Metro project with ‘confusing’ moniker gets new name

An LA Metro project whose name for years has confused Angelenos — and even some members of Metro’s board — now has a new name that officials hope will allow it to get on the right path toward completion.

The West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor is now the Southeast Gateway Line.

Last year, Metro officials announced the project was in desperate need of a rebranding to clear up confusion about its intended purpose and planned route.

Despite its previous name, the project had nothing to do with Santa Ana at all. Its old name was due to a relic of long-forgotten transit history. A passenger train operated by Pacific Electric Railway once carried as many as 1 million people between L.A. and Santa Ana along its path.

But that line hasn’t been used since the 1950s. Somehow, even after LA Metro acquired the old line’s right of way, the name stuck — until now.

The Southeast Gateway Line is a planned 14.5-mile light rail line that would connect Artesia to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles with nine stops in the Gateway Cities along the way.

Metro has had some issues acquiring funding for the project, with some on the board floating the theory that its Santa Ana moniker might’ve had an impact in the ability to get state and federal funding.

The Orange County Transit Authority is working to deploy streetcars in Santa Ana and has gotten state funding to do so, leading to some Metro board members to wonder if confusion over the names led to the LA Metro project being passed over due to confusion.

That led Metro officials to call for an online rebranding effort, led by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn. Hahn is Vice Chair of the Metro board and the line would service residents in her supervisorial district.

In an August 2023 email to KTLA, Hahn said Southeast L.A. and the Gateway Cities have been historically “underserved by high-quality transit.” She also said the project’s name was making it hard for the residents who would benefit most from it to “understand and get excited about it.”

An online suggestion form led to hundreds of new ideas, which were culled down to a final pool of 12 names, each ranging from historic and culturally significant, to abstract and artistic, while some were direct and concise, leaving no doubt as to what the project will be and who it will serve.

Ultimately, it was the latter that was chosen by the people.

“This rail line is going to be revolutionary for communities in Southeast LA and the Gateway Cities, but its bad name has held this project back,” Hahn said in a Monday news release. “I wanted to empower the future riders to pick a new name for this train – something they can connect with and that will help us deliver this project.”

Hahn said the new name had the support of the people and that brings it one step closer to making the project a reality.

The Southeast Gateway Line is expected to break ground this summer, Hahn said.

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