Owner Metro Rail Line number 805 Website Purple Line | Transit type Heavy rail Number of stations 8(11) Future | |
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Daily ridership 149,096 (July 2016; avg. weekday, combined with Metro Red Line) | ||
The Purple Line is a heavy rail subway line operating in Los Angeles, running between downtown and the Mid-Wilshire/Koreatown districts. It is one of six lines on the Metro Rail System, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Contents
- Route
- Duplicate service on Wilshire
- Hours of operation
- Headways
- Ridership
- History
- Current and proposed extension
- Station listing
- Maintenance
- Rolling stock
- References
The Metro Purple Line is one of the city's two subway lines (along with the Metro Red Line). Although they separate west of Downtown Los Angeles, the two subway lines (Purple and Red) were originally branded as two branches of the Red Line. The Purple Line was instituted as its own line, separate from the Red Line, in 2006. As of October 2013, the combined Red and Purple lines averaged 169,478 boardings per weekday. Out of the eight stations served, only two of them are exclusive to the Purple Line, with the other six shared with the Red Line.
Route
The Metro Purple Line begins at Union Station. At Union Station, passengers can connect to the Metro Silver Line bus rapid transit line, and the Metro Gold Line. The Purple Line travels southwest through Downtown Los Angeles, passing the Civic Center, Pershing Square (near the Historic Core) and the Financial District. Passengers can connect to the Metro Silver Line (both directions) at Civic Center Station. At Pershing Square Station, passengers can board the northbound Metro Silver Line bus at Olive Street/5th Street. At 7th St/Metro Center Station, travelers can connect to the Metro Blue Line, Metro Expo Line and the Metro Silver Line. From here, the train travels between 7th Street and Wilshire Boulevard (and briefly Ingraham Street) west through Pico-Union and Westlake, arriving at Wilshire/Vermont in the city's Mid-Wilshire/Koreatown district. Up to this point, track is shared with the Metro Red Line: at Wilshire/Vermont, the two lines diverge. The Purple Line continues west for one additional mile, and terminates at Wilshire/Western.
Duplicate service on Wilshire
The Purple Line runs underground, below Wilshire Boulevard which is served on the surface by Metro Local route 20 and Metro Rapid route 720. Despite the duplicate service, Metro considers the redundant bus service justified because both bus routes run frequently from Downtown Los Angeles. Unlike the Purple Line, they run along the entire Wilshire corridor, west to Beverly Hills, Westwood and Santa Monica.
Hours of operation
Trains run between approximately 4:45 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. daily, with late night weekend service running until approximately 2:00 a.m.
First and last train times are as follows:
To/From Wilshire/Western
During the evenings Purple Line trains sometimes run as shuttles. Passengers must transfer to a Red Line train at Wilshire/Vermont. This will change once the Purple Line is extended to Westwood.
Headways
Trains on the Purple 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 can range between 10–20 minutes. Due to being paired with the Red Line, the headways between Union Station and Wilshire/Vermont are cut in half, so the Red/Purple Line trunk has trains running five to ten minutes throughout service times.
Ridership
The Purple Line is utilized mostly as a downtown shuttle on its shared segment with the Red Line. The stub between Vermont and Western has a very low ridership. According to Metro Service Coordinator Conan Cheung, the stub is operating 11% full during peak hours, and even lower at other times.
History
The "Purple Line" was originally one of two main branches of the Red Line, which was completed in 1996 and opened as the second segment of the Red Line. It was part of a much longer Red Line plan to the Westside, until that plan was scrapped due to political opposition and geotechnical difficulties. Therefore, only one mile of this branch was ever built: a short stub connecting Wilshire/Vermont and Wilshire/Western. In 2006, the route operating between LA Union Station and Wilshire/Western Station was renamed the "Purple Line" to help distinguish it from the North Hollywood branch, which retained the name Red Line.
Current and proposed extension
Metro is now aiming to complete the subway to the Westside. The new project is called the Purple Line Extension (the project was previously called the Westside Subway Extension) and the first phase broke ground on November 7, 2014. Metro released the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) on March 19, 2012, and the first phase of the project (to Wilshire / La Cienega) was approved by Metro's Board of Directors on April 26, 2012.
Station listing
The following table lists the stations of the Purple Line, from east to west:
Maintenance
The Purple Line is operated out of the Division 20 Yard (Santa Fe Yard) located at 320 South Santa Fe Avenue Los Angeles. This yard stores the fleet used on the Red and Purple Line. It is also where heavy maintenance is done on the fleet. Subways get to this yard by continuing on after Union Station. Trains make a right turn before coming to surface level at Ducommun Street, and then travel south to 1st Street where they enter the yard.
Rolling stock
The Purple Line uses Breda A650 75-foot (23 m) electric multiple unit cars built by Breda in Italy. Trains usually run in four-car consists during peak hours and two-car consists outside of peak hours. The acceleration for cars #530 and up is similar to that of cars used by the Washington Metro because they both use General Electric traction motors. The cars are maintained in a Metro yard on Santa Fe Drive near 4th Street alongside the Los Angeles River in Downtown Los Angeles.
In March 2017, Metro ordered new CRRC HR4000 railcars, some of which will operate on the Purple Line once the extension is completed.