Union Station
Union Station is located at 800 N Alameda Street between the Santa Ana Freeway (US 101) and Cesar E. Chavez Avenue. Built in 1939, it’s widely considered the last great train station built in the States, at least by Art Deco snobs. Its architecture alone renders it a stunning piece of Los Angeles history. With distinct Art Deco, Spanish Colonial, and postmodern influences, it’s impressive enough to merit a visit even if you’re not looking to jump on a train. The scenic waiting room’s ceiling stands 52 feet above its marble floors, and large, distinctive archways at each end give way to peaceful courtyards. Have you ever been in a train station that offered both the daily edition of the local paper and repose in a beautiful garden? Exactly. The station services three rail networks—the local Metro Rail Red, Purple, and Gold Lines, Amtrak (including the Pacific Sunliner and Coast Starlight Lines), and Southern California’s Metrolink. Union Station is also home to the elegant Traxx Restaurant—a good spot to go if your boss is paying.
Amtrak
800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com
Amtrak, i.e., what passes for a reliable national rail network in this country, runs five major lines into LA’s Union Station. The Pacific Surfliner (formerly the San Diegan) runs between San Diego, LA, and Santa Barbara, and on to San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles. You’re not guaranteed to arrive on time, but at least you’ll have beautiful ocean views to enjoy if you’re delayed. A one-way trip from San Diego to LA will set you back about $36 and will (hopefully) get you there in under three hours. Traveling the length of the line costs around $46. Since the Desert Wind line closed down, Amtrak no longer offers transportation to Las Vegas via train, but it does provide a bus service, which takes between five and six hours and costs $110 round trip.
Shuttle service to Bakersfield connects the Pacific Surfliner with the San Joaquin trains, which run from Bakersfield through Fresno to Oakland. The Coast Starlight runs the length of the coast from LA through Oakland, and up to Eugene-Springfield and Seattle. The LA-to-Oakland fare costs between $58 and $70 one-way (buying round-trip is no less expensive than buying two one-way tickets), and if you’re traveling all the way to Seattle, you’ll be paying about $146. If you’re heading east, the Sunset Limited line will be your train of choice. It runs from LA through Tucson, Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Jacksonville, and Orlando. The Texas Eagle has a similar first leg and covers Los Angeles, Tucson, San Antonio, Dallas, Little Rock, St. Louis, and Chicago. The Southwest Chief goes from LA to Albuquerque to Kansas City to Chicago. Check the Amtrak website or call to check schedules on the days you wish to travel.
Metrolink
800-371-5465; www.metrolinktrains.com
Not to be confused with the MTA’s Metro Rail, Metrolink is an above-ground rail network that serves Southern California, including Los Angeles County, Ventura County, San Bernardino County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Diego County. The lines run as far south as Oceanside in San Diego County, and as far north as Montalvo in Ventura County and Lancaster in LA County. Fares are calculated according to the number of zones traversed. A one-way fare costs between $4.50 and $11.75 during peak times, and it is always cheaper to purchase a round-trip ticket ($7.25 peak, one zone) at the beginning of your journey rather than two one-way fares. Buying a round trip fare is always cheaper than a one-way ticket (which range from $5.00 to $14.50). If you’re going to be riding the rails between 7 PM on Friday and 11:59 PM Sunday, your best bet is definitely the $10 Weekend pass, which allows unlimited system-wide travel. Monthly passes are also available at varying rates. When in doubt, check the online fare calculator.
Metro Rail
800-266-6883; www.metro.net
The Metro Rail network is really, at its best, a confusion of contradictions, debate, and public necessity. It’s an expanding public transportation network in a city that is notorious for its lack of just that; it’s a contentious subway system in a city with a Mediterranean climate and over 200 earthquake fault lines; but it’s also one of the few things trying to shake things up in a city where the freeways have been allowed to run wild. Locked in a battle of ambivalence, a begged-for expansion has been delayed by NIMBYs and car-lovers who consider public transit irrelevant. Luckily, Mayor Villaraigosa (a former president of the MTA) has been taking steps toward an extended Orange Line and the long-awaited “Subway to the Sea” and has made slow but sure progress towards said sea. The Expo Line from just south of USC to Culver City is up and running and is (tentatively) slated to go all the way to downtown Santa Monica by 2015. And, now that we know how it feels to pay four bucks for a gallon of gas, one has to wonder: Should I neglect my precious car and help save the environment in a potential death trap? Consider that riders on San Francisco’s BART trundling beneath the Bay felt not a twitch during the 1989 temblor that rocked the area. Perhaps we’re lying awake at 3 a.m. worrying about the wrong things.
The bus system is expanding in shaky bursts. With the new Orange Line in the Valley, one rarely wants to risk driving along Chandler. Granted, the street is all decked out with rather nice bus stops and the new eye-catching bus design is working hard to remind us that the bus isn’t just for the blind and the homeless anymore. This new line even has its own transit lane, separate from the regular flow of traffic. But when the line opened, there was accident upon accident between buses and confused Angelenos. The new traffic guidelines and signs at the intersections really are hard to miss, but apparently LA drivers are doing their best. So be careful—of the bus and your fellow drivers.
With the Red, Blue, Gold, and Green Lines, the Rail system will carry you from the Valley to Hollywood to Downtown, over to Pasedena, and down to Redondo Beach. (When riding toward North Hollywood or Wilshire/Western, make sure you know where your particular train is going—it can be confusing.) With stops at Union Station, Hollywood and Highland, the STAPLES Center, Universal City, and the Wiltern, one does feel the temptation to jump out of the car and onto the Metro Rail band wagon. The only real drawback is the limited hours, particularly obvious on weekend nights, when clubbing by rail would be possible, if only it didn’t stop running at midnight.
As far as ticketing goes, the Metro Rail works on the honor system. And by honor system, we mean the occasional threat of a ticket. While this may be hard to grasp for someone coming from a city with a reliable, untrusting transportation system, that’s just how it’s done here in the City of Angels. But you’ve been forewarned: Police check tickets onboard trains at random and unpredictable intervals, and if you fail to produce a valid ticket, you’ll receive a fine a whole lot higher than the fare. Beware of eating or drinking on board as well—what seems like a minor infraction carries a major fine. Metro Rail sells a Monthly Metro Pass for $75 on their website.
Bicycles are happily allowed on the Metro Rail and buses. On the rail, they are not allowed on weekdays 6:30 am to 8:30 am and 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm. There are no restrictions during weekends and on holidays. Bicycle racks are available on a first-come, first-served basis, free of charge. Lockers may be rented for $75 for one year by calling 213-922-2660. Buses can accommodate two bikes per bus on their racks. The Orange Line provides a bikeway alongside its own transit-way, as well as bike racks and bicycle parking at all of its stations.