[HD] Metro A Line (Blue) - P2020 Full Cab Ride from 7th Street/Metro Center to Downtown Long Beach

Welcome aboard the Metro A Line (Blue)! This train's final destination is Downtown Long Beach station.
Recently I had the chance to film out the 'railfan window' looking into the cab of the Nippon Sharyo P2020 LRV from the origination point of 7th Street/Metro Center to the train's final destination of Downtown Long Beach. After a long 9 month closure with replacement bus shuttle service, the Metro Blue Line finally completely reopened as the Metro A Line with numerous new improvements such as new track, signaling, catenary wires, and station upgrades. Thanks for watching and enjoy the sights, sounds, and exhilaration of riding through cities such as Downtown LA, Vernon, South LA, Willowbrook, Compton, Carson, and Long Beach featuring the use of the high horn and traveling at speeds of up to 55mph!
Station Timestamps:
00:46 - 7th Street/Metro Center
02:10 - Pico
06:48 - Grand/LATTC
09:35 - San Pedro St
14:00 - Washington
16:36 - Vernon
18:45 - Slauson
20:34 - Florence
22:28 - Firestone
24:32 - 103rd St/Watts Towers
27:14 - Willowbrook/Rosa Parks
30:40 - Compton
33:40 - Artesia
36:44 - Del Amo
40:20 - Wardlow
42:49 - Willow St
47:03 - Pacific Coast Hwy
49:15 - Anaheim St
51:50 - 5th St
53:58 - 1st St
56:52 - Downtown Long Beach
© 2019 Los Angeles Rail Productions

[@LARailProductions]

Station Timestamps: 00:46 - 7th Street/Metro Center 02:10 - Pico 06:48 - Grand/LATTC 09:35 - San Pedro St 14:00 - Washington 16:36 - Vernon 18:45 - Slauson 20:34 - Florence 22:28 - Firestone 24:32 - 103rd St/Watts Towers 27:14 - Willowbrook/Rosa Parks 30:40 - Compton 33:40 - Artesia 36:44 - Del Amo 40:20 - Wardlow 42:49 - Willow St 47:03 - Pacific Coast Hwy 49:15 - Anaheim St 51:50 - 5th St 53:58 - 1st St 56:52 - Downtown Long Beach

[@miyoo4969]

That’s a lot of stops

[@3dheadcreeps87]

Mi Yoo - it’s going to be even longer when it’s merged in two years

[@lloydtaylor3467]

@@3dheadcreeps87 : iz the GreeN & BLUe LiNe stiLL UNder heaVy CONstrUCtiON.???

[@mohamadfaiz6935]

@@lloydtaylor3467 starting next year the Metro Blue Line stations _______________________________ APU/Citrus College station Azusa Downtown station Irwindale station Duarte/City of Hope station Monrovia station Arcadia station Sierra Madre Villa station Allen station Lake station Memorial Park station Del Mar station Fillmore station South Pasadena station Highland Park station Southwest Museum station Heritage Square station Lincoln/Cypress station Chinatown station Union Station Little Tokyo/Arts District station Historic Broadway station and Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill station 7th Street/Metro Center Pico station Grand/LATTC station San Pedro Street station Washington station Vernon station Slauson station (A Line) Florence station Firestone station 103rd Street/Watts Towers station Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station Compton station Artesia station Wardlow station Willow Street station Pacific Coast Highway station (A Line) Anaheim Street station 5th Street station 1st Street station Downtown Long Beach station Pacific Avenue station

[@snowy201]

@@mohamadfaiz6935 so all the stations that the gold line train (L) takes it’s going to swaps lines with a line blue train

[@lmlmd2714]

Great footage. I'm suprised the light rail doesn't have automatic priority on at-grade junctions. This would speed up travel adnd reliability quite a bit.

[@Tuppoo94]

@@junkboxxxxxx I'd say you have a good service already. The average speed for this service is about 30 kph or about 19 mph. That's good for a service like this. In most world cities it's usually much slower. L.A. has surprisingly good public transport.

[@HotDogLaws]

There's a bizarre caveat in the California Environmental Quality Act that makes it extremely difficult to install signal priority systems where they dont already exist

[@techguy_drew]

hahaha this is why Subway / elevation separated Rail service is infinitely superior to street-running. sucks the contractor for the red line in the 80s screwed up so bad to make LA hate subway construction. build subways, do it safe and correctly the first time, and you can keep construction costs down by not constantly fixing your mistakes. THEN you’ll have truly rapid transit.

[@Tuppoo94]

@@techguy_drew I know right? Americans know how to make a good public transportation system, but in L.A. they've made building one practically illegal.

[@apluto12-z3e]

I agree with you, but the issue is that they would need to put cross gates at those busy intersections and it would back up those cross streets that have a lot of traffic. That's the other side of the arguement

[@losangelesmetro6155]

Welcome to Metro A Blue Line going southbound to Downtown Long Beach!

[@ziontitus5817]

Hi

[@lohphat]

My parents rode one of the last Pacific Electric trains from LB to LA in 1961. Before I was born. My dad and I rode the Blue line when it opened in the early 90s to LA as LB was starting to revitalize its downtown. It's strange to see LB city hall under refurbishment as I remember when it opened in 1976. Has it been that long? After growing up in LB and GG, worked for The Mouse for awhile then moved to SF as I wanted more transit options. After 30 years of driving in CA I moved to NYC. Gave up the car. Don't miss it. I can get around most places for a fraction of the cost of owning a car. More cities need better transit options so that a car isn't burning a hole in your monthly budget. It's not worth it.

[@tompeled6193]

This is more scenic and interesting to watch than the red line.

[@mattc.310]

Haven't ridden this line in a while. Used to do the run from Rosa Parks in both directions depending on where we wanted to end up. I hope the guy got his Marriot points squared away. Thanks for posting.

[@LARailProductions]

LMAOOOO thanks!

[@A3Kr0n]

I think I like Chicago's CTA better. They don't stop for traffic or blow their horn at every intersection. Still it was a fun ride!

[@LARailProductions]

That's the price everyone pays when the trains street run for portions of the line, however the horn is probably one of the nicest aspects of the ride.

[@willy.william4582]

One quick thing about that. The CTA subway/elevated network dates back to the early 20th century. Back then LA had one of the largest streetcar networks in the US after Philadelphia, in the 50s these streetcars started closing down making way for LAs massive freeway network, while Chicago retained its train network. The car was seen as the future of LA, but all it did was cause traffic nightmares that Metro Rail now needs to combat.

[@blue9multimediagroup]

CTA doesn't have light rail. That's heavy rail so no need for intersections.

[@dscott74]

CTA has grade crossings at the outer ends of a few of their rapid transit lines. Great cab ride video, thanks for sharing @LARailProductions

[@lizichell2]

This is cool. Brings back memories of my trip to LA. We took this line from Long Beach a few times.

[@LARailProductions]

Thanks!

[@user-nn7mn7kr2t]

Me too

[@rolandocontreras7373]

@@LARailProductions hello there.

[@svetlanaivnitskaya3504]

I wish they had beautiful subway in Los Angeles when I lived there 1987-87 but the earthquake scared us away!

[@dawnburdette3001]

Yes ..that is life on the blue line .. I've rode this train so many times before ..and they need more security on the trains and more security on the metro buses

[@jarrietfair6497]

I love the blue line route. It reminded me of the Pacific electric train's from LA to long beach

[@apluto12-z3e]

This is basically the former P.E route

[@Poopsticle_256]

Mmm, the light rail style cars. Nostalgia trip from when I used to live in LA.

[@mikedrown2721]

Love the steam locomotive sounding whistle! That will get everyone's attention

[@ZacharyRodriguezVlogs]

I love these kinds of trains. They are so cool!

[@TheFamousRleon]

Nice cab view! Making mine soon.

[@LARailProductions]

Thanks!

[@jamesparson]

5:20 I like the junction with the Expo Line

[@mohamadfaiz6935]

Metro Expo Line is now Metro E Line (Expo)

[@apluto12-z3e]

That's a huge bottleneck on the system especially rush hour

[@Lucrativecris]

@@apluto12-z3e it was a huge bottleneck on the opening day of the expo line trains lined up

[@Sillykittycat951]

man i miss the P2020s

[@SUSHOsobaka]

do you want a subway or trams BOTH

[@amazing50000]

How do L.A. Metro not think about having express tracks/stops for at least their Light Rail lines? It got to be about the money. Are they at least thinking about Skip-Stop service in the future?

[@apluto12-z3e]

I agree, 50 mins is too long for people to commute from downtown to Long Beach or vice versa.

[@Been_offical_0417]

Are they going to run rail like this through most of the LA metro area ? They need to LA is massive and populated it got to be on level of rail like NY paris London Beijing Tokyo Manila mexico city Moscow type rail it's on that level of city world city it needs world city rail

[@apluto12-z3e]

I agree. What they need to focus on is improving their Metrolink commuter rail system. Too much single tracking, very low frequencies, sometimes only peak service. They need to convert that into a more frequent S-Bahn/Rer/London Overground style system. Just look at the Crossrail project in London, and tell me when the last time a Northern American city embarked on a project like that.

[@dawnburdette3001]

Yes ..I used to ride this train ..and my stop was at the Artesia station ❤️

[@apluto12-z3e]

Nice video, and thanks for posting. I'm amazed the line has no real barriers on the street running portions.

[@LARailProductions]

Thanks!

[@eliahyo6551]

I’m thinking they tried to somewhat replicate the old la pacific electric trains, having a mix of dedicated railway and street tracks

[@SigmaRho2922]

Red Line becomes Line B and Purple Line becomes Line D in early 2020. Gold Line becomes Line J and Green Line becomes Line C in mid 2020.

[@LARailProductions]

Yes everyone knows

[@cw8024]

@@LARailProductions I didn't. Lol. Then again, I'm from up in Lancaster. I kinda prefer the color names. I feel like I'm always gonna call it the Blue Line.

[@Lucrativecris]

The automated announcements are so easy to confuse 😂

[@luisalbertoolverarivera8354]

this line was filmed for the film lethal weapon 3

[@olgajoachimosmundsen4647]

What a slow line. It is a good start, but LA should have underground lines instead. That would make commuting much better, and encourage more people to travel by mass transport

[@apluto12-z3e]

Most of this right of way existed before, and it would be prohibitively expensive to bury this whole line underground . I think they need to give it full transit signal priority and eliminate a few grade crossings and that could shave off at least a few mins each way.

[@MFPTransitVideos]

Amazing cab view! I enjoyed it! I wonder why the announcement for Pico Station still called the E Line (Expo) the Expo Line.

[@LARailProductions]

Thanks!

[@TransitAndTeslas]

Announcements all still are the old ones. In fact it still says this is a metro blue line train

[@asianhunk99]

They say the letter part first then the old name so that people who don’t know about the name change won’t be confused, also for people to get used to the new name.

[@iancypes5911]

This video is gonna be soooooo long when they build the extension to Montclair

[@theghostofmrcow1985]

Yup. The blue line is going to be a super long train in 2028. Montclair to long beach.

[@themoviedealers]

Possibly longest in the world. Over 50 miles.

[@nicksgarage8295]

a train waiting at a traffic light WTF??? this is stupid public transit. they should give priority all the time to the train, and like 1000 feet before the train comes, give it all green lights.

[@PackaWalka]

Nice video. Thanks for the ride and greetings from Seoul.

[@namewithheldnamewithheld2725]

I just moved here to LA and had wanted to know where this line leads from and to. Great video, thanks. 👍😷

[@odemata87]

Does the train trigger the traffic lights so it can pass?

[@LARailProductions]

Yes it does.

[@metrorailinlosangelesprodu4407]

Yeah nice and outstanding job my friend. Love your videos

[@LARailProductions]

Thanks!

[@haylieg2780]

You made this within about a month of me being in Long Beach. And I use this line quite a bit. I am actually working on moving there hopefully.

[@ChariotManGaming85]

Nothing beats The NYC's MTA Subways.. And CTA Chicago's L Trains as well.. NYC is the best!

[@LARailProductions]

Nothing will ever beat the Nippon Sharyo P2020s however.

[@ChariotManGaming85]

@@LARailProductions Lol.. I hear you on that.. Thanks for the response.. You know I was joking..

[@freight.train.Railfanner]

I will still call it The Metro Blue Line (Formely A Line)

[@apluto12-z3e]

Same

[@flattrain5834]

Nice!

[@LARailProductions]

Thanks!

[@elviavelasco9248]

Es but no

[@flattrain5834]

Looking back at this video, “nice” is the biggest understatement of history

[@michaelmorgan7893]

The bells remind me of the scanners at the 99 cent stores.

[@konstkaras]

Thank you! Very interesting! Greetings from Russia! As I can see on maps, your city has surprisingly many industrial rail branches. Are they all in use? Could they be somewhen used for passenger traffic or converted to light rail line like this?

[@doesnt_exist_]

Many of the industrial branches are still in use. The companies that own them don’t like sharing the lines so it can take a while for negotiations between the metro and the companies to happen.

[@techguy_drew]

no, the railroads using the industry branches are private companies who built, own, and maintain those tracks. they need to make a profit so their employees can feed their families and make a living. so unless running very slow light-rail on their tracks will somehow help them, there’s no point.

[@konstkaras]

@@techguy_drew thank you. Maybe, my view on Los Angeles was kind of stereotypical, I thought it was all Hollywood, record companies, rich people's mansions and so on, and once it was profitable to convert industries into offices and living blocks, as it was done in New York, London, Moscow or so; however, it still has oil refineries, sea port and Compton where N.W.A. were straight outta.

[@DevynCairns]

It is so weird that they have to wait at intersections. I've never seen anything like that

[@themoviedealers]

Happens A lot in Europe. Green Line in Boston. Portland, Denver.

[@chriselmago6666]

Yeahhhh i will be riding on this next month,can't wait

[@ShadowSpace56z]

Whatever happened to these trains that were colored Red?? I remember seeing the red ones when i was young with my mother in Long beach and Watts or Compton

[@UnionPacificRailFan]

Great video! Really enjoyed the ride

[@LARailProductions]

Thanks!

[@elviavelasco9248]

Me to yay

[@OliversElevators]

18:50 dude literally almost overshot the platform

[@djvnsdjkvnsfjsrhbgdh]

I am really suprised to see that the metro train has to give way to the cars? Is that normal? Here in Germany most of the time the cars would have to yield for the train/ light rail.

[@seanm660]

Yeah I guess this is unique to LA because cars usually yield to trains here too

[@apluto12-z3e]

Welcome to America or L.A for that matter.

[@seabassz_197]

Why do the new rails sound so quiet?. I really miss the noise they made before on the old blue line :( edit: the operator pulled in to slauson station way to fast. He almost outran the platform i wonder why he did.

[@ciello___8307]

Because they are new and smooth

[@Lucrativecris]

@@ciello___8307 First time i seem something like that

[@UltimateAzumanger]

1:02 Where can I find this sound online?

[@Lucrativecris]

I believe windows has it

[@UltimateAzumanger]

@@Lucrativecris which version?

[@miyoo4969]

The next stop is Downtown

[@duckplayerfilthybaboon8]

Too bad we didn't get to reach to Pacific Av

[@MorenoTrainProductions]

Awesome video, I always enjoy your videos!

[@LARailProductions]

Thanks!

[@MorenoTrainProductions]

Los Angeles Rail Productions no problemo:D

[@FullertonRailproductionsTM]

Hi, Los Angeles Rail production. I'm going to railfan downey, CA! and what days and can I get info and the symbols of the trains that pass downey and is there any signals and ACTS?

[@Alexipb]

the train are rely cool

[@windermere2330]

I want to see this at night when all the freaks come out!

[@monsterrockstar90]

I love the electric k5la horns.

[@KingBranBDM]

This is good because you see I'm an East Coast dude. A Vicious Ass City has got to have a Subway running from the hood to the good.

[@razorsharplifestyle101hard9]

Whatever that mean but it rhymes.

[@Absolute_Zero7]

Why is a high platform train running on street level? I feel like this is a scenerio where a low platform LRV makes more sense.

[@Bauer-ke6lp]

Low entry trains where not available in the 80es, when this was planned. But it ain't that bad in LA, other light rail networks like this suffer way more of finding places where to put the stations: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hp3Mi2esbcSLpK8

[@charlesparkakacharliekeybo6639]

#4 is Litter in the cabs is not concerns me because why?

[@snowy201]

On Artesia Station 🚉 is there a 260 near by

[@charlesparkakacharliekeybo6639]

#3 The Metro operator has to often say on intercom? Get off the Metro tracks? Now what I'm wondering is how did this question reach this point?

[@xcelron1580]

The Long Beach half looks nicer.

[@pinkiepiecupcake7779]

OMG I miss you metro!!! Metro is so fun and awesome 😁😁😁😁 Metro is way better than the Georgia transportation, those things are expensive and lame but metro is less than 2.00 dollars just $1.25 or something like that idk but it's more specific on where you're going than Georgia

[@tord7054]

Compton is the best

[@franklinclinton2998]

Has this video been accelerated？

[@jmheavymetal]

Please hold your breath, until we tell you otherwise. Thanks for going Metro.

[@surviver5738]

Look at the poor people in cars. Hahahhaha

[@miyoo4969]

Driver sometimes pronounce the station wrong

[@williamerazo3921]

They should be another station before the portal

[@fanoftheredline3965]

Yea I used to take the blue line and the red and the silver and never gold line or amtrak 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@xOzymandias]

Does this take tap card?

[@LARailProductions]

Yes. All Metro Rail lines require a TAP card to ride.

[@oliverbostedt635]

If you see something, say something!

[@Potato-so6zr]

*Ding Dong* The next stop is…

[@prakashvenkatraman6564]

All of these stations are lifeless except for Long Beach... :(

[@charlesparkakacharliekeybo6639]

Okay. I know about the Metro A Blue Line from DTLA to Artesia 105 FWY. okay SEOUL #1 Bicycles have to be in 1 area or CAB. Korea has no bicycles in METRO.

[@Lucrativecris]

The older Spanish announcer was much better

[@arsmm_arsmm]

Что за страна?

[@guinessbeer]

Way too many announcements. And it’s slow. Too bad it has to stop for lights

[@15FatMike]

4:26 Jeffree Star crosses the street

[@charlesparkakacharliekeybo6639]

#2 The Metro operator has no time to look at mirrors or cameras arguing with knuckleheads to release the door? Metro sometimes have to say on intercom "bed mattresses" are not allowed! Bed Mattresses are not allowed on METRO? You!!

[@kennethscalir3092]

The hottest sistas in the world ride the Blue Line, amazing black women

[@antoniogarrido9467]

BioLife

[@elviavelasco9248]

Me to want to vrenon

[@freight.train.Railfanner]

FIRST

[@Lucrativecris]

Metro ruined the blue line

[@truthhearer6323]

Ugly and depressed, grey city. But hey: movies say it's the best place to be.

[@1fault]

Most ghetto line ever, i got on this today and saw 2 fights almost break out

[@ChariotManGaming85]

That's funny because in NYC on the A Train which goes from Far Rockaway Queens to 205th Street in Manhattan is ghetto as HELL. Because remember the A train goes thru the rough parts of Brooklyn, Bed Stuy, Crown Heights and East New York then up to Washington Heights in Manhattan Lol.