Culver City station

Culver City
Culver City station platform
General information
Location	8817 Washington Boulevard Culver City, California
Coordinates	34°01′42″N 118°23′18″W / 34.0282°N 118.3883°W / 34.0282; -118.3883
Owned by	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Big Blue Bus Culver CityBus LADOT Commuter Express Los Angeles Metro Bus
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Parking	586 spaces[1]
Bicycle facilities	Metro Bike Hub, racks and lockers[2]
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	October 17, 1875 (1875-10-17)
Rebuilt	June 20, 2012 (2012-06-20)[3]
Previous names	Culver Junction; Ivy
Passengers
FY 2024	1,849 (avg. wkdy boardings)[4]
Services
Preceding station Metro Rail Following station Palms toward Santa Monica E Line La Cienega/​Jefferson toward East Los Angeles
Former services Preceding station Pacific Electric Following station Palms towards Rustic Canyon Air Line Sentous towards Pacific Electric Building First Street towards Rustic Canyon Venice Short Line National Boulevard towards Hill Street First Street Palms towards Clifton Redondo Beach via Playa del Rey
Location

Culver City station is an elevated light rail station on the E Line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. The station is located on a dedicated right-of-way alongside Exposition Boulevard — between the intersection of Venice Boulevard and Robertson Boulevard on the west and the intersection of Washington Boulevard and National Boulevard on the east. The station is located in the city of Culver City, California, after which the station is named.^[5]

E Line trains run every day between approximately 4:30 a.m. and 12:30 am. Trains operate every ten minutes during peak hours Monday through Friday, every twelve minutes during the daytime on weekdays and all day on the weekends after approximately 8 a.m. (with 15 to 20-minute headways early Saturday and Sunday mornings). Night service is every 20 minutes.^[6]

As of December 10, 2023^[update], the following connections are available:^[7]

• Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica): Rapid 12
• Culver CityBus: 1, 7
• LADOT Commuter Express: 437
• Los Angeles Metro Bus: 33, 617

A railway stop known as La Ballona Station, along the Los Angeles and Independence Railway established 1874, was located on or near the site of what came to be known as Ivy Station, Culver Junction and Culver City station.^[8] La Ballona Station was located at what is now Washington Boulevard, which circa 1883 was known as the "Monte Vista and La Ballona Station Road" and which extended Washington Street west from Los Angeles.^[9] In 1886, the "surveyors of the Santa Monica Railroad have just crossed the S.P. track at Ballona, just where the county road crossed that track near La Ballona station. The terminus is finally fixed at South Santa Monica, near where the old Juan Bernard wharf is."^[10] When the Palms Depot opened in 1887 it was noted to be between La Ballona Station and Santa Monica.^[11] The name La Ballona Station was still in use as late as 1893;^[12] the name Ivy Station first appears in print in 1889.^[13]

Los Angeles-Pacific Railroad built the Venice Short Line though the area in 1903.^[14] The interurban railway was grade-separated from the steam railroad via an underpass. When The LAP began running cars over the Santa Monica Air Line in 1908, the tracks were connected to allow interchanges.^[15] The point was later renamed Culver Junction to reflect its new role. In 1915 the station briefly hosted the Culver City branch of the Los Angeles County Free Library.^[16]

The Venice line closed in September 1950, making it no longer a junction; finally, all passenger service ended on September 30, 1953. The name "Culver Junction" remained on maps, referring to the immediate surrounding area. With service restoration along the corridor in June 2012, the new light rail station was named Culver City.

Ivy Substation, a traction substation building which housed mechanical rotary converters used to supply DC current to the line until 1953, is still standing near this station and has been converted into the popular Actor's Gang Theater. (Train power now comes from a much smaller building beneath the elevated platform.)

Culver City station served as the initial western terminus of the Expo line from its re-opening on June 20, 2012. It became a through-station with the re-opening of the remainder of the line to Santa Monica on May 20, 2016.

At the northeast edge of Downtown Culver City, a major retail, entertainment and arts district, the station is within walking distance of several notable places:

• Helms Bakery
• Ballona Creek Bike Path
• Hayden Tract
• Museum of Jurassic Technology
• Kirk Douglas Theater
• Ivy Substation (a former power building for this station)
• Ivy Station (apartments, retail, a hotel, and the west coast headquarters of HBO)^[17]

The station's art was created by artist Tom LaDuke. Entitled Unknowable Origins, the installation depicts softly rendered views of Culver City as seen from surrounding hillside viewpoints, with abstracted face shapes of notable people from Culver City appearing in each panel.^[18]

Media related to Culver City (Los Angeles Metro station) at Wikimedia Commons

• Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California, A Chronology of Changes in Rail Passenger Operations of the Pacific Electric Railway Company, accessed January 2008