New Station Sets Stage for Metro, Los Angeles to Welcome World to FIFA World Cup 2026™, Super Bowl LXI, 2028 Olympic, Paralympic Games
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) celebrated the official opening of the LAX/Metro Transit Centre station with a ribbon-cutting today. Metro is now ready to welcome global fans headed to Los Angeles for major events, such as FIFA World Cup 26™, Super Bowl LXI, and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games forever changing how car-centric Angelenos travel to and from LAX.
“The wait is over, Los Angeles,” said Metro Board Chair and LA County Supervisor, Janice Hahn. “At long last, we are getting a train to LAX. And when the Automated People Mover finally opens, we will truly have an international airport that connects people from inside the terminals to the world beyond through Metro.”
The grand opening of this station marks the eighth project completed in Metro’s ambitious Twenty-Eight by ’28 initiative, a comprehensive plan to enhance the region’s transit infrastructure in time for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The LAX/Metro Transit Centre Station is poised to play a crucial role in facilitating the movement of athletes, officials, and spectators during these global events.
The state-of-the-art transit centre embodies a large-scale open station concept. With continuous swooping canopies guiding users’ views through large open spaces, the station reinforces intuitive wayfinding and walking access to buses and light rail trains, and the soon-to-be-opened Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), Automated People Mover (APM).
Located at Aviation Blvd./96th St., the LAX/Metro Transit Centre Station signifies the K line is a fully functional connection in Metro’s network. Connecting Metro’s C and K rail lines, six Metro bus lines and eight municipal bus lines, including Beach Cities, Big Blue Bus, Culver City Bus, GTrans, Torrance Transit and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) shuttles to and from the terminals. Metro Micro will also service this station. By providing a direct connection to regional transit, the LAX/Metro Transit Centre Station expands options for airport-area employees and travellers, and decreases reliance on more costly options, such as taxis, rideshares or private vehicles.
“Not only is LAX one of the busiest airports in the world, it’s also an important job centre for Angelenos, particularly for residents of South Los Angeles,” said Holly Mitchell, LA County Supervisor and Metro Board Member. “The LAX/Metro Transit Center Station will serve an important role for visitors, residents, and our vital airport-area employees.”
The new station illustrates for Angelenos and the world that public transportation is the secret to bypassing traffic on their way to and from LAX, and that Metro, with one of the most ambitious capital project programs in the United States, is a reliable and comfortable way to travel across the county.
Featuring a bus plaza, bike hub and a customer service centre, the station spans more than 1,100 feet from north to south. With the widest light rail platform in the Metro system, its two main levels provide a welcoming, convenient and secure connection point offering riders access to a wide array of destinations throughout LA County. In addition, this station features security coverage monitored 24/7 by security operations staff.
As part of Metro’s commitment to sustainable urban planning, the station also includes numerous environmentally friendly features such as energy-efficient lighting, landscaping with native plants, and plans for further expansion to accommodate future growth. This project represents Metro’s on-going efforts to enhance regional mobility, support green infrastructure, and prepare Los Angeles for the future.
When the APM opens and connects to Metro in 2026, Angelenos and visitors alike will have a more direct, easier connection to Metro’s public transportation system, with a total of six stops – three in the terminal, one at the Metro/LAX Transit Centre Station, one at economy parking and one at the Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility (ConRAC) which is directly across the street from the transit centre. As riders await access to the APM, LAWA will provide shuttles every 10 minutes. The shuttle’s schedule will be based on the operating schedules for the C and K light rail lines and municipal bus routes serving the new station ensuring seamless travel to and from the airport helping to alleviate traffic congestion around LAX.
This station features towering artwork at the centre of the station, by Los Angeles native and internationally renowned artist Glenn Kaino, The Distance of the Sun, which welcomes visitors to the arts and cultural capital of the nation. Commissioned by Metro Art, the suspended sculpture consists of a series of vessels for travel, both real and imagined, rafted together in increasing size to create a spiral pathway towards the sky above. The work is a meditation on collective ambitions and shared hope, acting as a bridge to the future created from the designs of the past.