Metro is expected to celebrate the grand opening of its A (Gold) Line Extension Project Friday, bringing new local rail service to the San Gabriel Valley cities of Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne and Pomona.
Metro will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring confetti cannons at 10 a.m. Friday at the new Pomona North Station, located at 241 Santa Fe St. Metro Board Chair and Whittier City Councilman Fernando Dutra will provide remarks alongside Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins and Metro Board member and Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval.
Wil Wheaton, actor and podcast host, will serve as the event emcee.
Joining them will be Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority CEO Habib Balian, University of La Verne President Risa Dickson and Olympic athletes Jajaira Gonzalez and Samantha Bosco to celebrate the momentous occasion.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Metro will provide an opportunity for guests to explore the four new stations — Pomona North Station, La Verne/Pomona Fairplex, San Dimas and Glendora — as part of its Rock the Rails event, which will feature DJs, live local bands and food trucks from the San Gabriel Valley area.
Revenue service will begin at noon.
After years of construction the project is set to open Friday, boosting public transportation access for communities in the SGV, which have lacked rail service since 1951 when the Pacific Electric Railway ceased its operations.
The $1.5 billion light rail project adds another 9.1 miles to the 48.5-mile Metro A Line.
Travelers will be able to access regional destinations by rail such as major colleges and universities, parks, historic downtown, museums, hospitals, medical centers, retail and entertainment venues.
Riders will also be able to connect to the Pomona Fairplex, where cricket sporting events will make their official return to the 2028 Olympic Games for the first time since 1900.
Additionally, the new Metro A Line Pomona North Station will connect with Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line — a gateway to the Inland Empire.
The project is also part of Metro’s Twenty-Eight by ’28 initiative to bolster public transportation in Los Angeles County ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In January, the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority, an independent agency created by the state in 1998, announced the light rail project reached “substantial completion” on time and on budget. The project was turned over to Metro for final testing and other approvals.
L.A. County’s Measure M, a 2016 half-cent sales tax for traffic, infrastructure and transportation projects, provided a majority of funding for the light rail.
Metro officials used another $100 million generated from Measure R – a half-cent sales tax approved by county voters in 2008 for transportation projects and programs — to complete the now-operational Pasadena to Azusa segment.
In 2018, CalSTA’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital program provided a nearly $300 million grant for this extension as well.