Getting around Los Angeles by Rail/Stops and Facilities/Metro Rail Transfer Stations



Metro Rail's five lines are linked through transfer stations, which are stations that two or more lines pass through. Sometimes, two lines follow the same track, called a concurrency. Metro Rail has 1 concurrency at this time and will have another in the future after the opening of the Expo Line.

Subpages

 * Los Angeles Union Station
 * 7th Street/Metro Center
 * Imperial/Wilmington

Transferring Made Easy
Transferring between lines may seem complicated at first, but it's really not that hard. Here is a guide for first-timers (source line is along the left and destination line is along the top):

Concurrencies


A concurrency occurs when two or more lines run on the same track. The Chicago Loop (more info in a future book, Getting around Chicago by Rail...maybe) is an extreme example, when 4 or 5 lines share the same track. Metro Rail currently has 1 concurrency. The Red Line and Purple Line share 6 stations between Los Angeles Union Station, the eastern terminus for both lines, and Wilshire/Vermont. After Wilshire/Vermont, the Red Line stops at 8 more stations before terminating at North Hollywood and the Purple Line stops at Wilshire/Normandie and terminates at Wilshire/Western. Since the Red/Purple concurrency travels through the heart of downtown, which makes it the most heavily used of all Metro lines, and the Purple Line goes to only have two stations of its own (no concurrency with Red), the Purple Line serves mainly to relieve the Red Line's heavy traffic. Before its designation as a line in 2006, it used to be another branch of the Red Line. In fact, if you exit from Wilshire/Normandie or Wilshire/Western, you'll notice that the markers are red.

In the future, the Expo Line will start at 7th Street/Metro Center, like the Blue Line, and share tracks with the Blue Line until the next station (Pico), where the Expo Line will continue along Exposition Blvd. This will be the second concurrency Metro Rail will have.