Click above to watch the video on YouTube. Arrows on top left of video allow you to turn the camera right, left, up and down. 

Metro is rolling out videos that show 360 degree views of construction on two  of our major transit projects:  the Regional Connector and the Purple Line Extension. Above is a screen grab from the Purple Line Extension video. Click the above photo to see the video on YouTube (the 360 degree view doesn’t work in our blogging software).

The Purple Line Extension will extend the subway nine miles from its current terminus at Wilshire/Western in Koreatown to the Miracle Mile, Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood. See the map below.

To make this video, Metro worked with Heritage Tree Films, which is based in the Crenshaw Corridor. Paris McCoy, a Heritage Tree co-owner and cinematographer, is a native of our region and one of the few African-American women working as a cinematographer. 

A few other nuggets on the Purple Line Extension:

•As the above map shows, the project is being built in three sections — with the first section to Wilshire/La Cienega and the second section to Century City currently under construction.

•The two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) on Section 1 have completed the tunneling between Wilshire/La Brea and Wilshire/Western. The TBMs are currently digging from Wilshire/La Brea toward Wilshire/Fairfax and should arrive at that station soon. Tunneling on Section 2 is expected to begin later this year with the TBMs starting at Century City and heading eastward. Pre-construction activities are underway on Section 3.

•When completed, the ride between downtown Los Angeles and Westwood on the subway is expected to take about 25 minutes. That, of course, is much faster than driving between DTLA and Westwood during peak hours — and many other times of the day or night.

•The Westside is considered the second-largest job hub in our region behind downtown Los Angeles but has yet to be fully connected with the Metro Rail system. Once the extension opens, it will be easy to transfer between the subway and Metro’s light rail system in DTLA at 7th/Metro Station or Union Station.

•The Purple Line should be fully open in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics to be held in the L.A. area. The subway will be helpful with the UCLA campus the site of the athlete’s village and some Olympic events at Pauley Pavilion. Section 1 is scheduled to open in 2023, Section 2 in 2025 and Section 3 in 2027.

•The Purple Line will also one day have transfers to two future north-south rail lines: the Sepulveda Transit Corridor that will run between the San Fernando Valley and the Expo Line (and eventually to LAX) and the Crenshaw Northern Extension that will connect the Crenshaw/LAX Line to Hollywood.

•An associated project is expanding the Red/Purple Line subway yard in DTLA and making it quicker for the subway to turn around at the Union Station terminus. That, in turn, will allow more frequent service on the Red and Purple Line in the future.

•Here are some recent photos taken of construction:

Piling work for Wilshire/Rodeo Station in Beverly Hills.

Work at the Wilshire/La Brea Station.

Preparing for the arrival of the TBMs at Wilshire/Fairfax Station.

One of the TBMS in Century City staging yard that will be used to dig the twin tunnels on Section 2.

Construction progress inside Wilshire/Fairfax Station.

Work at Wilshire/La Brea.

•A wealth of info on the Purple Line Extension and construction notices are posted on the project’s home page on metro.net.