Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Rail

L.A. Metro Offers Details on Planned West Santa Ana Branch Rail

Metro is hosting a series of meetings on its planned West Santa Ana Branch rail line. The 19-mile rail line will extend from downtown L.A. into southeast L.A. County, mostly in a couple of existing rail rights-of-way. The project has a couple of tranches of Measure M funding, so may be built in phases - with an initial opening anticipated around 2041.

There are two additional meetings coming up this Thursday (tomorrow) and Saturday, both from 10 a.m. to noon. Metro is accepting WSAB Environmental Impact Report (EIR) comments through Tuesday, September 28. Meeting and EIR comment details at the Streetsblog calendar, The Source, or Metro's project webpage.

There wasn't a lot of new material for folks who have studied the hundreds of pages of the EIR. In case you're one of those people who just didn't make it through appendix T (that's the Water Resources report), below are some additional relatively high-level overview facts Streetsblog gleaned from yesterday's presentation. Metro announced that they will post the presentation at their project webpage soon.

Map of current Metro West Santa Ana Branch alternatives
Map of current Metro West Santa Ana Branch alternatives
false

The EIR breaks the WSAB project into four alternatives. Alternatives 1 and 2 differ in the location of the line's northern terminus in downtown Los Angeles. Alternatives 3 and 4 are only partial build-outs of the southern end of the line, which is identical in all four alternatives.

    • Alternative 1: 19 miles with Union Station terminus - cost: $9.1-9.3 billion
    • Alternative 2: 19 miles with 7th Street terminus - cost $9.3-9.5 billion
    • Alternative 3: 15 miles just from A Line to Artesia - $4.9-5.1 billion (Metro staff are recommending this)
    • Alternative 4: 6.6 miles just from C Line to Artesia - $2.3-2.6 billion
Metro slide show comparison of West Santa Ana Branch Alternatives. Full slide show at COG Agenda
Metro slide show comparison of West Santa Ana Branch Alternatives. Full July 2021 slide show at Gateway Cities COG Agenda
false

(Sadly, the escalating light rail costs lend further credibility to Streetsblog's longtime assertion that the line should really be heavy rail utilizing an existing rail corridor along the river through downtown L.A.)

Below is some additional information about each of the alternatives, listed south to north.

There are five park-and-ride lots planned, all near the southern terminus at the Pioneer Boulevard Station in the city of Artesia, which would be the only parking structure on the line. Other planned surface parking lots would be at Bellflower Boulevard, Paramount Blvd/Rosecrans Avenue, C (Green) Line, and Firestone Boulevard.

xxx
Metro slide on WSAB Alternative 1
false
xxx
Second Metro slide on WSAB Alternative 1
false

Alternative 4 includes four station stations - one elevated - plus plenty of grade separations: seven elevated street crossings, two freight crossings, and three freeway crossings. Other major expenditures include redoing about a mile of the Metro C Line and realigning 1.3 miles of freight rail.

Metro slide on West Santa Ana Branch Alternative 3
Metro slide on West Santa Ana Branch Alternative 3
false

Alternative 3 includes six more stations, in addition to the Alternative 4 stations. Most of this portion of the line (6.6 miles) would run at-grade, with nearly two miles of aerial structures. This portion includes bridges crossing two rivers and the 710 Freeway, as well as 6.8 miles of freight rails realignment.

West Santa Ana Branch alternatives 1 and 2
West Santa Ana Branch alternatives 1 and 2
false

And then the project gets expensive! North of where the West Santa Ana Branch line parallels the A Line, coming into downtown L.A., the project would include a couple miles of tunnels and a couple miles of aerial structure - all much more costly than the mostly at-grade rail in the southern parts of the project.

Get more information at this week's meetings - and provide your feedback.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Monday’s Headlines

Telsa's Robocars Make Streets Less Safe, ICE messing up California, Heat Is Bad for Cars, Bus Lane Enforcement in Weho and More...

June 30, 2025

California Transportation Commission Unanimously Approves Funds for All Recommended Highway Projects

Advocates call the CTC a rubber stamp for highway widening. The body didn't do anything to dispel that notion yesterday.

June 27, 2025

Friday’s Headlines

Mixed bag of news as we head into the weekend.

June 27, 2025

Metro Responds to Issues Resulting from ICE Raids and Protests

The Metro board received an update on recent Metro service disruptions precipitated by ICE raids. The board approved a Janice Hahn motion intended to minimize service disruption.

June 26, 2025

Caltrans Continues Outreach on “Vision 980” for Oakland

Is there still some hope for reconnecting West Oakland with downtown by removing the huge barrier of I-980?

June 26, 2025

SGV Connect 137: Olympic Cricket at the Pomona Fairplex

For the first time ever, the city of Pomona will host an Olympic event: cricket! Get the story from Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval and Abhimanyu Rajp, Director of Los Angeles Cricket.

June 26, 2025
See all posts