The Metro D Line, also known as the Purple Line, will soon be closed for 70 days as construction continues for a railroad expansion project under Wilshire Boulevard.
Services on the route will be suspended from Union Station from May 17th to July 25th at all stops from Union Station to Wilshire/Western. B-Line Service shares a stop from Union Station to Wilshire/Vermont.
The last leg of the line is provided with a shuttle service, connecting riders to Koreatown from Wilshire/Vermont to Wilshire/Normandy to Wilshire/Western Station.
It added seven stations and expanded its $2.4 billion project from Koreatown as Hancock Park, Beverly Hills, Westwood and Westla broke the ground more than a decade ago. It faced delays over safety concerns and received pushbacks from some Westside residents.
Metro’s goal is to complete the project by the 2028 Olympics, but the hundreds of millions of dollars promised by the federal government for the project have not yet been provided. Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), a member of the House Committee on Transport and Infrastructure and who recently toured the railroad project, warned that tariffs affecting the cost of materials could pose new obstacles to infrastructure projects.
The current route is one of the most frequently used in the metro. The number of riders on the B- and D-lines combined with Metro exceeded 1.8 million in March.
The first phase of the expansion under Wilshire Boulevard includes three stations: Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega. They are expected to open by the end of 2025.
According to Metro, the section has completed tunneling. Trucks are laid and lights are installed. The transit agency will then work on connecting communication and power systems between existing lines and new sections during future service disruptions.
The next phase of the project will include Wilshire/Rodeo and Century City/Constellation Station, which are scheduled to open in 2026. The final section creating hospital stations for Westwood/UCLA and Westwood/VA is planned for the 2027 opening.
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