Put a big circle around March 5, 2016, folks, because that's the day that the Gold Line Foothill Extension is scheduled to open for business. The 11.5-mile project will take trains from the Pasadena station that today serves as the end of the Gold Line to new stops in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, and Azusa (where there'll be a stop in downtown and another near Azusa Pacific University and Citrus College).
If there's one partial bummer in all this, it's that trains are only expected to run every 12 minutes during peak hours, which is double the peak-hour train headways on the Gold Line now. That's because of a train car shortage, due to the Expo Line and Gold Line both opening extensions in the same year. It's expected that as more cars roll off the production line, the trains will begin to run more frequently. And still, once riders are on the train, it's a smooth, roughly 50-minute ride from the end of the line to Downtown, and that's not something that often (ever) happens during rush hour for drivers on the adjacent 210 Freeway.
· Gold Line to Azusa to open March 5; Ten things to know about the Foothill Extension [The Source]
· There Might Not Be Enough Trains for the New Gold and Expo Line Extensions to Open on Time [Curbed LA]