More than 50 are injured when L.A. Metro train, bus collide outside Exposition Park

A Los Angeles Metro train and a USC transportation bus collided outside Exposition Park shortly before noon, injuring 55 people, according to authorities.

Los Angeles firefighters rolled to the scene at 11:54 a.m. after receiving a report of an accident at 901 W. Exposition Blvd., just north of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

A collision between a Metro train and USC bus on West Exposition Boulevard in the Exposition Park area left more than 50 people injured on Tuesday.

(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

Dave Sotero, Los Angeles Metro communications director, said the bus crossed into the path of a Metro E Line train. The light rail line runs from East Los Angeles to downtown Santa Monica, mainly at street level, and not all of the crossings have gates.

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating.

Sotero said the LAPD would be in charge of the investigation.

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Firefighters and paramedics were on the scene and had assessed and treated 14 people, including bus riders and other vehicle passengers.

March 28, 2024

In total, 55 people were injured, according to Nicholas Prange, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson.

Of that group, 18 were taken to hospitals, two in critical condition and 16 in fair condition. At least 37 were treated and released on the scene, according to Prange, who confirmed the two most severe patients were the bus driver and a passenger aboard the bus.

USC’s transportation department said the vehicle was a Starcraft 40 passenger bus carrying only one rider at the time.

The department provided no information on the driver or the passenger.

The aftermath of the collision between a Metro train and USC bus on West Exposition Boulevard in the Exposition Park area on Tuesday.

(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

“Metro offers its sympathy to those injured in the accident,” Sotero said.

Service on the E Line was suspended between Expo-Vermont and Jefferson-USC stations for several hours Tuesday, according to L.A. Metro. Sotero said Metro transported passengers between stops via a temporary bus line.

He said the train was operating on a single track in the affected area as of 1:30 p.m.

Patrons visiting the nearby Natural History Museum were directed by staff to access the entrance by taking Martin Luther King Boulevard to Bill Robertson Lane or by parking in the blue visitor parking structure at 39th Street and Figueroa.

No museum activities were affected by the crash, according to museum communications manager Josh Chesler.