Readers React: Union Station is the biggest roadblock to good rail transit in L.A.

To the editor: Los Angeles Union Station was built 80 years ago by private enterprise (with considerable use of eminent domain), and it was not intended to serve commuters. Trains slowly backed in to station tracks, and passengers took a leisurely stroll down a long tunnel to meet “ground transportation.”

Enter Metrolink, with commuter trains that had to either back in or back out. Soon after, Metro built a bus plaza out back and then a subway station far underground. Later, light rail arrived, with the Gold Line occupying two tracks at surface level — but accessible only by going downstairs into the tunnel.

The L.A. Times reports that plans “modest and grand” are in the works to improve the transit hub. I beg to differ — Union Station is not a “transit hub,” but the main reason why rail transportation in Los Angeles will never be world-class.

When are through tracks going to be installed? Why isn’t there cross-platform transfer from Metrolink, Amtrak and Metro? For that matter, why isn’t L.A.’s “transit hub” located somewhere between City Hall and the real downtown?

For a century, civic leaders have ignored the transportation issue. Every transit initiative, then and now, is built on the cheap. Transportation experts for decades have advocated solid engineering solutions for moving people around and through Los Angeles, but those efforts have been ignored.

Union Station has been “at the crossroads” almost since it was built.

Joseph Strapac, Bellflower

The writer, who has taught classes on transportation at Cal State L.A. and has written books on rail technology, is a member of Metro’s Gateway Cities Service Council.

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To the editor: I love Union Station and always take out-of-town visitors there.

The purpose of projects to refresh the facility is to “better connect Union Station with its surroundings.” However, it is the nature of those surroundings that makes this a challenge.

Yes, there is Olvera Street, which I always include in my tour, but after that, we are back in the car heading to L.A.’s new go-to destination, the Arts District.

The Arts District may be less than a mile away, but who would intentionally walk down truck-filled Alameda Street and cross the 101 Freeway? Also, I cannot use Metro trains to get there.

The other referenced cities, Denver and New York, grew up around their main rail stations, just as many European cities did. But for some reason, this did not happen in Los Angeles.

Peter Smith, Culver City

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