NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND

Here are some tips and facts about the Metro Red Line subway, which opens to the public in the San Fernando Valley on Saturday. More details are available at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Web site at https://www.mta.net

* The Red Line extension that runs from North Hollywood to the station at Hollywood and Vine is 6.3 miles. Riders who board the subway at North Hollywood can travel to the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center station in 29 minutes.

* Groundbreaking on this link was March 11, 1994.

* Transit officials recommend that you allow disembarking passengers to exit before you board. Also, be mindful of designated seats for seniors and the disabled.

* Since the Red Line opened in 1993, the subway has not suffered damage from fire or earthquakes. (Not even in the 1994 Northridge quake, a magnitude-6.7 temblor.)

* When the next big quake strikes, MTA safety officials say that, because Red Line stations, tunnels and tracks are underground, they won’t experience the same violent shaking that occurs on the surface. Stations and tunnels are built with reinforced steel, engineered to withstand a magnitude-8 quake.

* After any quake of magnitude 4.5 or larger, trains are stopped at the next station and the system is checked before service continues.

* In case an emergency requires a system shutdown, there are lighted emergency exits and safety walks along the full length of the tunnels.

* Red Line trains usually travel up to 55 mph but can reach speeds of up to 70 mph under the Santa Monica Mountains, between Universal City and the station at Hollywood and Highland.

* The Red Line subway has 104 Italian-made cars, each costing $1.8 million. A 75-foot car weighs 80,000 pounds empty and can carry 180 seated passengers, or up to 220 if some stand. Each train has about six cars.

* Subway trains are powered by a “third rail” adjacent to the tracks, with 750 volts of electricity surging through it.

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Compiled by ANNETTE KONDO