Metro Gold Line Celebrates 10th Anniversary

More than 100 people gathered in Pasadena Friday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the opening of the original Gold Line segment in 2003.

The initial segment of the Metro Gold Line opened on July 26, 2003, and ran between Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena.

The current segment includes 13 stations – six in Los Angeles, six in Pasadena and one in South Pasadena.

“Over a decade ago, it wouldn’t have necessarily been a given that this Gold Line would have been completed,” said Congresswoman Judy Chu at the anniversary ceremony at the Metro Gold Line Del Mar Station in Pasadena. “There was no easy way to get from Pasadena to downtown, and yet there was a lot of resistance to build this line - so much so that the state legislature had to create a new independent agency to construct the Gold Line. This place is thriving and it is so active every single day.”

 “I remember back in the late 90’s when then Senator Adam Schiff took it upon himself to work through the legislature to create the Gold Line Construction Authority,” said Assemblyman Chris Holden. “That action was so pivotal to moving this project forward and creating the kind of synergy that it needed at the time; and certainly has put it on track to see it make its way out to the farthest eastern part of the San Gabriel Valley (and hopefully before not too long into the San Bernardino County area, connecting to the Ontario Airport).”

According to data from the Metro Gold Line Construction Authority, nearly 1.1 million rides occur on the line each month. According to Metro, the average daily ridership for the Gold Line is 41,078. 

The Authority is currently building an 11.5-mile extension from Pasadena to the Azusa/Glendora border, slated for a 2015 completion. The next segment will run from Azusa to Montclair, running through Glendora and Claremont. Studies have been done to extend the line further to Ontario Airport.