Test Runs to Begin on Long Beach Blue Line Loop

Test runs will begin Sunday for the Metro Rail loop into downtown Long Beach in preparation for the opening of the last leg of the Blue Line track that will complete a 22-mile link to Los Angeles.

The trains will run every 10 minutes through the week, and transit officials are cautioning drivers and pedestrians to take extra care traveling along Long Beach Boulevard, Pacific Avenue and 1st and 8th streets.

New left turn signals have been installed at intersections along the loop, but drivers are being warned not to stop on the tracks while waiting to turn “even if you don’t see a train coming,” officials said.

The Long Beach loop opens Sept. 1, and will serve four stations located at 5th Street and Long Beach Boulevard, 1st Street and Long Beach Boulevard, 1st Street and Pine Avenue in the Transit Mall, and 5th Street and Pacific Avenue.

More than 19 miles of the Blue Line track have been up and running since July, but the line stopped at the Anaheim Street station on Long Beach Boulevard while construction on the downtown loop was completed.

At the north end of the Blue Line, one additional station remains under construction at 7th and Flower streets in downtown Los Angeles. Scheduled to open next year, it eventually will provide easy transfer to the Metro Rail Red Line, which also is under construction.

Free rides were offered for the first two weeks of service after the Blue Line opened July 14, with nearly 670,000 boardings during that initial period, according to Nick Patsaouras, president of the Southern California Rapid Transit District board.

“Since the end of the free-fare period, we have been averaging 15,000 riders a day,” Patsaouras said. “On Sundays, we are carrying nearly 20,000 riders.

“We believe these are significant numbers, especially for a new system where five of the stations still are to be opened,” he said.

Patsaouras said it took only 40 days to reach the milestone of the millionth passenger, and that the system is six months ahead of original projections in ridership.