Expo Train Hits Vehicle During Test Run

A Metro Expo Line train on a test run was involved in a collision with a vehicle today that left a motorist with a minor injury.

Paramedics were sent to the 3600 block of South Hoover Boulevard at 10:17 a.m., said Matt Spence of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Jose Ubaldo of Metro said the train was on a test run on the line, which is not yet operational, and was occupied only by the conductor.

The motorist, who apparently made a turn in front of the train, was transported to a hospital for examination, Ubaldo said.

KPCC Southern California Public Radio reports the car colided with a blue Honda Civic at Exposition Park, and a senior editor with Los Angeles magazine who was touring the National History Museum told KPCC she heard a "sickening crunch."

Phase One of the 7.6-mile Expo Line light rail will open on April 28. It travels from
downtown south to USC and then west to a stop at the intersection of La
Cienega and Jefferson boulevards.

A station in Culver City, which will serve as the western end of the line until a second phase opens to Santa Monica in 2015, will not be part of the initial opening. Metro hopes to open the additional mile to the Culver City stop over the summer.

- This article was compiled with information from City News Service