Metro A Line extension to Pomona expands service to San Gabriel Valley

The new Metro Pomona station is now open, after hundreds gathered on Friday to celebrate the completion of four new stations added to the Metro A Line, formerly known as the Gold and Blue lines. 

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) celebrated the official opening of the extension of the Metro A Line to the cities of Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Pomona, further extending the world’s longest rail line. 

The new stations will connect more communities from Pomona to Long Beach in time for major upcoming L.A. events, including the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Metro’s grand opening, ribbon-cutting event featured an inaugural Metro A Line train

breaking through a commemorative banner as confetti cannons exploded overhead at the new Pomona North Station.

The celebration continued with “Rock the Rails,” a multi-station community music festival across all the new Metro A Line stations, featuring live bands and DJs, food trucks and local exhibitors.

This new extension adds nine miles to the current 48.5-mile Long Beach to Azusa Metro A Line. It harkens back to the Pacific Electric Railway Monrovia-Glendora “Red Car” trains, which ceased operations in 1951. 

Today’s A Line will expand access to many regional destinations, including major colleges and universities, the Pomona Fairplex, regional parks, historic downtowns, museums, hospitals, medical centers, shopping, dining and entertainment venues. 

It will also connect people living in San Bernardino County to Los Angeles County via the joint Metro/Metrolink station in Pomona.

“Together, we can change the map, improve lives, connect people in power in new ways,” said Hilda L. Solis, Los Angeles County Chair Pro Tem and Metro Board Member, representing the First District. 

Solis also spoke in Spanish during the presentation. “Este proyecto es una muestra de lo que podemos lograr cuando trabajamos juntos el gobierno, los trabajadores y la comunidad.”

“The A Line will connect Angelenos to a wealth of destinations from the foothills to the beaches,” said Fernando Dutra, Metro Board Chair and City of Whittier Council Member. “Now more Eastern San Gabriel Valley residents can take Metro rail to cities like Pasadena, Downtown L.A., South L.A. and Long Beach, boosting mobility in communities that haven’t been served by rail for decades.”

Built by the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority and delivered on time and on budget, the $1.5 billion rail extension project will be operated by Metro.

The La Verne/Fairplex Metro A Line Station will provide sports fans with direct access to the Pomona Fairplex, where cricket will be contested at the Olympic Games for the first time since 1900.

Additional destinations now served by the Metro A Line include 19 nearby college and university campuses, including Azusa Pacific University, Citrus College, Life Pacific University, University of La Verne, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Pomona College, Claremont Graduate University, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College and Keck Graduate Institute, Mt. San Antonio College and St. Luke University, among others.

Travel times between Los Angeles Union Station and the Glendora and Pomona Stations will range from 52 to 64 minutes, respectively.

Metro A Line trains will operate every eight minutes during peak service weekdays, 10 minutes off-peak, weekday and daytime weekend service and every 20 minutes during evening/late-night service. Several Foothill Transit bus lines will directly serve the new rail stations to support the seamless integration of bus and rail services along the extension. 

Each new Metro A Line station includes a multimodal public parking lot with easy pedestrian access and approximately 300 parking spaces each. There are 1,200 combined new parking spaces available on the line. Parking lots include passenger drop-off areas for transit and rideshare users, bicycle parking facilities and electric vehicle chargers. 

California State Senator Susan Rubio (D-22) also thanked the residents for being patient as the line extension was being built. “I want to take the time to also thank all the residents [of] Glendora, Laverne, San Dimas and everyone that's been so patient. I know how hard it is for our residents, as we're going through these projects, it's so difficult, the traffic rerouting, the congestion that we have to put up with, but they also deserve an applause.”

Rubio also thanked a protester who was across the street from the event for exercising his right to express himself. Event host Wil Wheaton also thanked the protester, who kept yelling against President Donald Trump. 

The Pomona North Station will also provide a convenient connection with Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line, which serves the Inland Empire, is further expanding transit options for Metro riders seeking to travel throughout the region. This new connection, the third joint Metro/Metrolink hub in L.A. County, will help create a more integrated commuter and interregional rail network.

“The arrival of the Metro A Line Extension to my hometown of Pomona will transform the way Angelenos far and wide access our community,” said Tim Sandoval, Pomona Mayor, Metro Board Member, Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Board Member and Metrolink Board Member. “I am confident it will breathe new life into the community, create a more vibrant and thriving city and give a new generation of our residents easy, convenient access to Metro’s continuously expanding public transit system.”

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority began major project construction in 2020.

Funding for the Los Angeles County-only portion of the project was provided by Metro’s Measure R and Measure M transportation sales taxes. A major portion of the project funding was also provided by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) through its Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. 

“The Metro A Line Extension from Azusa to Pomona opens new possibilities for more than a million people in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, including thousands of students at colleges and universities in the area,” said Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of Metro.