The wait is nearly over! After a decade of construction, Metro now expects to open the new D Line subway between January and March of 2026. The 4-mile Metro D Line Extension (Section 1) will go from Wilshire/Western in Koreatown all the way to La Cienega/Wilshire in Beverly Hills. The project includes three new stations: Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega.
The "winter 2026" opening date appeared in a staff report released late last week, and was confirmed in discussions at today's Metro Board Construction Committee. Metro Chair Fernando Dutra asked if the new extension would open in January. Metro Chief Program Management Officer Tim Lindholm responded that there was still a great deal of testing to complete, so the project would open "between January and March."
Today the committee approved a D Line section 1 cost overrun of $154 million, which brings the total section cost to $3.51 billion.
Metro is extending the D Line nine miles from its current Wilshire/Western terminus (in Koreatown) to the VA Hospital in Westwood. The project is broken into three sections, all under construction today and expected to be open in time for the 2028 Olympics/Paralympics.
For newcomers, or for folks who lived through it, below is timeline of Metro D Line Extension Section 1 highlights:
November 2014 - Metro broke ground on section 1 of the "Westside Purple Line" at a ceremony at the L.A. County Art Museum. At that time, section 1 was expected to cost $2.8 billion and to be completed in 2023.
August 2018 - Metro launched two giant tunnel boring machines (TBMs), "Elsie" and "Soyeon," which dug section 1.
March 2021 - Metro successfully managed challenging tunneling conditions, including painstakingly manually using shovels to remove metal beams in the way of a tunneling machine. Metro completes Section 1 tunneling in March 2021.
Cost overruns - Challenging tunneling (and a few other factors) resulted in delays and cost overruns. The Metro board approved overruns of $200 million (August 2020), $150 million (May 2021), $225 million (May 2024), and $154 million (today). Revamping the downtown L.A. heavy rail yard, called Division 20, also experienced serious cost overruns.
Recently - On the surface, stations - La Brea, Fairfax, and La Cienega - are looking more and more like actual stations. Street restoration is wrapping up. New railcars debuted on the existing D Line last December.
