Photos: Metro Expo Line

From left; Kat Herrera, Benjamin Hutto, and Brian O’ Brien, all friends from Malibu, celebrate as the Expo Line leaves Santa Monica Station. They were heading to Los Angeles to celebrate O’ Brien’s 65th birthday.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

May 9, 2016 5:09 PM PT

Riders experience cramped conditions during the first day of Expo Line trains running to Santa Monica, on Friday, May 20. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times )

People wind there way through a huge line to board a Metro Expo Line train on its first day of service in Santa Monica.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A pair of conductors navigate the streets of Los Angeles in the cockpit of the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

“I’ve been waiting 20 years for this,” said Betty Juarez, from West Los Angeles, while taking in the view on the first trip on the Metro Expo Line in Santa Monica.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

John Wallach and his dog ,Dior, enjoy the first trip on the Metro Expo Line train from Santa Monica towards Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Passengers disemabrk from the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica at the Santa Monica terminus.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Emmett O’Reilly, a Venice resident, is all smiles while getting an early glimpse of the new Metro Expo Line extension in Santa Monica.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A crowd of people gather at the Seveth Street Metro Station to await the arrival of the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Riders at the Culver City Station crowd abard the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Passengers disembark the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica at the Santa Monica terminus.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Anna Chen, a Metro spokeswoman, walks past a new train at the Expo Line’s downtown Santa Monica station. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Passengers wait in line to get in the first first Metro Expo Line train from Santa Monica towards Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The first Metro Expo Line train runs through a inaugural banner in Santa Monica of the 6.6 mile rail extension from Santa Monica to Culver City that will provide L.A. County residents an alternative to the congested I-10 Santa Monica Freeway.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Steve Phares, a Southern Pacific conductor for 42 years, arrives on the first Metro Expo Line train in Santa Monica.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, also Chair of the Metro Board of Directors, get playful with a surf board after arriving on the Metro Expo Line in Santa Monica.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Anna Chen, PIO with MTA, walks past a train at the Metro Expo Line extension opens in Santa Monica.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas watch train operator William Smith during an Expo Line test run between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Metro board members ride along on Expo Line test runs between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Mayor Eric Garcetti talks to reporters who traveled with Metro board members during a test run of the Expo Line between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Metro board members examine an Expo Line test train after a run between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, right, talks to fellow Metro board members Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker and John Fasana as they ride an Expo Line test train between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

An Expo Line test train runs between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Train operator William Smith is at the controls during an Expo Line test run between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Metro passengers wait at the Culver City Station as test trains run between the station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)