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The Brief

The most important stories for you to know today
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  • Transportation and Mobility
    Metro Subway Lines
    More frequent B & D trains starting today
    By  Fiona Ng
    Published September 10, 2023 10:14 AM

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    A rider wearing gloves looks toward a train while walking in an underground Metro rail station.
    LA Metro is increasing the frequency of the B and D lines.
    (
    Mario Tama
    /
    Getty Images
    )

    Topline:

    Starting today, LA Metro is increasing the frequency of subway lines B and D (aka the Red and Purple lines). Instead of every 15 minutes, the trains will run every 12 minutes for most of the day.

    The details:

    • On weekdays, the two trains will run every 12 minutes from about 6 a.m. to 9. pm.
    • On weekends, from 8:15 a.m. to 7 p.m.
    • Between Union Station and Wilshire/Vermont, trains will run every 6 minutes because they share a section of the track.
    • All other times, services will be every 20 minutes, and every 10 minutes between Union Station and Wilshire/Vermont.

    LA Metro is increasing the frequency of subway lines B and D (aka the Red and Purple lines). Instead of every 15 minutes, the trains will run every 12 minutes for most of the day, starting Sunday, Sept. 10.

    The details

    • On weekdays, the two trains will run every 12 minutes from about 6 a.m. to 9. pm.
    • On weekends, from 8:15 a.m. to 7 p.m.
    • Between Union Station and Wilshire/Vermont, trains will run every 6 minutes because they share a section of the track.
    • All other times, services will be every 20 minutes, and every 10 minutes between Union Station and Wilshire/Vermont.

    Why now

    LA Metro is dialing services back up to pre-pandemic levels. The agency said they were able to hire enough bus drivers by last December to bring services back up to 2019 levels.

    Now, it's the subway system's turn.

    "The increase in frequencies is part of our ongoing work to restore service to pre-pandemic levels," according to a story on LA Metro's blog. "As many of you know, the pandemic posed dual challenges — staff attrition and ridership losses due to safer at home orders and telecommuting."

    The also reported a 15% year-over-year increase in ridership from July 2022 compared to this July. That puts overall monthly ridership on both bus and rail at 76% of pre-pandemic levels.

    Where the lines run

    Routes for a red line and purple line are shared from Union Station to Wilshire/Vermont. Then the red line moves north and west to Hollywood and the purple line moves west to Koreatown.
    The B line is in red and the D line in purple. Click for details, including the news schedules.
    (
    Courtesy LA Metro
    )

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