L.A.'s long-awaited subway under Wilshire Boulevard opens, linking Beverly Hills to downtown

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In a moment of rare public transit fanfare, Los Angeles on Friday celebrated the long-awaited opening of a major subway expansion along Wilshire Boulevard that connects Beverly Hills to downtown.The three new Metro stops that opened Friday — Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega — mark the first phase of a much-anticipated rail line running under L.A.’s most iconic and bustling boulevard, a route long considered key for the city’s public transit.The new stations offer easy rail access to several L.A.

landmarks such as the newly reimagined Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Academy Museum, and stops only a few blocks from the Grove and the Beverly Center.“This is a milestone for the future of L.A.,” said Fernando Dutra, chair of the L.A.Metro Board of Directors.

“I’m immensely proud of the hard work to reinvent the public transportation of Los Angeles.” Despite the celebratory spirit surrounding the opening Friday morning — city officials marked the event by walking a “purple carpet” atop the Petersen Automotive Museum, where each speaker ended their remarks with an enthusiastic “Go Metro!” — Dutra acknowledged how long it took to bring this project to fruition.“We overcame immense technical obstacles to build this project,” he said.And though the D Line’s legacy remains to be seen, Dutra said he is sure it will provide “faster commutes ...

and real options for how people get in and around our city.” California If a subway would work anywhere in modern Los Angeles, conventional wisdom said, it was along Wilshire Boulevard.At the Wilshire/Fairfax station on Friday afternoon, the line to get on a train was wrapping around the station.Rich Mannino, who lives nearby, said he plans to ride the train daily.“You used to have to take a bus to get to the train but now I can just take the train here and eventually take...