Los Angeles

Metro Board Approves Rail to LAX Connection Station

Riders disembarking at the new station would take a proposed LAX people mover to airport terminals

The LA Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted Thursday in favor of a new Metro rail station that would connect the rail line to Los Angeles International Airport, which would fill what board members call “the biggest missing piece of the transportation puzzle in Los Angeles.”

In a unanimous vote, the board approved a station at 96th Street and Aviation Boulevard. The station would be added the new Crenshaw/LAX Metro line, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2019.

The station’s success would depend on a proposed LAX “people mover” train, which would take travelers from the station to airport terminals. The people mover would run on an elevated rail above traffic and could be completed as early as 2022, according to an MTA report.

Mayor Eric Garcetti called it “a historic day” for the city.

“We’re fixing a past mistake to finally bring trains to the planes,” Garcetti, who is also the MTA vice chairman, said in a statement.

The Metro Green Line, which opened in 1995, is two miles away from LAX and often criticized as the line “from nowhere to nowhere.” Riders must take a shuttle from the line to reach the airport.

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The Crenshaw/LAX Line that will contain the new station will run north-south connecting the Green Line to the Expo Line.

Before the new station is built, the MTA must first examine its environmental impact, design it and find funding.

Members of the MTA board who authored the motion for the station want it to be enclosed, with airline check-in, a vehicle drop-off area and taxi stands, currency exchange machines, retailers and other traveler amenities.

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