More Chances to Ride the Rails

If you ride the Metro Red Line--or happen to travel Wilshire Boulevard and want to go by subway--your life figures to change a bit on July 17.

That is the day three new Red Line stations will open, all of them along Wilshire west of downtown.

It’s also the day that the fare for riding the Red Line jumps from a quarter to $1.35.

The Red Line currently serves a 3.2-mile route between Union Station and MacArthur Park, with stops at five stations.

The two-mile extension beneath Wilshire will make stops at Vermont Avenue, Normandie Avenue and Western Avenue.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say a Red Line commuter who boards at Western Avenue will reach Pershing Square downtown 12 minutes faster than by bus.

Bus riders bound for downtown can transfer to the subway at a new transit hub at the Western Avenue station. As many as 4,000 bus patrons a day will make the switch initially, easing congestion on Wilshire, the MTA says.

*

Routes for several bus lines will be altered to serve the Western station, and a new Line 316 will run from Century City via 3rd Street to the Vermont Avenue station during peak periods.

The next leg of the Red Line--up Vermont to Hollywood Boulevard and west to Vine Street--will not open before 1998.