Green Line (Los Angeles Metro)

Green Line (Los Angeles Metro)

The Green Line is a light rail line running between Redondo Beach and Norwalk within Los Angeles County; it is one of five tracks forming the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. The line opened on August 11, 1995. It became the second line in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system after the opening of the Metro Blue Line light rail. The line was delayed due to change of the line's route from LAX to El Segundo. In addition to Redondo Beach and Norwalk, the route also serves El Segundo, Hawthorne, South Los Angeles, Lynwood, South Gate, and Willowbrook (in South Los Angeles). It serves the Plaza Mexico shopping center at the Long Beach in the city of Lynwood. A free shuttle bus to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is available at the line's Aviation station.

The fully grade-separated route runs partly in the median of the Century Freeway (Interstate 105) with an elevated section to the west. The line is operated and maintained by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Green Line is internally known as Line 803: this designation appears on internal operating schedules, as well as in the hyperlink on Metro's timetable website. The Green Line is the fastest light rail line (excluding the Metro Red Line and the Metro Purple Lines) in the Metro light rail network. Green Line trains typically operate at 50-60 mph on the I-105 freeway portion and around 40 mph on the elevated portion west of Aviation/LAX station. When the Metro Green Line began service in 1995, it operated with only one train car per trip. As ridership increased, two rail cars were then used. Ridership on the Metro Green Line has not been as high as the Metro Blue Line, although, the Green Line does have a higher ridership than the Metro Gold Line. Additionally, the Metro Green Line runs with one train car on in the early mornings (3:35 A.M.-5:30 A.M.) and late evenings (9:00P.M.- 12:55 A.M.) on weekdays and weekends. Although nearly all of the Green Line stations were built to accommodate three rail cars, it has never had that many. The stations west of Aviation station were not built to accommodate 3 rail cars. It is possible that the Green Line may eventually use 3 rail cars when the Crenshaw Corridor light rail line is complete.