A Line (Los Angeles Metro)

A Line
A Line
	Foothill Freeway overpass east of Sierra Madre Villa station in 2015
Overview
Other name(s)	Blue Line (1990–2019); Gold Line/L Line (north of Little Tokyo/Arts District)
Owner	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Line number	801
Termini	APU/Citrus College; Downtown Long Beach;
Stations	44 (4 more under construction)
Website	metro.net/riding/guide/a-line
Service
Type	Light rail
System	Los Angeles Metro Rail
Depot(s)	Division 11 (Long Beach); Division 24 (Monrovia)
Rolling stock	Siemens P2000, AnsaldoBreda P2550, or Kinki Sharyo P3010 running in 2- or 3-car consists
Daily ridership	69,216 (weekday, May 2024)
Ridership	22,282,648 (2024) 40.9%
History
Opened	July 14, 1990
Technical
Line length	48.5 mi (78.1 km)
Number of tracks	2 (except single track Long Beach loop)
Character	Mostly at-grade in private right of way, with some street-running, elevated and underground sections
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 750 V DC
Operating speed	55 mph (89 km/h) (max.); 24 mph (39 km/h) (avg.)
Route map
Route map
Foothill Extension (2025)
	Division 24 Maintenance
	and Storage Facility
	Division 21 Maintenance
	and Storage Facility
	to North Hollywood
	to Wilshire/Western
	Division 11 Maintenance
	and Storage Facility
	Multiple services
	sharing tracks
	All stations
	are accessible

The A Line (formerly and colloquially known as the Blue Line) is a light rail line in Los Angeles County, California. It is one of the six lines of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). The A Line serves 44 stations and runs east-west between Azusa and Pasadena, then north-south between Pasadena and Long Beach, interlining and sharing five stations with the E Line in Downtown Los Angeles. It operates for approximately 19 hours per day with headways of up to 8 minutes during peak hours. It runs for 48.5 miles (78.1 km), making it the world's longest light rail line since 2023.

The A Line is the oldest and busiest light rail line in the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, carrying over 15 million passengers in 2023, with an average of 69,216 weekday riders in May 2024. Its initial segment from Downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach opened in 1990, utilizing much of the original right of way of the former Pacific Electric Long Beach Line. Since its opening, the line has undergone numerous upgrades to improve its capacity, safety, and reliability. Plans to extend the line north to Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley surfaced in the 1980s but were postponed due to funding constraints. The Gold Line (renamed the L Line in 2020) completed a segment of the planned extension from Union Station to Pasadena on a separate line. It opened in 2003 and extended east to Azusa in 2016.

Planning for the northern extension resumed in the early 2000s as part of the Regional Connector Transit Project, with construction starting in 2014. The project enabled A Line trains to run north to the San Gabriel Valley by constructing a light rail tunnel in Downtown Los Angeles, connecting the A Line to the L Line. The A Line's current Azusa–Long Beach service commenced in June 2023 with the completion of the project, incorporating the Union Station–Pasadena–Azusa portion of the L Line. Subsequently, the L Line ceased service, and as part of the project, three additional downtown stations opened in the constructed tunnel alignment. Construction is underway to extend the A Line further east to Pomona and Montclair.