Expo Line’s festive and historic debut

The Expo Line rolled into the record books, as the initial phase of the light rail was formally opened on Friday, April 27.

It will run at first between downtown Los Angeles and the La Cienega/Jefferson station, with an opening of the line’s Culver City station planned in coming weeks. The 8.6-mile line was inaugurated with a flourish—complete with tunes from the USC Marching Band, the appearance of huggable T-Rex from the county Natural History Museum, confetti cannons and free rides during Expo’s opening weekend.

Dignitaries including Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, chair of the Expo Board, celebrated the historic nature of the occasion, as the first light rail trains since the Red Car made tracks for the Westside. A second phase of the line, which will run to Santa Monica, is now underway.

Posted 5/2/12