Photos: The Metro Blue Line turns 25

A Metro Blue Line train breaks through a banner in celebration of the line’s 25th anniversary. It has become a microcosm of the community it serves as well as of the challenges and successes of mass transit in a metropolis where the car is king.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

July 14, 2015 2:30 AM PT

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The Blue Line, which runs from downtown L.A. to Long Beach, was Los Angeles’ first modern rail. Long popular, it serves a working-class area that depends on mass transit to get around.

The Blue Line opens in 1990, ushering in the new era of trains in L.A. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times )

The Blue Line train from Long Beach ends at 7th and Flower in downtown Los Angeles on July 15, 1990.

(Thomas Kelsey / Los Angeles Times)

Blue Line construction along the 710 Freeway on April 17, 1988.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

A Blue Line train runs in the median of Long Beach Boulevard, with its rows of aging buildings that city officials want to spruce up, on Nov.20, 1990.

(Rick Corrales / Los Angeles Times)

Commuters pour out of a Blue Line train on Feb. 15, 1991, the first day of operation for the new Metro station at 7th and Flower in downtown L.A.

(Rick Meyer / Los Angeles Times)

Blue Line cars on Washington Boulevard near Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on May 4, 1992.

(Rick Meyer / Los Angeles Times)

Blue Line train operator Hector Gutierrez heads along Washington Boulevard on a section of track where no crossing guards are posted on Dec. 10, 1992.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Photos: The Metro Blue Line turns 25

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