Los Angeles Union Station. What to look for when you come to the RailPAC/NARP Meeting on March 17!

Union Station in Los Angeles opened in 1939, owned by the Southern Pacific, AT&SF, and Union Pacific railroads. Long distance trains have called at these platforms ever since. The facility is now government owned and Amtrak’s long distance trains arrive and depart here. In this picture from October, 2006, the Southwest Chief has arrived on time! In the background is the MTA Building tower, where the RailPAC/NARP meeting will be held.

The east entrance to the passenger tunnel, from the MTA Building and Gateway Center bus area, has this mural welcoming everyone to the station.

First it was the three AT&SF “San Diegans,” taken over by Amtrak in 1971, that went only from LA to San Diego. Now there are eleven, with some extended the entire corridor from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, only now they are called, “Pacific Surfliners.”

The Red Line tunnel burrows below Union Station, with service to Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. It is the connector to downtown and the Blue Line light rail trains that go to Long Beach.

Metrolink commuter trains started rolling in 1992, and now hundreds of daily trains converge on these platforms serving San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange County and Oceanside, Lancaster, and Ventura County.

The newest addition to Los Angeles Union Station rail opportunities is the Gold Line light rail trains that arrive and depart for Pasadena and Sierra Madre. An extension to East LA is under construction, with the tracks crossing over the freeway under construction at the south end of the platform. There’s much to see in LAUS. Enjoy it all!
(RailPAC Photos by Russ Jackson, Noel Braymer, and James Washington)