First experience on the Gold Line

I'm an occasional user, and full-time fan, of Metrolink trains, as well as the Red and Purple Line subways and Blue and Green Line light rail trains in L.A. But until last weekend I had only taken the Gold Line light rail once, and for one measly stop, from Union Station to Chinatown.

Saturday, I gave the line a longer test. Scheduled to meet a friend for lunch in South Pasadena, I decided to park at the Gold Line's eastern terminus, Sierra Madre Boulevard, in Pasadena, and take the train to the Mission Avenue stop. This is halfway to Union Station and gave me a better sense of what the rail line is like.

Well, nice train and all that, and smooth ride, and $1.25 each way was a small price to pay for a joyride. On the other hand, it was hard to get excited about the route.

You walk over a freeway bridge to get to the train platform, which is in the middle of the 210. After a couple of freeway-median stops -- including the thrilling "Next stop, Allen Avenue. Allen Avenue, next stop" -- the train stops at Lake Avenue, which is below street level. Those riders have to take an elevator or stairs up to the Lake freeway overcrossing, which is about eight lanes wide. Sounds, um, pleasant.

The next stop is Memorial Park. This is as close as the line comes to Old Town, and I'm not sure how close it is except from memory: The station is in a trench below street level and all you see out the window is concrete. You really have no idea where you are. (Unlike Red Line cars, there was no map inside my train car, either.)

Things open up a bit in South Pasadena. I got off at Mission Avenue, a station that is lauded for the way it's helped revitalize the neighborhood of cafes, salons and condos. With its antique clock, statue of a pedestrian and location closer to the thick of things, it was definitely the most friendly stop.

Yet you disembark on a platform a few steps above the pavement and the ground has been cleared in a radius around it. Even at its most approachable, the Gold Line is a little aloof.

The trolleys and light rail in Portland, Ore., where I visited last year, usually let you off right at street level, often just steps from sidewalks and shops. Riding transit there is less of a production, if you know what I mean.

Nevertheless, even L.A.'s flawed, scanty rail lines are far preferable to no rail lines. I'm grateful the Gold Line exists. I intend to take it the rest of the way to Union Station sometime. And someday, I hope to take it from Claremont.

Below: The Portland trolley.