Tunneling for the Regional Connector is now underway beneath Downtown

A 400-foot-long machine has begun boring under Downtown to create tunnels for the Regional Connector, which will connect the Blue, Gold, and Expo rail lines.

A new video on The Source shows the huge machine, named Angeli, getting down to work.

Angeli is digging 1.1 miles of the necessary 1.9 miles of tunnels between Little Tokyo and the Financial District, The Source said. It’s off to a strong start, judging from the massive piles of newly excavated dirt visible in the video.

Already, the TBM has excavated 1,100 feet and successfully constructed 226 tunnel rings. The TBM can travel upwards of 50 feet each day and excavate 1,300 tons of soil.

The Regional Connector’s first tunnel is expected to be complete by the summer, with the second and final tunnel scheduled to wrap up by early next year.

The Regional Connector is scheduled to come online in 2021. The line will bring three new stations to Downtown and allow a rider to travel from Azusa to Long Beach or from East LA to Santa Monica without needing to transfer, as she would now.

• Launch of 'Angeli' the Regional Connector TBM [Youtube]
• Angeli the tunnel boring machine begins digging Regional Connector beneath DTLA [The Source]