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Metro board approves light rail for San Fernando Valley
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and other officials ride an Orange Line bus on June 29, 2018 covering the route that the new San Fernando Valley light rail will take.
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KPCC/Caleigh Wells
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Metro board approves light rail for San Fernando Valley
Los Angeles boasts nearly 100 rail stations across the city, but only two of them are in the San Fernando Valley. That means most of its 1.75 million residents rely on buses for public transportation.
This week, the Metro board approved a new light rail line between Van Nuys and San Fernando with 14 stations at a cost of $1.3 billion. The nine-mile bus ride between those locations takes almost an hour while the new train will take 31 minutes.
Most of the line will run at street level along Van Nuys Boulevard. The maintenance and storage yard will displace some businesses in Van Nuys, but it was chosen as the least disruptive option after local opposition flared over another location.
Officials expect to break ground on the Metro line in 2021, and complete the project before the start of the 2028 Summer Olympics.
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