This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
2/8/2023
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority this week is marking the 30th anniversary of the opening of the subway's Red Line.
The Red Line — now known as the B Line— has always been the busiest line in L.A. Metro’s network, agency officials said in a blog post. On an average weekday, the line logs 75,000 riders, and combined with the subway's Purple Line, which shares some of the route, it’s recorded more than 400 million riders in the past decade.
The Red Line opened on a 4.4-mile segment on Jan. 30, 1993, between Los Angeles Union Station and MacArthur Park, the first "modern subway" service to open in Los Angeles, L.A. Metro officials said. The line recorded more than 52,800 riders on its first day of service, and by April 1 that year, it logged more than 1 million riders.
The Red Line’s first segment was under construction for six and a half years at a cost of $330 million per mile. Today, it operates along 16.4 miles of track between downtown Los Angeles and North Hollywood.
As part of the Red Line’s creation, L.A. Metro focused on installing public art elements at each station, dedicating half a percent of the capital budget to the initiative, L.A. Metro officials said.
“Each station was envisioned as an underground gallery that channeled a unique sense of place,” L.A. Metro officials wrote. “Art was also regarded as a social salve that could discourage litter and vandalism.”