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B Line
Overview
Other name(s)	Red Line (1993–2020)
Owner	Metro (LACMTA)
Line number	802
Termini	Union Station North Hollywood
Stations	14
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Los Angeles Metro Rail
Rolling stock	Breda A650 operating in 4 or 6 car consists
Daily ridership	133,413 (2019; avg. weekday, combined with D Line)
History
Opened	January 30, 1993; 31 years ago (1993-01-30)
Technical
Line length	16.4 mi (26.4 km)
Number of tracks	2
Character	Fully underground (except yard)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC from third rail
Operating speed	70 mph (110 km/h)
Route map Legend North Hollywood SR 134 Universal City/​Studio City US 101 Hollywood/​Highland Hollywood/Vine US 101 Hollywood/​Western Vermont/Sunset Vermont/​Santa Monica US 101 / SR 2 Vermont/​Beverly D Line to Wilshire/Western Wilshire/​Vermont Westlake/​MacArthur Park SR 110 7th Street/​Metro Center ‍‍ Pershing Square Civic Center/​Grand Park US 101 Union Station ‍ Division 20 Maintenance and Storage Facility Multiple services sharing tracks All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit

The B Line (formerly the Red Line) is a heavy rail subway line operating in Los Angeles, running between Downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood. It is one of six lines on the Metro Rail system, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The B Line is one of the city's two fully-underground subway lines (along with the D Line). Although they separate in Koreatown, the two subway lines (B and D) share tracks through Downtown Los Angeles. As of 2019, the combined B and D lines averaged 133,413 boardings per weekday.

The B Line was originally the Hollywood branch of the Red Line. In 2006, the other branch of the Red Line was designated as the Purple Line. In 2020, Metro renamed all of its lines using letters and colors, with the Red Line becoming the B Line (retaining the red color in its service bullet) and the Purple Line becoming the D Line.

Service description

Route

The B Line is a 16.4-mile (26.4 km) line that begins at Union Station and travels southwest through Downtown Los Angeles, passing the Civic Center, Pershing Square (near the Historic Core) and the Financial District. The Template:LA Metro station station allows riders to transfer to the A Line (Blue Line) and E Line (Expo Line). From here, the train travels between 7th Street and Wilshire Boulevard (and briefly Ingraham Street) west through Pico-Union and Westlake, arriving at Template:LA Metro station in the city's Koreatown district. Up to this point, the track is shared with the D Line; at Wilshire/Vermont, the two lines diverge. The B Line travels north along Vermont, and then west along Hollywood Boulevard, traveling through Koreatown and Hollywood. Finally, the line turns northwest and crosses into the San Fernando Valley, where it terminates in North Hollywood.

This route roughly follows a branch of the old Red Car system through the Cahuenga Pass, dismantled in the 1960s during what was later called the General Motors streetcar conspiracy.

Hours of operation

Trains run between approximately 4:30 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. the following morning. On Friday and Saturday evenings, trains are extended until 2:00 a.m. of the following morning. First and last train times are as follows:

To/From North Hollywood

Eastbound

• First Train to Union Station: 4:32 a.m.
• Last Train to Union Station: 1:02 a.m. (2:22 a.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings)

Westbound

• First Train to North Hollywood: 4:10 a.m.
• Last Train to North Hollywood: 12:21 a.m. (2:21 a.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings)

Headways

Trains on the B Line operate every ten minutes during peak hours Monday through Friday. They operate every twelve minutes during the daytime weekdays and all day on the weekends after approximately 10 a.m. (with a 15-minute headway early Saturday and Sunday mornings). Night service is every 20 minutes.

History

The current B Line is the product of a long-term plan to connect Downtown Los Angeles to central and western portions of the city with a heavy rail subway system. Original proposals in the 1980s had it running down Wilshire Boulevard to Fairfax Avenue and then north to the San Fernando Valley. However, in 1985, a methane explosion at a Ross Dress for Less clothing store near Fairfax led to a legal prohibition on tunneling in a large part of Mid-Wilshire. After some political wrangling, a new route was chosen up Vermont Avenue to Hollywood Boulevard. This ban was later rescinded in the early 2000s, allowing for the Purple Line Extension (now the D Line).

The line opened in three minimum operating segments:

• MOS-1, consisting of five stations from Template:LA Metro station to Template:LA Metro station, opened on January 30, 1993. (At this point, the line's operator was still the Southern California Rapid Transit District).
• MOS-2B, consisting of five stations from Template:LA Metro station to Template:LA Metro station, opened in 1999. (MOS-2A is a separate branch that is now part of the D Line.)
• MOS-3, extending the Red Line from Template:LA Metro station to Template:LA Metro station, opened in 2000.

Tunneling from North Hollywood for the subway started in 1995. Workers dug 70 feet (21 m) deep using tunneling machines. Work progressed an average of 50 to 200 feet (15 to 61 m) daily, performed by work crews round-the-clock six days a week. The machines bored through soil that once lined the bottoms of ancient oceans.

The tunnel to connect from Hollywood/Vine to North Hollywood was overseen by Traylor Brothers/Frontier-Kemper and cost $136 million ($241 million adjusted for inflation). The tunnel went through the Santa Monica Mountains. It was opposed by the Santa Monica Conservancy and the Sierra Club, but ultimately went ahead. Environmentalists had also expressed concern that the removal of billions of gallons of groundwater might affect springs, wildlife and vegetation.

The two tunnels between the North Hollywood and Universal City stations were a total of 10,541 feet (3,213 m). The cost of building the two tunnels was $65.4 million ($116 million adjusted for inflation) and involved 250 workers.

Potential future extensions

Original proposals for the Red Line included expansion on the east to East Los Angeles and north towards the Warner Center transit hub in the San Fernando Valley.

In 1995, during Red Line construction, a burst water main under Hollywood Blvd. halted work for two months. In the aftermath, voters in 1998 passed a ballot proposition that barred the MTA from using sales tax revenue for any subway projects within Los Angeles County. In response, the MTA turned to other types of mass transit. In 2005, Metro began service on the Orange Line (now G Line), a bus rapid transitway (BRT) service running from North Hollywood station to Warner Center. In 2009, Metro finished work on the Gold Line Eastside Extension, a light rail line connecting Union Station to East Los Angeles.

In the early 21st century, new sales tax Measure R (in 2008) and Measure M were approved by voters to specifically provide funds for rail development. While the B Line does not figure into currently active expansion plans, several concepts have been proposed that would build off of it.

Extensions to the North

One long-term possibility might be an underground extension of another mile or two to a future high-rise housing district, or to a multi-modal transportation hub station at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, a distance of approximately four miles. It would possibly go under Oxnard Street, the NoHo West development, Laurel Canyon Blvd, and Vanowen Street to the Burbank Airport. In 2006 a large number of housing units, including a high-rise tower was completed very near the North Hollywood (NoHo Arts District) station.

In 2011, Bob Hope Airport conducted a transportation study for improving transit options in order to make it an "epicenter for multimodal connectivity" in the San Fernando Valley. One option they mentioned was a Red Line extension to the airport.

Extension to Arts District

In 2010, at the request of L.A. City Councilman Tom LaBonge, Metro staff studied the possibility of adding a station along the west bank of the Los Angeles River to 6th Street and Santa Fe Avenue. The study concluded that such an extension, completed at-grade along Metro-owned right-of-way, could be completed for as little as $90 million.

The study suggested an alternative station at the Division 20 Yard north of 4th Street and Santa Fe Avenue. This station would be closer to the residential population of the Arts District. As new turnback tracks will need to be built as part of the Purple Line Extension (to allow shorter headways), this Arts District extension could possibly be partially completed as part of the Purple Line Extension project, lowering the incremental cost of the station while increasing its usability.

Extensions to the East

Original ideas to connect the Red Line to the Eastside were set aside with the opening of the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension in 2009. Some citizen proposals have included the conversion of the El Monte Busway to heavy rail, although this would disrupt the existing bus and Metrolink service along that corridor. Other rights-of-way that could host a B Line extension, whether subway or at-grade, include the Union Pacific's Alhambra Trench, the former Pacific Electric two-track right of way extending through the City Terrace area to El Monte and Covina, and the median of Huntington Drive, which also held a two-track Pacific Electric line extending as far as Azusa & Glendora, until 1951, when it was removed.

Extensions to the South

See: Vermont Avenue Corridor Subway

Purple Line Extension

In 2006, Metro formally renamed the Red Line branch ending at Wilshire/Western as the Purple Line (later designated the D Line in 2020). In 2014, they began construction on the Purple Line Extension, a seven-mile expansion to the Westside, with nine new stations. It will open in three phases from 2023 to 2027.

Station listing

The following is the complete list of stations, from north to south.

Station	Major connections and notes	Address	City/Neighborhood
North Hollywood	G Line Park and ride: 1,085 stalls	5391 Lankershim Boulevard, Hollywood 91601	North Hollywood
Universal City/Studio City	Universal Studios Hollywood shuttle Park and ride: 782 stalls	3919 Lankershim Boulevard, Studio City 91604	Studio City
Hollywood/Highland		6815 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood 90028	Hollywood
Hollywood/Vine		6250 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood 90028
Hollywood/Western		5450 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood 90028	East Hollywood
Vermont/Sunset		1500 North Vermont Avenue, Hollywood 90027
Vermont/Santa Monica		1015 North Vermont Avenue, Hollywood 90029
Vermont/Beverly		301 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles 90004	Los Angeles
Wilshire/Vermont	D Line	3191 Wilshire Boulevard, Koreatown 90005	Mid-Wilshire and Koreatown
Westlake/MacArthur Park	D Line Park and ride: 19 stalls	660 South Alvarado Street, Westlake 90057	Westlake
Template:LA Metro station	A Line,  D Line,  E Line and  J Line	660 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles 90017	Downtown Los Angeles
Pershing Square	D Line and  J Line	500 South Hill Street, Los Angeles 90013
Civic Center/Grand Park	D Line and  J Line	101 South Hill Street, Los Angeles 90013
Union Station	D Line,  J Line,  L Line, Amtrak, LAX FlyAway and Metrolink Paid parking: 3,000 stalls	801 Vignes Street, Los Angeles 90012

Operations

Maintenance

The B Line operates out of the Division 20 Yard (Santa Fe Yard), located at 320 South Santa Fe Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. This yard stores the fleet used on the B and D Lines, and where heavy maintenance is performed. Cars reach this yard by continuing past Union Station, making a right turn and surfacing at the Eastern terminus of Ducommun Street. They then travel south to 1st Street, through a washing station, and enter the yard.

Rolling stock

The B Line uses Breda A650 75-foot (23 m) electric multiple unit cars built by Breda in Italy. Trains usually run in six-car configurations during peak hours and four-car configurations otherwise. The cars are maintained in a Metro yard on Santa Fe Avenue near 4th Street alongside the Los Angeles River in downtown Los Angeles.

In March 2017, Metro ordered new CRRC HR4000 railcars, which will operate on the B Line when they are delivered.

Incidents

• On December 22, 2006, a rider accidentally spilled a vial of mercury on the platform at the Pershing Square station. He notified the operator on a passenger intercom before boarding a train, but Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department did not know of the spillage until eight hours later. In response, Metro implemented new hazardous materials (Hazmat) training to its field employees and operators.

• On August 19, 2011, near the Hollywood/Vine station, an altercation between two passengers resulted in one being fatally stabbed. The suspect was arrested on August 24.

• On September 4, 2012, a 54-year-old man fell onto the tracks at the North Hollywood station and was hit by an oncoming train. He was rushed to hospital, where he later died.

• On May 22, 2018, an unidentified man "probably jumped" onto the tracks at the 7th St/Metro Center station and was hit by an oncoming train. He rushed to a hospital, where he later died. It is unknown if it was suicide or not.

References

1. ^ "Interactive Estimated Ridership Stats". Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority. January 1, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
2. ^ "Regional Connector Transit Corridor Project Contract No. E0119 – Operations and Maintenance Plan (Final)" (PDF). 2.1 Metro Light Rail Overview. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority. September 10, 2013. pp. 2–1. Retrieved May 19, 2017. The Red Line operates 16.4 miles between Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood.
3. "Red & Purple lines timetable" (PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority. December 11, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
4. "Metro Bus & Rail System Map" (PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority. December 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
5. Masters, Nathan (February 23, 2016). "When a Methane Explosion Derailed L.A.'s Subway Plans". KCET. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
6. Katches, Mark (January 31, 1993). "Red Line Rolls to Raves – It's Smooth Railing As L.A. Subway Opens". Los Angeles Daily News.
7. Hiestand, Jesse (June 13, 1999). "Hollywood Subway Picks Up Rave Reviews". Los Angeles Daily News.
8. Sheppard, Harrison (June 18, 2000). "End of the Line". Los Angeles Daily News.
9. GORDON, LARRY; KENNEDY, J. MICHAEL (June 23, 1995). "Street Vanishes in Subway Sinkhole : MTA: Burst water main weakens earth above tunnel, causing half a block of Hollywood Boulevard to collapse" – via LA Times.
10. "Anti-Subway Funding Measure Wins Easily". Los Angeles Times. November 4, 1998. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
11. Business Monthly, January 2006. Retrieved February 14, 2007. Archived January 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
12. Garland, Chad (July 23, 2015). "Study outlines potential transit improvements at Bob Hope Airport". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
13. "Feasibility study" (PDF). media.metro.net. June 16, 2010.
14. Nelson, Laura J. (March 18, 2015). "Metro could expand subway service to the downtown L.A. Arts District". Los Angeles Times.
15. Sampson, Rich. "Two Rail Lines, One Mission: Connecting Southern California" (PDF). RAIL Magazine. No. 22. Washington, DC: Community Transportation Association of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
16. "Purple Line Extension". www.metro.net. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
17. "Metro B Line (Red)". www.metro.net. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
18. "Metro Parking Lots by Line". www.metro.net. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
19. "L.A. Metro inks pact with CRRC for up to 282 new rail cars". Progressive Railroading. March 24, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
20. Blankstein, Andrew; Guccione, Jean (January 19, 2007). "MTA admits subway spill errors". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
21. Blankstein, Andrew; Guccione, Jean (January 24, 2007). "Transient held in MTA mercury spill". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
22. Powell, Amy (August 19, 2011). "Passenger fatally stabbed on Metro Red Line". KABC-TV. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
23. Hernandez, Miriam (August 24, 2011). "Metro Red Line stabbing suspect arrested". KABC-TV. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
24. "Man rescued from under Metro Red Line train at North Hollywood station". Los Angeles Daily News. September 4, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
25. "Death Of Man Rescued From Underneath Metro Red Line Train Under Investigation". KCBS-TV. September 5, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
26. "Man who 'probably jumped' in front of Metro Red Line train dies". May 22, 2018.

External links

• MTA Home Page
• Red Line map and info
• Red Line schedule
• Red Line news

v t e Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)
Services	Metro Rail Light rail  A Line  C Line  E Line  K Line Rapid transit  B Line  D Line Metro Busway  G Line  J Line Metro Bus Metro Bus Metro Rapid Other Metro Bike Share Metro ExpressLanes
Stations	Union Station Patsaouras Transit Plaza, Metro Headquarters Building El Monte Station Harbor Gateway Transit Center List of Metro Rail stations List of Metro Busway stations
Bus lanes	El Monte Busway Harbor Transitway
Capital projects	Under construction  LAX/Metro Transit Center station  D Line Extension  Foothill Extension Rail to Rail Planned Twenty-eight by '28 ‍ Arts District/6th Street station  K Line Northern Extension East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project  Eastside Transit Corridor  C Line Extension Lincoln Boulevard Transit Corridor North Hollywood to Pasadena Transit Corridor Sepulveda Transit Corridor Vermont Transit Corridor Southeast Gateway Line G Line LRT Conversion
Fleet	Bus fleet Rolling stock
Other information	History of the LACMTA History of Los Angeles Metro Rail and Busway (Former routes:  L Line) Transit Access Pass (TAP) Transportation in Los Angeles LAX FlyAway LAX Automated People Mover Metrolink commuter rail Expo Bike Path G Line Bikeway

v t e Los Angeles Metro Rail and Busway stations
A Line	Pomona North La Verne/Fairplex San Dimas Glendora APU/Citrus College Azusa Downtown Irwindale Duarte/City of Hope Monrovia Arcadia Sierra Madre Villa Allen Lake Memorial Park Del Mar Fillmore South Pasadena Highland Park Southwest Museum Heritage Square Lincoln/Cypress Chinatown Union Station Little Tokyo/Arts District Historic Broadway Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill 7th Street/​Metro Center Pico Grand/LATTC San Pedro Street Washington Vernon Slauson Florence Firestone 103rd Street/​Watts Towers Willowbrook/​Rosa Parks Compton Artesia Del Amo Wardlow Willow Street Pacific Coast Highway Anaheim Street 5th Street 1st Street Downtown Long Beach Pacific Avenue
B Line	North Hollywood Universal City/​Studio City Hollywood/​Highland Hollywood/Vine Hollywood/​Western Vermont/Sunset Vermont/​Santa Monica Vermont/​Beverly Wilshire/​Vermont Westlake/​MacArthur Park 7th Street/​Metro Center Pershing Square Civic Center/​Grand Park Union Station
C Line	LAX/Metro Transit Center Aviation/​Century Aviation/LAX Hawthorne/​Lennox Crenshaw Vermont/Athens Harbor Freeway Avalon Willowbrook/​Rosa Parks Long Beach Boulevard Lakewood Boulevard Norwalk
D Line	Westwood/VA Hospital Westwood/UCLA Century City/​Constellation Wilshire/Rodeo Wilshire/La Cienega Wilshire/Fairfax Wilshire/La Brea Wilshire/Western Wilshire/​Normandie Wilshire/​Vermont Westlake/​MacArthur Park 7th Street/​Metro Center Pershing Square Civic Center/​Grand Park Union Station
E Line	Downtown Santa Monica 17th Street/​SMC 26th Street/​Bergamot Expo/Bundy Expo/Sepulveda Westwood/​Rancho Park Palms Culver City La Cienega/​Jefferson Expo/La Brea Farmdale Expo/​Crenshaw Expo/Western Expo/Vermont Expo Park/​USC Jefferson/USC LATTC/Ortho Institute Pico 7th Street/​Metro Center Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill Historic Broadway Little Tokyo/Arts District Pico/Aliso Mariachi Plaza Soto Indiana Maravilla East LA Civic Center Atlantic
G Line	Chatsworth Nordhoff Roscoe Sherman Way Canoga De Soto Pierce College Tampa Reseda Balboa Woodley Sepulveda Van Nuys Woodman Valley College Laurel Canyon North Hollywood
J Line	El Monte Cal State LA LA General Medical Center Union Station 37th Street/USC Slauson Manchester Harbor Freeway Rosecrans Harbor Gateway Carson Pacific Coast Highway
K Line	Expo/​Crenshaw Martin Luther King Jr. Leimert Park Hyde Park Fairview Heights Downtown Inglewood Westchester/​Veterans LAX/Metro Transit Center Aviation/​Century Mariposa El Segundo Douglas Redondo Beach
List of Metro Rail stations List of Metro Busway stations Italics denote future stations

• B Line (Los Angeles Metro)
• Los Angeles Metro Rail lines
• Public transportation in Los Angeles
• Public transportation in the San Fernando Valley
• Public transportation in Los Angeles County, California
• Central Los Angeles
• Downtown Los Angeles
• Railway lines opened in 1993
• 1993 establishments in California