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June 19: This Date in Los Angeles Transportation History

  • Written by Kenn Bicknell

1955:  Los Angeles’ first subway tunnel closes after nearly 30 years of service.

Pacific Electric subway tunnel, last day of service, June 19, 1955 (Click for more information)

The one-mile tunnel linking Glendale and Sunset Boulevards to the Subway Terminal Building downtown had been opened by Pacific Electric Railway after 10 years of planning and another year of construction on November 25, 1925.

Less than two years prior to closing, Pacific Electric’s passenger operations had been acquired by Metropolitan Coach Lines.

Riders were instructed to look for new bus stop signs along the route.

Later, proposals would be made to use the tunnel for a downtown people mover system linked to park and ride lots, but it is later rendered unusable for transit purposes when high-rise building foundations severed the tunnel.

It is also later used by the Federal government to house civil defense supplies.

Numerous images of the Pacific Electric subway tunnel can be found here.

More information can be found in the 1955 Metropolitan Coach Lines public information leaflet.

  • Last Updated June 3, 2024

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