Westlake/MacArthur Park station

Westlake/MacArthur Park
South entrance to station
Location	660 South Alvarado Street Los Angeles, CA 90057
Coordinates	34°03′25″N 118°16′35″W / 34.0570°N 118.2764°W
Owned by	Metro
Line(s)	Red Line   Purple Line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	"Kiss & Ride" passenger drop-off area
Construction
Parking	none
Bicycle facilities	14 bike rack spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Status	in service
History
Opened	January 30, 1993
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station Wilshire/Vermont toward North Hollywood Red Line 7th St/Metro Center toward Union Station Wilshire/Vermont toward Wilshire/Western Purple Line

The north entrance of the station. The red sign pillar uses the old design from 2003-2014.

Westlake/MacArthur Park is a heavy-rail subway station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system. It is located at Wilshire Boulevard and Alvarado Street, across from the park of the same name in Los Angeles' Westlake District. This station is served by the Red Line and the Purple Line.

Westlake/MacArthur Park is one of L.A.'s five original subway stations: when it opened in 1993, it was the western terminus of the Red Line before completion of the Wilshire/Western branch (now called the Purple Line) and North Hollywood branch (still called the Red Line) later that decade.^[1]

This station has two tile murals designed by Francisco Letelier, entitled El Sol (The Sun) and La Luna (The Moon). The station also has artwork by Therman Statom.

Right outside the station, MacArthur Park and a lively street scene of a largely Salvedorean population is in stark contrast to the Manhattan-like metropolitan environment one station to the east. The entrance to the station is only a few steps away from the landmark Langer's Deli, which is famous for its pastrami. Workers from downtown offices often jump on the Red Line or Purple Line in order to have lunch there or send someone to pick up food for take-out. Langer's credits the Red Line's opening with saving their business in the late 1980s, when MacArthur Park's once glittering reputation had decayed to notorious at best. Langer's Deli is featured in one of 13 ceramic mosaic murals located inside the MacArthur Park station. The porcelain murals, by Los Angeles artist Sonia Romero and fabricated by Mosaika Art & Design, were named one of the best public art projects in the United States by the organization Americans for the Arts.^[2]

In popular culture

The station was also featured in the film Volcano as the Red Line subway outside MacArthur Park where a massive volcano erupted, causing an earthquake that derails Train no. 526 that was in the tunnel and lava eventually engulfed and melted it.

Station layout

G	Street level	Exit/Entrance
B1	Mezzanine	Faregates, ticket machines, to Exits/Entrances
B2	Westbound	←  Red Line  toward North Hollywood (Wilshire/Vermont) ←  Purple Line  toward Wilshire/Western (Wilshire/Vermont)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Eastbound	→  Red Line  toward Union Station (7th St/Metro Center) → →  Purple Line  toward Union Station (7th St/Metro Center) →

Metro Rail service

Red and Purple Line service hours are approximately from 5:00 AM until 12:45 AM daily.^[3]

Bus connections

• Metro Local: 18, 20, 51, 52, 200, 352, 603
• Metro Express: 487, 489
• Metro Rapid: 720
• Foothill Transit: 481
• LADOT DASH: Pico Union / Echo Park

References

1. "Purple Line station information".
2. http://www.metro.net/news/simple_pr/Artwork-Westlake-MacArthur-Park-Metro-Rail-Sta/
3. "Red/Purple Line timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-05-10.

External links

• Station connections overview