Expo Line turned over to MTA

Along National Boulevard in Culver City.

The Expo Line has taken its next big step on the path from construction project to actual light-rail transit line. The Expo Line Construction Authority has handed over the Downtown-Culver City segment to the MTA, which will operate the trains. Just when riders will be allowed to board remains unannounced. "Metro DOES NOT have an opening date for the Expo Line," says the MTA blog The Source. "Nor has Metro made a decision whether to first open the line first to La Cienega/Jefferson or all the way to Culver City, where the station is still being completed." Earlier this month, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky went for a test ride on the line.

Meanwhile, clearing work seems to have begun on the next Expo Line leg west to Santa Monica. Some structures along the right-of-way have been torn down and businesses that were leasing in the path of the future tracks have begun to move — including this jeans repair establishment on Pico near Sawtelle Boulevard.

More Expo Line pictures below, showing how new rail lines are altering the cityscape of Los Angeles and adjoining areas.