Metro Officials Considering Rail Service Extension To LAX

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Los Angeles may catch up to world class cities around the globe as local transit officials plan public sessions about expanding Metro Rail service to LAX, Metro officials said Saturday.

The agency will hold public hearings later this month to determine how it will connect two light-rail passenger trains to the airport terminals.

The public will be asked whether extending Metro Rail's Green Line and the proposed Crenshaw Line to the airport, or if tying in a proposed airport people-mover system may be a better concept.

Bus Rapid Transit ramps are also being considered.

If a direct airport link is built, trains will be able to make direct trips from downtownL.A.to LAX using the Crenshaw Line, now under advanced planning, Metro officials said.

Trains may also link LAX to Pasadena and Ontario if a downtown connection and Gold Line extension are built as planned. 

The meetings will introduce the concepts of a direct Metro Rail airport connection, construction of a people mover link between Metro Rail and the airport, and the Bus Rapid Transit lane alternatives.

They will be held by Metro and Los Angeles World Airports.

The meetings will be Aug. 23 at Flight Path Learning Center, 6661 W. Imperial Hwy.; Aug. 25 at Metro headquarters near Union Station; and Aug. 30 at the Culver City Veterans Memorial Complex, 4117 Overland Ave.

All three start at 7 p.m.