It can be hard to wrap your head around how much has happened since LA Metro broke ground on the D Line Subway Extension Project in 2014. The agency welcomed a new CEO, residents voted in a new mayor, the City of Los Angeles earned the host city title for the 2028 Olympics, and a pandemic swept the globe.
Now, the agency is reaching a new milestone. By the end of 2025, Phase 1 of the D Line Extension Project will be complete. It adds three new stations along the underground rail route once known as the Purple Line.
This first section will take riders through the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of LA. When the project is fully done, it will add seven new stations and nine miles total to the D Line by 2027. Riders will be able to travel from Union Station in Downtown LA to the VA Hospital in Westwood.
Steel scaffolding in the stairway connects the La Brea/Wilshire D Line station plaza and its underground section. Photo by Tohar Zamir/KCRW.
Getting to this point has had its challenges, including being late and over-budget. It faced unsuccessful legal action from the Beverly Hills Unified School District, which described the project as the “purple threat,” alleging that underground construction threatened the health and safety of its students. Construction stopped for two weeks in 2022 after a construction worker died — an incident the agency described as a tragedy.
The new stations are also addressing another long-standing issue: safety. Just last spring, high-profile crimes on the system’s buses and trains were in the headlines. It led to Mayor Karen Bass announcing more police officers on Metro buses, trains, and stations.
Read: More high-profile crimes on LA Metro: What will city leaders do?
Now, LA Metro is taking another approach to safety in this next rail phase.
The Mid-Wilshire station is the first to introduce a new construction technique, which according to LA Metro project manager Jim Cohen, will also address rail station security.
“Our stations here … section one, two, and three are the first to use a construction technique where we have an arched roof. Previous underground Metro [stations] for us have had center columns to support the roof. So you would be down this hallway, and you see a big concrete pillar in here to help support the roof.”
Cohen continues, “We have an open concept. … And by having that arch, it allows this platform to be fully open. … It is a more open, airy feeling. It also helps with the security. There are less places to hide.”
Construction workers are seen above an elevator on the future La Brea/Wilshire D Line station. Photo by Tohar Zamir/KCRW.
LA Metro is also implementing new, and taller, fare gates at stations on the A Line and at new rail stations, including Wilshire/LA Brea.
No opening date has been announced for the three new D Line stations, however, LA Metro says they’ll open by the end of the year.