The Expo Line is nearing completion of construction between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City and will run primarily along Exposition Boulevard.
The initial testing will be from 23rd Street Station near the University of Southern California (USC).
An empty Metro Rail train car will be pulled by a high rail vehicle. The procedure will include clearance and overhead testing.
Metro expects to energise the power system later this month and then begin full train testing for a few months. Trains will operate intermittently during this period. No official date for the start of passenger service has been announced pending construction completion and testing but a target date has been set for Nov. 15, 2011, for most of the 8.6 mile alignment. Completion to Culver City may not occur until early next year.
The Expo light rail line, funded by Metro, is being built by the Expo Construction Authority but will be owned and operated by Metro. A second phase to Santa Monica should break ground soon and be completed by 2015.
The testing will be done at slow speeds as the train moves along the tracks. Metro safety ambassadors will be following the train along with flaggers to alert the public and answer questions.
Metro Community Relations staff for months has been working on a campaign to inform residents along the alignment. Presentations have been made and safety information sent to schools, religious, recreational and senior centers as well as business and community organisations. Metro urges the public to be extra alert when crossing the tracks now that train testing has begun.
The Expo alignment was first used for railroad service in 1875 but the last Pacific Electric Railway passenger trains ended service in 1953. Limited freight service operated along Exposition Boulevard until about 1989.
More information about the project can be found on the website.
