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Kids & Family

Expo Line's 1st Phase to Open Next Month

Eventually, the light rail will connect downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica, where three stations are being built. A stop in Culver City will open this summer.

The light rail line that runs from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City along Exposition and Jefferson boulevards will open to the public on April 28, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Friday.

The 7.6-mile section of the Expo Line Phase I will travel 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.

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Officials hope to open the additional mile to the Culver City stop over the summer. Villaraigosa called the planned opening "a critical step towards creating the multi-faceted transit network that Angelenos deserve."

The mayor, who also chairs the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors, took media on a ride-along today.

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"When Angelenos rallied together to pass Measure R, voters sent the message loud and clear that we want transit options beyond the single-passenger automobile," Villaraigosa said. "Los Angeles has been leading the way to improve and expand our infrastructure and support jobs."

The Expo Line will operate seven days a week from about 5 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Officials expect about 27,000 daily boardings. Metro CEO Art Leahy said the opening will mark the first time the traffic-choked Westside will see rail transit in 50 years.

"And we're also gearing up to soon open the Metro Orange Line busway extension to Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley," he said. "These and other transit projects in the pipeline will give commuters and others real options for parking their cars, hopping on the bus or train and beating high gas prices," Leahy said.

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