Wilshire/Vermont station

Wilshire/Vermont Red Line Purple Line 


Top: View of upper floor platform bound for Union Station
Bottom: View of lower floor platform bound for North Hollywood Station (Red Line) or Wilshire/Western Station (Purple Line)
Location 3191 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90005
Coordinates 34°03′25″N 118°16′35″W / 34.0570°N 118.2763°W / 34.0570; -118.2763Coordinates: 34°03′25″N 118°16′35″W / 34.0570°N 118.2763°W / 34.0570; -118.2763
Owned by Metro
Line(s) Red Line Red Line 
Purple Line Purple Line 
Platforms 2 side platforms
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 July 13, 1996
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station
Red Line
Purple Line
The main entrance of the station.

Wilshire/Vermont is a heavy-rail subway station in the Los Angeles Metro system. It is located at Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, in Los Angeles' Mid-Wilshire/Koreatown District. This station is served by the Red Line and the Purple Line.[1]

Location

As its name implies, Wilshire/Vermont station is located at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. The station itself is slightly to the east of the intersection, allowing diverging Red Line trains to head north underneath Vermont. A number of educational institutions, including Southwestern University and the Robert F Kennedy Community Schools, are located nearby.

Transit-oriented development

Above the station is the Wilshire Vermont Station mixed-use transit village development, a $136-million apartment and retail complex designed by the architecture firm Arquitectonica and developed by Urban Partners and MacFarlane Partners on land owned by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The development opened in 2007 and includes apartments, retail, and (as of 2009) an adjacent middle school.[2][3]

Station layout

G Street Level Exit/Entrance
B1 Southbound/Eastbound → Red Line Red Line  toward Union Station (Westlake/MacArthur Park) →
→ Purple Line Purple Line  toward Union Station (Westlake/MacArthur Park) →
Split platform, doors will open on the right
Mezzanine faregates, ticket machines
B2 Northbound/Westbound ← Red Line Red Line  toward North Hollywood (Vermont/Beverly)
← Purple Line Purple Line  toward Wilshire/Western (Wilshire/Normandie)
Split platform, doors will open on the left
Wilshire/Vermont Station is known to have the longest escalator in the United States west of the Mississippi River.[4]

The station is located where the Red Line and Purple Line converge on their way to Downtown Los Angeles. The station is designed with two platform levels: eastbound Purple and Red Line trains (to Union Station) use the upper level, and westbound Purple (to Wilshire/Western) and Red (to North Hollywood) trains use the lower level.

The upper platform's pillar art.
The lower platform's pillar art.

Artwork

The artwork at the station depicts typographic letters and symbols designed by Bob Zoell. The letters on the pillars of the lower platform spell out "going by-by", what the red line and its patrons do when they zoom in and out of the station. Addition artwork at the station is the creation of Peter Shire. The Wilshire/Vermont station also contains the two longest continuous escalators in the state of California (in fact, west of the Mississippi;[4] these escalators stretch from the ground level to the lower platform of the Wilshire/Vermont station.

Bus connections

In 2009, a sign listing the Wilshire/Vermont station was used in a Geico "It's So Easy A Caveman Could Do It" commercial featuring the song "Let Me Be Myself" by Three Doors Down.

References

  1. ↑ "Purple Line station information". Metro.
  2. ↑ "People and Places: Los Angeles 2007.1016", Architecture Week, October 16, 2007 (accessed February 23, 2010).
  3. ↑ Christopher Hawthorne, " Just keep your distance: The Wilshire Vermont Station is dramatic from far away. A walk in its courtyard exposes its flaws.", Los Angeles Times, October 3, 2007.
  4. 1 2 Hymon, Steve (August 11, 2014). "Transportation headlines, Monday, August 11". The Source. Metro. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
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