Los Angeles opens airport light rail station

 

 

The new LAX/Metro Transit Center station was opened on 6 June at 17.00, improving connections to California’s most important airport. Located at Aviation Boulevard/96th Street, the new station offers passengers dozens of convenient transit connections. The station serves the Metro C and K light rail lines and several Metro bus lines as well as bus lines from other transit authorities, including Beach Cities Transit, Big Blue Bus, Culver CityBus, GTrans and Torrance Transit. It features a 16-bay bus plaza, a secure bike hub and a customer service centre. To mark the occasion Metro bus, rail, bikes and Micro were free during the period 6 June to 8 June. In 2026 the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) will open the automated people-mover connecting the airport terminals to the new light rail station; until then LAWA will provide bus shuttles from the new station to the terminals. 

 

From 17.00 on 6 June the following changes came in to effect: 

 

light rail line K operates from Expo/Crenshaw to Redondo Beach via the new LAX/Metro Transit Center station; 

 

light rail line C operates from Norwalk to LAX/Metro Transit Center with the previous terminus at Aviation/LAX renamed Aviation/Imperial; 

 

the LAWA-operated shuttle to and from LAX terminals moves from Aviation/LAX and Aviation/Century stations to the new LAX/Metro Transit Center station; 

 

bus line 857 linking the C and K lines is discontinued. 

 

The station is open from 04.00 to 00.30 daily and can accommodate 5000 passengers/hour at peak periods. The light rail platforms are the widest on the Metro system. Project construction totalled 1.6M hours on site at a cost of USD 898.6M funded by sales tax, and it was designed by the team of Grimshaw/Gruen Associates, supported by Arup, Mott McDonald and other LA-based consultant companies. The Construction Support Services contract was awarded to Kennard Design Group and Destination Enterprises. The centrepiece of the new station is The Distance of the Sun, a soaring sculpture by artist Glenn Kaino representing an imagined spacecraft symbolising collective dreams of exploration and connection. The station is part of the plan to enhance the region’s transit infrastructure in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup football and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.