Patch, Metro Help Culver City Senior Take Expo Line Tour

When Metro announced that the opening of Phase 1 of the Expo Line would offer , Blair Hills resident Rosalie Kirsch emailed Culver City Patch with the following request:

Am 88 years old. Been waiting a long time to be able to ride the rails to downtown as I used to do. Is it possible to make reservations for the first return from the La Cienega and Jefferson station to downtown or to the Union Station for two people?

Following up on Kirsch’s request, Patch reached out to Metro Media Relations Officer Jose Ubaldo who told us that no reservations were possible. He suggested that Kirsch either head to the La Cienega Station at 5 a.m.  on April 28 for the 5:12 a.m. train where hopefully ridership would be light, or alternately, she and her friend could join a tour starting at the 7th & Metro station at noon on Friday, April 20, with Transit Safety Education Programs Manager Barbara Burns. Burns sent an email to Patch for Kirsch, saying:

The tours will leave from Platform 1 on the Hope Street side of the Blue Line.  I will be wearing a safety vest.  If she introduces herself to me, I will take care of her.

Kirsch and her friend did indeed head down to the station on Friday. However, Burns contacted practically every one who was on the tour shortly after 10 a.m. to tell them not to come, . However, she did not have Kirsch’s contact information, or the information of two other riders.

Patch spoke with Ms. Kirsch by telephone following her Expo line trip.

“It all turned out very well in spite of the accident that meant that, although Barbara Burns could contact all the other people who were supposed to be on that tour and cancel it for them, she was kind enough to come down to the meeting place in case two photographers and I showed up.  When we did, and when the track was cleared in time, she took just the four of us on the tour anyway.”

Of the tour itself, Kirsch said, “I must say the 2012 trip downtown was smoother, faster and cleaner than the old yellow street cars (S car, or H car) that I remember so fondly.“

Kirsch also spoke fondly of traveling through neighborhoods that she said was very familiar with.

Asked about how comfortable the seats were in the train, Kirsch said, “They must have been comfortable because I don’t remember them being uncomfortable. I was too busy watching everything!”

Kirsch, who has lived in the same big house in Blair Hills for the past 50 years, said she’s excited about the opening of the Expo Line.

“It’s going to add a lot to my life to able to travel by train,” she said. “I’m 88-years -old. I’m still driving but there are times I don’t want to take the car. My daughter and son-in-law live in Mt. Washington and they take the trains all the time – they take the Yellow Line to the airport without any problems.”

Kirsch said what impressed her the most about her ride was seeing all the other trains go past.

“They were packed, crowded. People always say, ‘Everybody wants to drive their cars,’ but you could see these people were all glad to be on the trains.”

Kirsch said she’s hoping to still take the Expo Line again this weekend.

“I’m meeting my daughter to go to a memorial service in Monterey Park on Saturday. I might take the train back home, just for the experience. And if not then, then possibly on Sunday.”

Beyond that Kirsch said she wanted to thank Patch and Metro for making her trip possible.

“You and Barbara [Burns] were just wonderful. Thank you so much.”

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