Below are some (not all) highlights of the media coverage of the historic opening day, when rail passenger service returned to Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa.
30,000 board Gold Line Foothill trains on opening day – San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Local residents enjoy free rides Saturday in celebration of the opening of the Gold Line Foothill Extension. Photo by Shilah Montiel
By Steve Scauzillo
[Excerpt]:
On opening day, nearly 30,000 people jammed into six new Gold Line stations Saturday — many waiting in line for as long as 40 minutes — to ride the train from east Pasadena to Citrus College in Glendora.
“The trains are packed,” said Dave Sotero, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which debuted the 11.5-mile foothill extension under construction since June 2010. For the first time, the $1 billion light-rail project carried passengers to and from the Sierra Madre Villa Station through Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa.
Click here to read the full article.
Gold Line Foothill Extension opens today: Here’s how we got here – San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Monrovia’s Station Square park next to the Gold Line station on Friday February 26, 2016. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Pasadena Star News)
By Steve Scauzillo
[Excerpt]:
There are many firsts associated with this project: First train project built totally with taxpayers dollars from Measure R, a half-cent transportation tax passed by voters in November 2008. It’s also the longest train in Metro’s arsenal. It now runs 31 miles.
…
But this will be the first time cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa will have train stations taking passengers every day in more than half a century. Like other passenger trains, it will bring newcomers and recognition.
Click here to read the full article.
Gold Line Extension opens a whole new world: Phillip A. Washington – San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Metro CEO Phil Washington and several members of Metro Board of Directors take sneak peak train ride getting off on the Azusa Pacific University/Citrus College Station on Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension. The new Kinkisharyo train passed through all six new station stops in Arcadia, Duarte, Irwindale, Azusa and Azusa Pacific University /Citrus College Station Wednesday, February 17, 2016.(Photo by Walt Mancini/Pasadena Star-News)
By Phillip A. Washington, Metro CEO
[Excerpt]:
What the Metro Gold Line Extension does for the San Gabriel Valley is provide a cost-effective, convenient and reliable alternative that moves far more people than a single passenger automobile on the freeway ever could. The rail extension will also better connect communities along the line to our region’s world-class destinations already accessible via the Metro system.
If history is a guide, we know that the San Gabriel Valley will be experiencing significant growth in both housing and jobs, especially in the Foothill communities. We have built the Gold Line Extension to add critical capacity to this corridor in advance of the growth that is surely coming.
Click here to read the full article.
Thousands celebrate launch of the Gold Line extension through San Gabriel Valley – Los Angeles Times
A family enjoys a ride on the Metro Gold Line train on the opening day of service on the $1-billion, 11.5-mile extension through the Foothills. The line will transform the lives and commutes of San Gabriel Valley residents, officials say. Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times.
By Laura Nelson
[Excerpt]:
“I had been counting down the days, to be honest,” said Erika Reyes, 32, of Monrovia. Until Saturday, she said, she had been driving to the Gold Line’s previous terminus in Pasadena, parking, and boarding the train to get to her job in Highland Park. Her new drive to the Monrovia station will only take five minutes.
Advocates for the Foothill extension, which was once a shipping route for California’s citrus fruits, fought for more than a decade for the line to be funded and built. Now, they’ve turned their attention to extending it further east, through Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona, Claremont and Montclair. Some transportation officials have dubbed the line “the Brain Train” because it will connect Azusa Pacific University, Citrus College and the Claremont Consortium.
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Editorial: Questions linger about L.A.’s transit future — but, for now, enjoy the new Gold Line – Los Angeles Times
The Metro Gold Line departs the new Monrovia Station Square. (Los Angeles Times)
By The Times Editorial Board
[Excerpt]:
Here’s the really great news. Thanks to the Gold Line extension, you can now take light rail to the races at Santa Anita Park. Or the Los Angeles County Arboretum, if you favor peonies over ponies. Ye Lords and Ladies can ride to the Irwindale station, which is short Uber or Lyft ride away from the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. And, of course, commuters and students will have the option of hopping a train to escape the soul-sucking traffic on the 210 Freeway.
Each rail line that opens makes it easier for Los Angeles county residents to explore new neighborhoods, try new businesses and consider jobs or schools further from their homes. Unconnected communities become connected when there’s cheap, reliable and relatively fast public transit. Colleges in the northern San Gabriel Valley become more easily accessible to students from across the region.
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RADIO: New Metro Gold Line art captures the spirit of the San Gabriel Valley – KPCC
By Take Two
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Photos: Gold Line Foothill Extension’s opening day – The Source
Photos by Steve Hymon/Metro.
By Steve Hymon
[Excerpt]:
A huge THANK YOU to the taxpayers whose sales taxes built this project — the first to be funded by the Measure R sales tax increase approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2008. We hope that you can use and enjoy the Gold Line for many years and decades to come.
Click here to see the full photo gallery and article.
Take an Audio Tour of the Art at the New Gold Line Stations – Curbed LA
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By Elijah Chiland
[Excerpt]:
The new Gold Line Foothill Extension is up and running, and riders will be treated to a number of cool art installations at stations along the way. Led by art program manager Lesley Elwood, (corrected) the Construction Authority recruited artists from around the country to design public art projects that pay tribute to each station’s location and history. Now, in conjunction with a book detailing each artist’s vision, the Construction Authority has released an audio tour for passengers to listen to as they travel the new line.
Click here to read the full article.
VIDEO: Service Begins on Metro Gold Line Extension – NBC 4
Click here or on the image below to view the TV segment.
VIDEO: Metro Gold Line Expands Train Service in San Gabriel Valley – KTLA 5
Click here or on the image below to view the TV segment.
VIDEO: THOUSANDS IN SAN GABRIEL VALLEY LINE UP FOR NEWLY EXPANDED METRO GOLD LINE – ABC 7 Eyewitness News
Click here or on the image below to view the TV segment.
