LAX's long-awaited People Mover begins testing phase with train cars finally running on tracks
Los Angeles International Airport's long-awaited train system is reaching a key construction milestone — train cars will soon move along the tracks over Sepulveda and Century boulevards for the first time as part of a new testing phase.
Train cars will enter the central terminal area at LAX in the coming weeks, the first in a series of tests to ensure they're able to safely travel along the elevated tracks and to three train stations within the airport. After more than five years in construction, the highly anticipated transportation project has cost more than $2 billion to build since it broke ground in the summer of 2019.
Dubbed the Automated People Mover, the train system is expected to be up-and-running by January 2026.
It will offer rides free to airline passengers 24 hours a day and seven days a week, providing what many hope will be a solution to the long-running traffic problem at LAX — finally getting passengers into and out of terminals as fast as similar train systems at airports in other major U.S. cities. The most recent attempt at easing LAX traffic has been a shuttle service for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft, a less-than-perfect fix that has only reduced the number of cars on roads around the airport.
During peak hours, the train system would make stops every two minutes, and rides across the full route would last 10 minutes from one end to the next. According to LAX, it is expected to eliminate more than 3,200 shuttle trips a day and reduce traffic by about 27% during peak hours.
LAX is the eighth-busiest airport in the world with more than 75 million passengers traveling through it in 2023, according to a report released earlier this year by Los Angeles World Airports.
The parent company of LAX released a statement Tuesday detailing the newest construction development, saying the new testing phase will continue through next year and the speed of the train cars will be gradually increased until the end of 2025.
"This testing milestone brings us one step closer to delivering a more efficient travel experience for our employees and guests at LAX," John Ackerman, CEO of Los Angeles World Airports, said in the statement. "The train has been the airport's missing link to our great city, and it will ensure that LAX welcomes Angelenos and visitors from across the globe in a truly world-class way."
In August, the airport announced all 44 train cars for the Automated People Mover had been delivered, allowing some brief initial test runs to be carried out before the official testing phase begins.
While the transit system was initially expected to be fully operational by 2023, the construction process has faced delays due to a number of issues including the settling of legal claims.
Those financial settlements have also added to overall costs, with the LA City Council voting in August to put another $400 million toward the project to settle claims following another $200 million approved in May to settle similar claims from a contractor.
