D Line
HR4000 train awaiting departure atUnion Station
Overview
Other names	Red Line (1993–2006) Purple Line (2006–2020)
Owner	Los Angeles Metro
Line number	805
Termini	Wilshire/​Western Union Station
Stations	8 (7 more under construction)
Website	metro.net/riding/guide/d-line
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Los Angeles Metro Rail
Depot(s)	Division 20 (Los Angeles)
Rolling stock	Breda A650 orCRRC HR4000 running in 4 or 6 car consists
Ridership	22,471,851[a] (2024) -13.2%
History
Opened	January 30, 1993; 32 years ago (1993-01-30)
Technical
Line length	5.1 miles (8.2 km)[1]
Number of tracks	2
Character	Fully underground (except yard)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail, 750 V DC
Operating speed	55 mph (89 km/h) (max.) 29.5 mph (47.5 km/h) (avg.)
Route map D Line highlighted in purple Show interactive map Legend Westside Extension (2026–2027) Westwood/VA Hospital I-405 Westwood/UCLA Section 3 (2027) Section 2 (2027) Century City Beverly Drive Section 2 (2027) Section 1 (2026) Wilshire/La Cienega Wilshire/Fairfax Wilshire/​La Brea Wilshire/​Western Wilshire/​Normandie toNorth Hollywood Wilshire/​Vermont Westlake/​MacArthur Park SR 110 7th Street/Metro Center ‍‍ Pershing Square Civic Center/Grand Park US 101 Union Station ‍ Division 20 All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram

TheD Line (formerly the Red Line from 1993–2006 and thePurple Line from 2006–2020) is a fully undergroundrapid transit line inLos Angeles, California, running for 5.1 miles (8.2 km)^[1] betweenKoreatown andDowntown Los Angeles. It is the shortest of six lines of theLos Angeles Metro Rail system, operated byLos Angeles Metro.

The D Line is one of the city's two fully underground lines (along with theB Line). The two lines share tracks between Koreatown and Downtown Los Angeles. As of 2019^[update], the combined B and D lines averaged 133,413 boardings per weekday.^[2]

In 2020, Metro renamed all of its lines using letters and colors, with the Purple Line becoming the D Line (retaining the purple color in its service bullet) and the Red Line becoming the B Line.

Construction is underway for amajor extension of the line to theMid-Wilshire district,Beverly Hills,Century City, andWestwood, which will add 7 stations and 9 miles of track to the line. The extension is expected to open in phases from 2026 to 2027.^[3][4]

The D Line is a 5.1-mile (8.2 km)^[1] line that begins atWilshire/Western station inKoreatown. The line continues east for a mile toWilshire/Vermont station, where the line merges with theB Line. The lines continue betweenWilshire Boulevard and7th Street (and briefly Ingraham Street), where the lines interchange with theA andElight rail lines at7th Street/Metro Center station. The lines then pass northeast throughDowntown Los Angeles, passing through theFinancial District,Pershing Square (near theHistoric Core), and theCivic Center, before terminating atUnion Station.

The D Line runs belowWilshire Boulevard, which is served on the surface by theMetro Local Route 20 andMetro Rapid Route 720 bus lines. Despite the same service, Metro considers the bus service justified because both routes frequently run from Downtown Los Angeles. Unlike the D Line, which is still under construction, these bus routes run along the entire Wilshire corridor, west toBeverly Hills,Westwood, andSanta Monica.

D Line trains run every day between approximately 5 a.m. and midnight. Trains operate every 12 minutes during peak hours. Early morning and night service is approximately every 20 minutes.^[5]

The following table lists the stations (including the future 7 stations) of the D Line, from west to east:

Station	Date opened	City/Neighborhood	Major connections and notes[6][7]
Westwood/VA Hospital	2027	Westwood
Westwood/UCLA
Century City	2027	Century City
Beverly Drive		Beverly Hills
Wilshire/La Cienega	2026
Wilshire/Fairfax		Beverly Grove
Wilshire/​La Brea		Miracle Mile
Wilshire/​Western	July 13, 1996	Mid-Wilshire /Koreatown
Wilshire/​Normandie
Wilshire/​Vermont
Westlake/​MacArthur Park	January 30, 1993	Westlake	Park and ride: 6 spaces
7th Street/Metro Center		Downtown Los Angeles	‍‍‍
Pershing Square			‍
Civic Center/Grand Park			‍
Union Station			‍‍ Amtrak, LAX FlyAway and Metrolink Paid parking: 3,000 spaces

The D Line is used mainly as a downtown shuttle on its shared segment with the B Line. The stub between Vermont and Western has very low ridership. According to Metro, the stub is operating at a peak utilization of 11%.^[8]

The current D Line is the product of a long-term plan to connectDowntown Los Angeles to central and western portions of the city with a subway system. Original proposals in the 1980s had the subway line running downWilshire Boulevard toFairfax Avenue and then north to theSan Fernando Valley. Residents in some parts of the city bitterly opposed the subway. A 1985 methane explosion at aRoss Dress for Less clothing store near Fairfax gave Rep.Henry Waxman, who represented the Fairfax District, a reason to derail the project that was opposed by his constituents by prohibiting tunneling in an alleged "methane zone" west of Western on Wilshire.^[9]

The groundbreaking for the first segment of the subway was held on September 29, 1986, on the site of the futureCivic Center/Grand Park station.^[10] Today's D Line was built in twominimum operating segments:

• MOS-1, which consisted of the original five stations fromUnion Station toWestlake/MacArthur Park, opened on January 30, 1993.^[11]
• MOS-2A, including three new stations betweenWestlake/MacArthur Park andWilshire/Western, opened on July 13, 1996.^[12]

The Hollywood branch (MOS-2B) began service in 1999. Initially, both branches were designated as part of the Red Line, but in 2006 trains traveling between Union Station and Wilshire/Western were rebranded to the Purple Line (changed to D Line in 2020) for greater clarity.

Metro is constructing a major extension of the D line toMid-Wilshire,Beverly Hills,Century City, andWestwood. The new project is called theD Line Extension (formerly the Westside Subway Extension), and the first phase broke ground on November 7, 2014.^[13] Metro released the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) on March 19, 2012, and the first phase of the project (to Wilshire/La Cienega) was approved by Metro's Board of Directors on April 26, 2012.^[14] Notice to proceed was issued toTutor Perini on April 26, 2017 for phase two from Wilshire/La Cienega station to Century City station.

In Beverly Hills, there was public opposition to the D Line Extension, led by school board president Lisa Korbatov. The opposition existed because of the subway tunnel's route beneathBeverly Hills High School, and Korbatov and Beverly Hills residents were concerned about student safety issues posed by such a tunnel. Korbatov gathered around 5,300 signed petitions to send to President Donald Trump, urging him and Transportation SecretaryElaine Chao to withhold federal funding from the project. Metro ultimately won in court, but Korbatov and the school district sued in state and federal court over environmental concerns for the project.^[15][16] Tunneling eventually completed in Beverly Hills in early 2022 with no issues underneath the high school.^[17]

Construction is now underway for all three phases of the extension, which is expected to open in segments between 2026 and 2027.^[3][4]

Metro officials have proposed extending service on the eastern side of the D Line, allowing subway cars to continue past Union Station to service theArts District neighborhood east of Downtown Los Angeles. D Line trains pass through Union Station, exit through a portal at Ducommun Street, and stop in the Arts District when they go to and from the Division 20 yard for maintenance and storage. Proposals have included either station at 6th Street or two stations, one at 6th Street and one at 1st Street. In 2018, the Metro board approved a $500,000 expense to undertake pre-design activities, prepare an Environmental Impact Report and conduct public engagement for a potential station at 6th Street.^[18] However, it is unclear whether Metro can raise the millions of dollars of funding needed to build the proposed station.^[19] One possible solution is a new tax district implemented by the City of Los Angeles that would tax a portion of property value increases in the downtown area and transfer those funds to Metro to help build the station.^[20] A draft environmental impact report for the extension and station at 6th Street was undertaken beginning in March 2021.^[21]

On Metro Rail's internal timetables, the D Line is called line805.

The D Line operates from the Division 20 Yard (Santa Fe Yard) located in theArts District at 320 South Santa Fe Avenue, Los Angeles. This yard stores train cars and equipment used on the B and D Lines. It is also where heavy maintenance is performed on the fleet. Subway trains access this yard by continuing eastward after ending their revenue service at Union Station, exiting tunnels through a portal at Ducommun Street, and then traveling south to the yard's entrance at 1st Street.

The D Line usesA650 75-foot (23 m) electricmultiple unit cars built byBreda inItaly; these trains are based on similar vehicles that were built by theBudd Company for theBaltimore andMiami rapid transit systems between 1983 and 1986. Trains usually run in four-car during peak hours and two-car outside of peak hours. The cars are maintained in a Metro yard on Santa Fe Drive near 4th Street alongside theLos Angeles River in Downtown Los Angeles.

In March 2017, Metro ordered 64CRRC HR4000 railcars, some of which will operate on the D Line when the D Line Extension is completed.^[22] In January 2024, Metro ordered 182Hyundai Rotem HR5000 trains, allowing for future replacement of all Breda A650 trains, expanded train service including a four minute train frequency, and extensions of the D Line over three phases.^[23] The first HR4000 train began revenue service on the D Line on December 20, 2024, due to testing on Phase 1 of theD Line Extension.^[24]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toD Line (Los Angeles Metro).

• Line homepageArchived January 11, 2010, at theWayback Machine
• D Line scheduleArchived June 25, 2013, at theWayback Machine

• D Line (Los Angeles Metro)
• Public transportation in Los Angeles
• Public transportation in Los Angeles County, California
• Central Los Angeles
• Downtown Los Angeles
• Koreatown, Los Angeles
• Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles
• Wilshire Boulevard
• Railway lines opened in 1993
• Los Angeles Underground Rapid Transit
• 1993 establishments in California

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