Subway Between Union Station, MacArthur Park to Open Jan. 30

Ending a heated debate, Mayor Tom Bradley announced Wednesday that Los Angeles’ new subway will open Jan. 30--a day before the Super Bowl and three weeks later than scheduled.

“It’s going to be a super day in Los Angeles: A super Metro Rail opening and a Super Bowl game,” Bradley said at a news conference.

Initially, passengers are expected to ride free on the Red Line subway--which will run between Union Station and MacArthur Park. Officials have not yet determined when to begin charging the $1.10 fare.

When construction on the Red Line began in 1986, transit officials had said the first segment would cost $1.25 billion and be completed in April, 1992. In fact, the Red Line has run $200 million over that amount and the start-up date has been rescheduled several times. It was pushed back to September, 1993, then forward to March. In recent months, officials were pressing to open the subway Jan. 11.

At Wednesday’s news conference, Bradley chastised reporters for “negative thoughts” when questions arose about the $200-million budget overrun and said such attitudes contributed to the decades of delay in obtaining mass transit here.

“This is historic,” Bradley said. “This is the beginning of our underground system.”

Transit officials veered away from a Jan. 11 start-up date after Southern California Rapid Transit District officials reported last month that they were experiencing a number of glitches, including doors that inadvertently opened and faulty software that caused the brakes to sometimes abruptly halt the trains. Most of those problems have been solved.

RTD officials have said they wanted to test run the cars for a period of 30 days. The testing began Dec. 9, but not all the cars were available. RTD General Manager Art Leahy estimated that by the Jan. 30 opening, most of the subway cars will have completed the tests. As of Wednesday, operators were running eight cars on the tracks. It takes about seven minutes to travel from Union Station to MacArthur Park, Leahy said.

In recent weeks, RTD and its partner agency--the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission--have argued over when the Red Line subway would be ready. That argument has become increasingly heated as officials traded barbs about each other’s motives in setting a start-up date. In meetings this week, officials deliberated over several possible dates--ranging from Jan. 23 to mid-February--before settling on Jan. 30.

“It’s the earliest prudent date that we could agree upon,” Bradley said.

When the first 4.4-mile segment of the Red Line opens, it is expected to carry 7,800 passengers daily. Many of them are expected to be riders from the Blue Line, which runs from Long Beach to Los Angeles, as well as train commuters who arrive at Union Station.

A second 6.7-mile segment of the Red Line will be completed next. This will run between MacArthur Park and Wilshire Boulevard near Western Avenue. Another portion will run between Wilshire Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard near Vine Street. The entire second segment, costing $1.46 billion, is scheduled for completion in 1998.