The K Line will open to the public at noon on October 7 , Metro announced today.

As part of the celebration of Metro’s seventh rail line, rides will be free across the entire Metro bus, rail and bike share system from noon on Friday, Oct. 7 through the end of service on Sunday, Oct. 9 .

We know our riders, community members and so many others have been waiting for this moment. Everyone at Metro is excited to give everyone a chance to ride the K Line. And we are eternally grateful to the many residents and businesses who showed patience during construction.

The K Line will initially serve seven new stations between Expo/Crenshaw and Westchester/Veterans — see the map at right. The city of Inglewood will have three stations and many other communities will finally have easy access to the Metro Rail system, including Baldwin Hills, the Crenshaw Corridor, Hyde Park, Jefferson Park, West Adams and Westchester.

•Please see the K Line page on metro.net for tons more info on the new rail line, including station information, how to ride Metro and all the vibrant artwork that is part of each station.

•At Expo/Crenshaw Station, riders will be able to make an easy transfer between the K Line and the E Line (Expo) that runs between downtown Santa Monica, Culver City, USC, Exposition Park and downtown L.A.

•As mentioned above, the K Line includes three stations in the boomtown that is Inglewood, including the Downtown Inglewood Station that provides easy access to busy Market Street.

•And this spot of good news: Metro is also planning to launch a SoFi Stadium shuttle bus between the K Line and the stadium, in addition to the existing shuttle from the C Line.

•The K Line will also eventually offer service to LAX community and the airport. The K Line’s Aviation/Century Station is expected to open in 2023 and the LAX/Metro Transit Center Station along the new K Line tracks is under construction and planned to open in 2024. That station will serve as the transfer point between Metro Rail, many Metro and muni bus lines and the LAX Automated People Mover that will serve airport terminals.

•The K Line will eventually connect to the C Line. Metro is in the process of planning a C Line extension to Torrance.

•On the north side of the K Line, we’re in the early planning stages of a project to extend the K Line north to the D Line (Purple) subway, West Hollywood and the B Line (Red) in Hollywood.

The K Line project has literally been decades in the making.

The last of the streetcars that served the Crenshaw Corridor stopped running in the mid-1950s and were replaced by buses. A regional rail plan in 1967 — yes, 1967, not a misprint — included a Crenshaw Corridor project. Three more studies in the 1990s and early 2000s identified potential routes for a project most everyone agreed was needed.

But it took the passage of the Measure R sales tax by LA County voters to finally deliver the funds needed to build a Crenshaw project. One year later, the Metro Board of Directors voted to make the project light rail instead of bus rapid transit. Several more years of planning took place before the project broke ground in 2014.

As many of you know, construction was a long process, owing in part to the rail line having two underground sections and running in a long trench on the south side of the LAX airfield before its junction with the C Line. One upside: Metro developed several strategies to help local businesses survive and hire more local workers.

Finally, we want to reiterate how excited we are to open the K Line for you — our customers, our neighbors, our stakeholders, our taxpayers and so many others who fought to improve transit in the area. Please keep an eye on our social media (Twitter , Facebook and Instagram ) for more details on opening weekend and how to ride. See you soon!

View of the street running section of the K Line on Crenshaw Boulevard.

The K Line next to Edward Vincent Jr. Park in Inglewood.

A train west of Downtown Inglewood Station along Florence Avenue.

Crossing the 405 freeway on the new rail bridge built for the K Line — the new bridge rises above the old train bridge from the days when freight trains ran in this corridor.

Looking up the escalators and stairs at Expo/Crenshaw Station — one of three new underground stations along Crenshaw Boulevard. Riders can transfer to the E Line at street level.

The new Expo/Crenshaw Station — the walls on both sides of the stations are lined with artworks.

A look at the platform for the Fairview Heights Station in Inglewood.

Another view of Fairview Heights Station, along with the artwork above the platform.

Tagged as: c line, Crensaw/LAX Line, Crenshaw Boulevard, E Line, Inglewood, K Line, LAX Automated People Mover, light rail, Measure M, Measure R, opening, SoFi Stadium

While awaiting the 2024 opening of the LAX/Metro Transit Center Station, has Metro given any consideration to working with LAX to create a shuttle bus service running from the Westchester/Veterans terminus *directly* to LAX terminals? The current plan of having passengers transfer twice – once to a line 857 shuttle to Aviation/LAX and then a second time to an LAX terminal shuttle – just doesn’t seem like a practical alternative.

At this time, the shuttle will run from K Line to C Line’s Aviation station. If that was to change, we’ll let folks know.

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

A little more info — my response could have been better. Sorry!

Metro and the other muni bus lines don’t directly serve airport terminals — it’s up to the airport to provide that service. There are two options to get from K Line to airport terminals:

–Ride the bus from K Line’s Westchester/Veterans Station to C Line’s Aviation/LAX station and catch the LAWA LAX shuttle to the terminals.

–Hop off K Line at Downtown Inglewood station and ride Metro Line 111 to LAX City Bus Center to catch the LAWA LAX shuttle to the terminals.

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

Precisely. That’s why I wrote “working with LAX to create a shuttle bus service”…this would clearly require LAWA’s cooperation. But I think it’s essential, because the idea of taking the K Line and then transferring twice more, however well intended, is unfortunately a non-starter for the vast majority of airport travelers.

Sure, Metro does not want to run shuttle service to the airport, but the Mayor of Los Angeles controls four votes on the Metro Board as well as the LA World Airports department and could direct the airport management to run a shuttle (or extend the existing Lot South-Bus Center shuttle 1.25 miles). This is embarrassing to have a line end 1.5 miles from the airport, much more so than the Green Line since that had a shuttle running from day one. The crazy thing is though, you CAN take Metro Micro from Westchester/Veterans to the Hyatt across the street from Terminal 1 and walk in or take the airport loop buses, which run much more often than the Lot South or C Line connector buses.

Literally 90% of people watching this project just need a simpler way to get to/from LAX terminals. Why can’t LA get it together to provide a single shuttle bus? What a huge miss, metro.

So when Mayor Garcetti departs for India, will he be taking the Red line to the Expo line to the K line to the 111 to the LAWA shuttle with his luggage? I hope so. Maybe he can live stream it.

I think we should pressure LAX to have their shuttle add a stop at the Westchester/Veterans Station in addition to the Aviation/LAX station.

METRO NEEDS TO STOP CELEBRATING AN INCOMPLETE LINE

Metro needs to be responsive to transit riders and work with LAX on a shuttle from this INCOMPLETE line.

Well, that’s unfortunate as I’m leaving a week sooner but hey at least I have an alternative on the way back. Or I’ll probably stick to the LAX flyaway since it’s direct to LAUS.

Does an approval by the State of California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) come into the picture at this time?

Congrats Metro and the Source team!

1. Are there schedules available and what will transfer/interline look like at Aviation/LAX? 2. Can we get an update for the Regional Connector? Last major construction update (on the RC website) was about deck removal over a year ago.

Timetables aren’t ready yet. I’ll post as soon as they are ready for public release. As for the Connector, I don’t have a date and I don’t want to speculate. I’ve been doing this a looooong time and have learned that when it comes to major infrastructure projects, there are a lot of balls in the air. The project is near completion but some work and testing to be done.

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

Congratulations on the long-awaited opening.

An exception to the description about the connection between the E and K lines – one wouldn’t classify that necessarily as “easy”. Eastbound E riders need to cross Crenshaw Blvd to get to the K station entrance. Westbound E riders need to cross the east bound track and Exposition Blvd to get to the K entry. “Easy” transfers apply to same track stations like Pico or even one flight stations like 7th/Metro or Willowbrook (avoiding vehicular traffic entirely).

As we all know the K Line was severally delayed due to construction defects and was an embarrassment not only to Metro but the whole community. Now, it will still be at least two additional years, if not longer before it is running to the C Line because apparently LAX did not start their people mover it time.

LAX is not to blame here. The people mover was planned after the K line had its route approved. The LAX/96th street station is considered “infill” on the K line that was projected to open 3 years ago.

So for that entire weekend, the entire LA Metro system is free for usage? Not simply just the K Line?

Can we just have that clarification, and will all the operators and riders know of this?

Correct — the entire bus, rail and Metro Bike system will be free from noon Friday through 11:59 pm on Sunday, Oct. 9.

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

It doesn’t go to Baldwin Park, it goes to Baldwin Hills

So, I’m guessing that the grade separation at Florence and Centinela isn’t happening anytime in the near-future?

Lol they seriously wrote Baldwin Park instead of Baldwin Hills

That has been fixed but thanks for heads up.

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

Will there be a commemorative TAP Card for the event?

There will be a K Line commemorative TAP card available at TAP machines along the K Line on opening weekend.

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

Can we get a little clarification on the LAX/Metro Transit Center station and the Aviation/Century station? On the map they appear very close together and both essentially at LAX. If LAX/MTC is the main transfer hub I have to assume Aviation/Century has a different intended use?

They are very close together. Aviation/Century provides access to the Century corridor — hotels, freight hubs, etc. — and MTC is transfer point to the people mover. Long story short — the K Line was planned and designed prior to the people mover. For a variety of reasons, the people mover was not built at or adjacent to Century, so we added a station just north of Century to serve as transfer point. It’s unusual to have two stations so close, but given the destination that is LAX I think in this case it will work and make transit more convenient to more riders.

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

Worse than I thought. K line only goes to Westchester/Veterans station. The full connection to Green Line and LAX connector to People Mover won’t be finished until 2024. They might as well start the Centilla bridge in Inglewood before this project drags down the line.

Are there maps showing that this is not currently going to LAX? I’ve received numerous texts from people today who saw the map and thought it was opening to the airport. It is not helping to temper expectations.

Why is not possible to run the train all the way to C Line while the LAX/Metro Transit Center Station is completed? Can a canopy not be installed over the tracks in this section? Or is it because the Aviation/Century or Aviation/LAX stations are not finished?

It’s a safety issue. The platforms for the airport station need to be built along the K Line tracks, as well as other station infrastructure, and that would put workers right in the way of trains. Plus very difficult to get trains through with the work that needs to be done.

Steve Hymon Editor, The Source

but hasn’t work on the wye (specifically the switching and signaling) been taking the end of the C line many days over the last 4 years? What is actually left to do there?

The Inglewood grade separation project that will once again push this project back is just the icing on the cake on what appears to be a long and tragic comedy of error and incompetence. Metro says it will be done by 2026 – Metro’s history with the project leaves us will no reason to believe that it will be done anytime before 2030.

Actually, that’s not the icing – the icing is the almost $1 billion for a single station to connect to LAWA. It doesn’t matter how complex Metro claims it is, because if that’s the case, simplify the design. A single station should not cost more than a skyscraper.

I’m a huge fan of public transit, but it seems less apparent to me as time goes on as to whether Metro is a competent enough to provide the transit that LA needs, and whether it should be trusted with anymore money.

Metro is patting themselves on the back for a project that is $90 Million over budget, won’t be complete as intended for 2 more years, then may shut down a continuous line until 2027.

The K-Line is a failure at every level and disadvantages transit riders.

The photo at top of this post, as well as the photo of the Fairview Heights station, show a sign above the platform pointing to Norwalk. Strange, the K line doesnt go to Norwalk. The Green line does, though.

Why has Metro failed to run shuttles from the incomplete K-Line to LAX?

Does Metro not care about workers and travelers to the airport for which the line was designed to open in 2019?

Why did Metro fail to build the AMC station in time and cause a 5 year delay?

Why will Metro potentially close the K-Line again for the Centinela Grade Separation project? South LA can’t wait until 2027 for a functioning line.

Does anyone at Metro actually care about riders?

Congratuations LA Metro on a job well done! Can’t wait to ride the complete K-Line in 2027.

Everyone at LA Metro should be so proud of their work on flawless execution of the K-Line.

Hey Steve, you need to edit the headline to read:

“The K Line Partially opens Friday, October 7. 2 years behind scheule and $90 Million overbudget.”

Why is Metro celebrating a Line that is incomplete, $90 Million over budget, with track that may be under construction again through 2027?

Why didn’t Metro build AMC station in time? Why doesn’t Metro work with LAWA on an interim airport shuttle?

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