L Line (Los Angeles Metro)

L Line
L Line
	Foothill Freeway overpass east of Sierra Madre Villa station, 2015
Overview
Other name(s)	Gold Line (2003–2020)
Status	Defunct, split between A and E lines
Owner	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Line number	804
Termini	APU/Citrus College; Atlantic;
Stations	26
Website	metro.net/riding/l-line
Service
Type	Light rail
System	Los Angeles Metro Rail
Depot(s)	Division 21 (Elysian Park); Division 24 (Monrovia)
Rolling stock	Siemens P2000, AnsaldoBreda P2550 or Kinki Sharyo P3010 running in 2 or 3 car consists
Ridership	5,907,262 (2022) 18.2%
History
Opened	July 26, 2003
Closed	June 16, 2023
Technical
Line length	31 miles (49.9 km)
Number of tracks	2
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.)
Route map
Route map
	Division 24 Maintenance
	and Storage Facility
	Division 21 Maintenance
	and Storage Facility
	to North Hollywood
	to Wilshire/Western
	Regional
	Connector
	Little Tokyo/
	Arts District
	closed
	2020
	Multiple
	services
	All stations
	are accessible

The L Line and Gold Line are former designations for a section of the current Los Angeles Metro Rail system, a single light rail line of 31 miles (50 km) that provided service between Azusa and East Los Angeles via the northeastern corner of Downtown Los Angeles, serving several destinations and neighborhoods, including Little Tokyo, Union Station, the Southwest Museum, Chinatown, and Old Pasadena. The line, formerly one of seven in the system, entered service in 2003. The L Line served 26 stations (including two underground stations, and one open trench station).

In October 2020, the line was broken into two disconnected segments with the closure of the Little Tokyo/Arts District station in preparation for the opening of the Regional Connector tunnel. On June 16, 2023, the new tunnel opened, along with a new Little Tokyo/Arts District station, now below ground. As of that date, passengers may now transfer between the two segments of the former L Line at this station, now serviced by the A Line and the E Line, which took over the northern and southern sections of the L Line, respectively. Metro reassigned the L Line's gold color to the E Line (it had previously been designated light blue) when service changes went into effect.

East Los Angeles and Pasadena are no longer connected directly without transfers, but the system changes provided direct rail service to Long Beach on the A Line and Santa Monica on the E Line.