K Line (Los Angeles Metro)

The Metro K Line's northern terminus is at Expo/Crenshaw station, a transfer point to the E Line. The K Line station here is underground and does not provide a track connection to the at-grade E Line. Provisions are in place to allow the line to extend north. The route follows Crenshaw Boulevard from Exposition Boulevard south to 67th Street. It travels underground in a one-mile (1.6 km) deep bore tunnel, which transitions into an at-grade segment in the median of Crenshaw Blvd (between 48th and 59th Streets) where trains run synchronized to existing traffic signals. From 59th and 67th Streets, the line returns underground into a shallow cut and cover tunnel for a half-mile (0.8 km).

South of there, the route emerges from the tunnel and enters the Harbor Subdivision right-of-way, which runs parallel to Florence Avenue and Aviation Boulevard. The line mostly operates at-grade in this exclusive right-of-way, briefly transitioning onto elevated viaducts to cross over major thoroughfares including La Brea Avenue and Interstate 405. Traveling the complete length of the line takes approximately 18 minutes.[3]

The current southern terminus of the line is Westchester/Veterans station. The extension under construction continues along an exclusive right-of-way, crossing over Manchester Boulevard, Century Boulevard and Imperial Highway. At Century Boulevard, Aviation/Century Station will sit on a viaduct. The line will then briefly enter an open trench as it passes close to the LAX runways[4] before connecting at a wye to the existing C Line just to the west of Aviation/LAX station. Until this extension opens, Metro is operating a bus shuttle called the "C & K Line Link" from Westchester/Veterans to Aviation/LAX.

K Line service hours are approximately from 4:30 a.m. until 12:00 a.m. daily. Trains operate every ten minutes during peak hours Monday through Friday, and every 12 minutes during the daytime on weekdays and all day on the weekends. Night service is every 20 minutes.[5]

The project includes nine new stations:[6]

Station	Opened/opening[2]	City (Neighborhood)	Major connections and notes
Expo/Crenshaw	October 7, 2022[1]	Los Angeles (Jefferson Park)	Park and ride: 450 spaces (closed Sunday)
Martin Luther King Jr.		Los Angeles (Baldwin Hills/Leimert Park)
Leimert Park		Los Angeles (Leimert Park)
Hyde Park		Los Angeles (Hyde Park)
Fairview Heights		Inglewood	Park and ride: 200 spaces
Downtown Inglewood			SoFi Stadium via shuttle bus Planned connection to Inglewood Transit Connector (2027)
Westchester/Veterans			via C & K Line Link
LAX/Metro Transit Center	Late 2024	Los Angeles (Westchester)	LAX Automated People Mover (2024)
Aviation/Century	2024

The line was from its inception intended to offer a connection to LAX via an Automated People Mover (APM). However, at the time the line was designed, it was unclear where exactly that connection would take place. While initial expections were that the connection would be at Aviation/Century station, ultimately the route chosen for the LAX Automated People Mover intersected with the new line at 96th Street, about half a mile to the north, requiring the design of an infill station while the overall line was still under construction.

In 2014, Metro approved the planning and scoping of this station, which was called Aviation/96th in planning documents but was ultimately designated LAX/Metro Transit Center station.[18][19] This station is intended to serve as Metro Rail's main gateway to the airport itself, while the Aviation/Century station will serve destinations along the busy Century Boulevard corridor.

While initial plans called for the full length of the project to be opened for service while the LAX/Metro Transit Center was under development, delays in the opening of the main line meant that major construction on the station was already underway by the time the line was ready. As a result, the line opened on October 7, 2022 only from Expo/Crenshaw to Westechester/Veterans.[1] The full length of the line, including Aviation/Century and the connection to the C Line, is now planned to open in 2023, while LAX/Metro Transit Center itself will open in 2024.[2]

Graphics depicting the three options for future C and K Line service patterns

Varying service patterns have been proposed for integrating the completed Crenshaw/LAX Line into the rest of the system over the course of its planning and construction, all of which have involved sharing trackage and infrastructure facilities with the existing C Line. Although some early proposals would've sent trains through all three directions of the wye that will connect the existing C Line with the new segment, this was rejected by Metro because it would cause too much wear and tear on the track switch mechanisms.[20][21]

The debate over service patterns proved somewhat contentious, as the final pattern must balance the needs of riders, operational needs, and the political constituencies of Metro's board members.[22] In 2018, with the line then scheduled to open within the year, the Metro Board of Directors overrode a recommendation by operations staff that would've had a single line operating between Expo/Crenshaw and Norwalk station. Passengers from the Redondo Beach area would have been served by a shuttle to the LAX area, where they would need to transfer to another train to continue east or north. Instead, board members approved a one-year pilot of a configuration that would combine an Expo-to-Norwalk line with another line that would connect Redondo Beach with Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station, allowing transfers to the A and J Lines.[23][24] The approved plan would incur higher operating expenses but board members argued it would retain better transfer opportunities for South Bay residents.[25]

Ongoing construction delays led to a reassessment of that plan in 2022. Metro recommended public outreach aimed at reformulating the operating plan before the connection to the C Line opens in 2023;[2] in March of 2023, Metro indicated that it would recommend Option 2 in the figure above, in which the K Line would run north-south from Expo/Crenshaw to Redondo Beach, and the C Line would run from Norwalk to LAX.[26]

Metro has plans to convert the current at-grade crossing at Centinela Avenue to an above-grade crossing, which the agency estimates could be finished by 2026 or 2027.[27]

Graphic depicting the three options for future K Line Northern extension

The original plans for the Crenshaw Corridor project connected Wilshire Blvd to LAX. However, once LRT was selected as the preferred mode, the cost for the entire route exceeded the project budget, so part of the corridor north of Exposition Boulevard was deferred until funds became available.

The final design for the Crenshaw/LAX project included a tunneled station at Crenshaw/Expo to accommodate a potential northward extension, which increased the cost of the original project by $236 million.[28]

With the passage of Measure M and the enthusiastic support of the City of West Hollywood, the K Line Extension, which would travel north from the current Expo/Crenshaw terminus, connecting along the way to the B and D Lines, is currently under development. Three options are being studied, all ending at the potential Hollywood Bowl Station. The San Vicente Alternative, known as the hybrid, follows Crenshaw and San Vicente, turning north on Fairfax to serve Farmers Market (Los Angeles) and CBS Television City before turning on Beverly to connect back to San Vicente near Cedar-Sinai towards West Hollywood at Pacific Design Center. Finally serving new stations on Santa Monica Blvd, the route curves north again towards Hollywood. The other two options follow a traditional North/South routing on either Fairfax or La Brea.