26th Street/Bergamot station

For the Santa Monica arts facility adjacent to the Metro station, see Bergamot (arts center).

26th St/Bergamot
E Line train at the station
General information
Location	2425 Olympic Boulevard Santa Monica, California
Coordinates	34°01′40″N118°28′12″W / 34.0279°N 118.4699°W / 34.0279; -118.4699
Owned by	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	Big Blue Bus
Construction
Bicycle facilities	Racks and lockers [1]
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	October 17, 1875 (October 17, 1875)
Rebuilt	May 20, 2016 (2016-05-20) [2]
Previous names	Bergamot
Passengers
FY 2024	972 (avg. wkdy boardings) [3]
Services
Preceding station Metro Rail Following station 17th Street/​SMC toward Downtown Santa Monica E Line Expo/Bundy toward East Los Angeles
Former services Preceding station Pacific Electric Following station Sunset towards Rustic Canyon Air Line Bundy towards Pacific Electric Building
Location

26th Street/Bergamot station is an at-grade light rail station in the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. It is located near the intersection of 26th Street and Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica, California and near the Bergamot Station Arts Center. The station is served by the E Line. ^[4]

Service

Station layout

The station is in the Pico District of Santa Monica, along the southern edge of Olympic Boulevard, just east of 26th Street.

The City of Santa Monica refers to the station area as the "Bergamot Transit Village". ^[5] It is also within walking distance of several business offices and studios, including the Water Garden office complex, as well as several parks.

The station has entrances on both ends. ^[6]

Hours and frequency

E Line service hours are from approximately 4:30 a.m. and 11:45 p.m daily. Trains operate every 8 minutes during peak hours, Monday to Friday. Trains run every 10 minutes, during midday on weekdays and weekends, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Night and early morning service is approximately every 20 minutes every day. ^[7]

Connections

As of December 15,2024 ^[update] , the following connections are available: ^{[8] [9]}

• Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica): 5, 16, 43

Notable places nearby

The station is within walking distance of the following notable places:

• Bergamot Station Arts Center
• Gandara Park
• Ishihara Park
• Virginia Avenue Park

Name and history

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) still grows in clumps around the station area.

The name "Bergamot Station" dates back to 1890, and was a stop and car storage area on the steam powered Los Angeles and Independence Railroad from Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles, as well as the subsequent Santa Monica Air Line on the Pacific Electric trolley system until 1953. ^{[10] [11]}

Vehicle maintenance facility

Expo Phase 2 included a maintenance facility for Expo light-rail vehicles. This facility performs shop-related activities, including servicing, cleaning, inspecting, and repairing LRT vehicles. It also includes a yard with a storage capacity of up to 45 LRT vehicles. ^[6]

Several locations for this facility were proposed and evaluated, including the "Verizon site" (land just east of Bergamot Station, between Stewart Street and Centinela Avenue) and the Bergamot Station site. Many residents of the surrounding Stewart Park neighborhood opposed the use of the Verizon site, who feared the project would create noise and another environmental impact. The use of the Bergamot Station site was opposed by artists at Bergamot Station, who successfully argued that Bergamot had become an irreplaceable resource for the west coast art community. ^[12]

The City of Santa Monica and Expo built the facility on land which includes the Verizon site, as well as land that was a parking lot owned by Santa Monica College. They believe that with this "hybrid site", most environmental impacts from the facility were properly mitigated. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

References

1. "Secure Bike Parking on Metro" (PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 6, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
2. Nelson, Laura J. (May 20, 2016). "Expo Line Service Can Be Less Than Expeditious". Los Angeles Times . pp. A1, A10 . Retrieved November 6, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "FY2024 Ridership by Station". misken67 via Los Angeles Metro Public Records. August 2024.
4. ".:: Expo Line::". Archived from the original on August 12, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
5. "2010 Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) – Planning & Community Development – City of Santa Monica". Shapethefuture2025.net. Archived from the original on March 5, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
7. "Metro E Line schedule". Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 10, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
8. "E Line Timetable – Connections section" (PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 15, 2024. p. 1. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
9. "Little Blue Book" (PDF). Big Blue Bus (Santa Monica). December 15, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
10. "Bergamot Station". Bergamot Station. April 30, 2016. Archived from the original on September 3, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
11. "Los Angeles Herald. "The Iron Highways." June 14, 1890. page 2". Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
12. "The Argonaut: Top Stories". Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
13. "Exposition Light Rail Phase 2 Maintenance Facility Update - City of Santa Monica". Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
14. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 23, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
15. Boehm, Mike (June 14, 2014) "Bergamot Station's tenants at odds over its future as Expo Line nears" Archived 2014-06-16 at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times