The first segment of Metro’s D Line will end at Wilshire/La Cienega. (photo by Edwin Folven)

After more than a decade of work on the D Line subway extension project, riders will have to wait a little longer to board. Metro now estimates the first segment between Wilshire/Western and Wilshire/La Cienega will open sometime during the first quarter of next year, up to three months past the previously scheduled opening by the end of 2025.

“Construction is a complex and evolving process, and in this case, testing for the D Line Extension segment one took longer than expected,” read a statement from Metro. “Metro’s contractor is also completing civic improvements such as new sidewalks, curbs and gutters in advance of the opening. Metro is working as quickly as possible to ensure that when the line opens, it is something we can be proud of. The opening for segment one is now anticipated in winter 2026.”

Metro chief program management officer Tim Lindholm provided details about the extended timeline for opening at an Oct. 15 meeting of the Metro Board’s Construction Committee. Lindholm said tests are currently being completed on the system that enables the Rail Operations Control Center to remotely control all of the systems in the tunnels and stations.

“Right now, we’re sticking to winter 2026, which is between January and March of ’26, so it’s coming. We’re not able to declare a date yet, because we have so much testing to do,” Lindholm said. “We just hit a pretty good milestone down there in the tunnels. We hit about 50% of our SCADA testing. Just to explain what SCADA is, we build a lot of local equipment in the tunnel, whether it is pieces of ventilation, alarms, train control, power, you name it, and it all needs to feed back to the Rail Operations Control Center so that you can operate it remotely. That’s the testing we’re doing right now to make sure everything works both ways, and we’re about halfway done. Soon, when we feel a little more comfortable on how we’re doing with our testing – because once we get done with the testing, there’s a pretty straightforward process we follow where we go through safety certification with the PUC –  but soon we will be able to declare a date when we feel a little more comfortable on how we’re doing with our testing.”

Jim Cohen, D Line project manager for Metro, told the committee that the first segment of the D Line extension project is 98% complete. The new four-mile segment of the line is expected to provide 20,700 daily trips, increasing to 33,700 in 2035.

The D Line extension project is being completed in three segments, with sections two and three also currently under construction. Section two between Wilshire/La Cienega and the Century City Station is scheduled to open in 2026 and section three to the Westwood/VA Hospital is scheduled to open in 2027.