Heads up! More frequent Expo Line testing between Palms and SaMo

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Please see the notice and map above. Hours of testing will vary — it’s best to assume these are active tracks and to look both ways and obey all traffic and pedestrian signals.

Also, as reported by Santa Monica Next, the Expo Line Construction Authority handed over the mainline tracks to Metro on Friday. The Authority still must hand over the project’s rail yard in Santa Monica to Metro. Once that happens, an opening date can be set.

The Construction Authority is the independent agency charged with building the project, which was built in two phases. The first segment between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City opened in 2012. The $1.5-billion second phase completes the line to Santa Monica and adds seven new stations. The project was largely funded by Measure R, the half-cent sales tax increase approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008.

Here are some images of train testing taken in latter half of 2015:

The entrance to the Palms station.
The stairwell to the elevated Sepulveda station near the intersection of Sepulveda and Pico in West L.A.
The Westwood/Rancho Park Station.
Looking east from Westwood Boulevard to the Westwood/Rancho Park Station platform.
A test train headed west along Colorado Avenue.
Crossing 17th Street and headed to downtown Santa Monica.
A test train just east of Bergamot Station.
Heading up and over Olympic Boulevard.
A test train at Bergamot Station.
A train just east of the 17th Street Station. Photo by Steve Hymon/Metro.
A test train just west of Bergamot Station.
A test train heading east over Pico Boulevard and the undercrossing of the 405.
A test train crossing Sepulveda Boulevard earlier this year.
The Expo Line was sadly ineligible to participate in Take Two’s big LAUS to DTSM race. Photo: Steve Hymon/Metro.
Expo Line testing at the Downtown SaMo station in July.

 

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7 replies ›

  2. Also, the Palms station seems to be the ONLY one in the entire Metro system that has TWO (2) elevators adjacent to each other at a single end of the platform. Am I correct, Steve?

  3. I’m more convinced that Expo Line Phase 2 to Santa Monica will open in late April/early May. My prediction of an April 23 opening (close to the 4th anniversary of the opening of Phase 1 of Expo Line) just might be correct

    • I’m leaning toward a June-July opening. Metro is taking six months on the Gold Line from Sept 2015 acceptance to March 2016 opening.
      In the meantime, hopefully the fine Santa Monica locals won’t ‘roll any logs’ related to pedestrian incursions on Colorado Blvd. The city is talking about reversing course and putting in some fencing.

  5. There has been a debate concerning two car trains on the week-end due to shortage of reliable equipment that needs much needed service and updates. How are they going to provide the extended service on the Expo Line if said equipment is marginal?