America's notoriously car-mad, clogged city can now be explored by train
The popular 1988 comedy movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit starred animated characters alongside live-action humans. That was novel enough, but what really caught my attention were the devious anti-railway antics of its villain, Judge Doom. In the story, set in 1947, Doom purchases a Los Angeles tram company so he can close it down and force residents into driving cars on his new freeway.
What's interesting is how much this fiction drew on reality. In the early 20th century LA's Pacific Electric was one of the world's largest rail operators, delivering more than 2000 daily interurban services over 1600 kilometres of track in the city and its neighbouring urban areas. Its network was complemented by the trams (streetcars) of the Los Angeles Railway, which served a more central area.
By the 1960s it had all closed, after the accelerated construction of freeways and the widespread adoption of cars. In the end the tram network was sold to a company that converted it to buses; a development in which corporations with road transport interests were complicit. Pacific Electric's interurban network also closed about the same time.
Los Angeles famously became a car-mad city with a reputation for poor public transport. But since 1990, largely unnoticed by overseas visitors, the city's rail network has been rebuilt. Focused on the marvellous Union Station, served by Amtrak's long-distance trains, LA County has crafted the Metro Rail network, comprising six rail services (supplemented by two rapid-transit bus routes). Interestingly, it's a hybrid network: two lines are underground railways while the other four are light-rail lines running vehicles that are basically trams. But Angelenos call them trains, so I'll use that terminology, too.
Every time I'm in LA I get a lot of use out of the Metro, zipping along dedicated lines while others are stuck in traffic on congested freeways. Which is why I'm at Santa Monica – from my hotel in Downtown LA I caught a train along the E Line to the popular seaside locale for a mere $US1.75 ($2.70). That's another attraction of the Metro: it's cheap.
And Santa Monica Pier is worth travelling to see. Dotted with attractions including restaurants and a funfair, its broad timber deck has a view of the sandy ocean shore as it bends around to the north. On this weekday morning there's a lazy, relaxed vibe on the pier, with people sipping coffee as they saunter along its length. With the low, rhythmic crash of waves in the background, it's very mellow, though in the evening this place must heave with excited visitors and the sounds of the funfair.
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America's notoriously car-mad, clogged city can now be explored by train
I'm standing on the Santa Monica Pier, gazing at the Pacific and thinking about Roger Rabbit. The popular 1988 comedy movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit starred animated characters alongside live-action humans. That was novel enough, but what really caught my attention were the devious anti-railway antics of its villain, Judge Doom. In the story, set in 1947, Doom purchases a Los Angeles tram company so he can close it down and force residents into driving cars on his new freeway. What's interesting is how much this fiction drew on reality. In the early 20th century LA's Pacific Electric was one of the world's largest rail operators, delivering more than 2000 daily interurban services over 1600 kilometres of track in the city and its neighbouring urban areas. Its network was complemented by the trams (streetcars) of the Los Angeles Railway, which served a more central area. By the 1960s it had all closed, after the accelerated construction of freeways and the widespread adoption of cars. In the end the tram network was sold to a company that converted it to buses; a development in which corporations with road transport interests were complicit. Pacific Electric's interurban network also closed about the same time. Los Angeles famously became a car-mad city with a reputation for poor public transport. But since 1990, largely unnoticed by overseas visitors, the city's rail network has been rebuilt. Focused on the marvellous Union Station, served by Amtrak's long-distance trains, LA County has crafted the Metro Rail network, comprising six rail services (supplemented by two rapid-transit bus routes). Interestingly, it's a hybrid network: two lines are underground railways while the other four are light-rail lines running vehicles that are basically trams. But Angelenos call them trains, so I'll use that terminology, too. Every time I'm in LA I get a lot of use out of the Metro, zipping along dedicated lines while others are stuck in traffic on congested freeways. Which is why I'm at Santa Monica – from my hotel in Downtown LA I caught a train along the E Line to the popular seaside locale for a mere $US1.75 ($2.70). That's another attraction of the Metro: it's cheap. And Santa Monica Pier is worth travelling to see. Dotted with attractions including restaurants and a funfair, its broad timber deck has a view of the sandy ocean shore as it bends around to the north. On this weekday morning there's a lazy, relaxed vibe on the pier, with people sipping coffee as they saunter along its length. With the low, rhythmic crash of waves in the background, it's very mellow, though in the evening this place must heave with excited visitors and the sounds of the funfair.
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America's notoriously car-mad, clogged city can now be explored by train
I'm standing on the Santa Monica Pier, gazing at the Pacific and thinking about Roger Rabbit. The popular 1988 comedy movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit starred animated characters alongside live-action humans. That was novel enough, but what really caught my attention were the devious anti-railway antics of its villain, Judge Doom. In the story, set in 1947, Doom purchases a Los Angeles tram company so he can close it down and force residents into driving cars on his new freeway. What's interesting is how much this fiction drew on reality. In the early 20th century LA's Pacific Electric was one of the world's largest rail operators, delivering more than 2000 daily interurban services over 1600 kilometres of track in the city and its neighbouring urban areas. Its network was complemented by the trams (streetcars) of the Los Angeles Railway, which served a more central area. By the 1960s it had all closed, after the accelerated construction of freeways and the widespread adoption of cars. In the end the tram network was sold to a company that converted it to buses; a development in which corporations with road transport interests were complicit. Pacific Electric's interurban network also closed about the same time. Los Angeles famously became a car-mad city with a reputation for poor public transport. But since 1990, largely unnoticed by overseas visitors, the city's rail network has been rebuilt. Focused on the marvellous Union Station, served by Amtrak's long-distance trains, LA County has crafted the Metro Rail network, comprising six rail services (supplemented by two rapid-transit bus routes). Interestingly, it's a hybrid network: two lines are underground railways while the other four are light-rail lines running vehicles that are basically trams. But Angelenos call them trains, so I'll use that terminology, too. Every time I'm in LA I get a lot of use out of the Metro, zipping along dedicated lines while others are stuck in traffic on congested freeways. Which is why I'm at Santa Monica – from my hotel in Downtown LA I caught a train along the E Line to the popular seaside locale for a mere $US1.75 ($2.70). That's another attraction of the Metro: it's cheap. And Santa Monica Pier is worth travelling to see. Dotted with attractions including restaurants and a funfair, its broad timber deck has a view of the sandy ocean shore as it bends around to the north. On this weekday morning there's a lazy, relaxed vibe on the pier, with people sipping coffee as they saunter along its length. With the low, rhythmic crash of waves in the background, it's very mellow, though in the evening this place must heave with excited visitors and the sounds of the funfair.
