian friendly amenities seems to be lacking. I’m sure this will change (I have seen there are big plans by Culver City) so that people are more inclined to walk the relatively short distance between the station and downtown Culver to feel like the station area is welcoming. We don’t want to hear this from people, “hmm, im not sure about taking transit there because the walk from the station feels a bit sketchy ya know” Not saying I would necessarily feel that way but many might.

  10. I am really happy to hear that the power is being turned on all the way to Robertson.. When that station opens up for service, I am sure ridership will increas by leaps and bounds .Robertson Station will be more convienent to many more riders.. I am looking foward to its opening

  12. What do you mean grading work is going to begin soon? Is this similar to the la brea, la cienega and culver city stations? Like the bridges over the streets?

  13. I’ve been taking Expo Line and I’m looking really forward to Culver City opening. It’s right off the Robertson Blvd exit from the 10, whereas to get to La Cienega and Jefferson you have to travel about a mile off the freeway. Also, Robertson is where the 10 starts to get jammed in the morning; it will be sweet to be able to get off there and get right to the train!