Glendora station

Glendora station is an at-grade light rail station in the Los Angeles Metro Rail system.^[1] The station is located near the intersection of South Vermont Avenue and Ada Avenue along the Pasadena Subdivision right of way in Glendora, California at the site of Glendora's original 1887 station of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad. It will be served by the A Line. It is currently under testing as part of the Foothill Extension Project. It was officially dedicated with a ceremony on June 6, 2025, featuring regional politicians and a celebration for the general public.^[2][3] Full passenger service is scheduled to begin on September 19, 2025.^[4]

Glendora
Glendora station under construction in January 2024
General information
Coordinates	34.1323°N 117.8667°W / 34.1323; -117.8667
Owned by	Los Angeles Metro
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Foothill Transit
Construction
Parking	302 spaces
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	In testing
History
Opening	September 19, 2025
Future services
Preceding station Metro Rail Following station APU/Citrus College toward Long Beach A Line San Dimas toward Pomona
Former services (at AT&SF station) Preceding station Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Following station Azusa toward Los Angeles Main Line Via Pasadena, Pomona San Dimas toward Chicago
Location

Service

Hours and frequency

A 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.^[5]

Connections

The following connections will be available when the station opens:^[4]

• Foothill Transit: 284
• Glendora Transit Shuttle

History

Etching of (1887) Glendora Santa Fe Railroad Station (cropped from original 1888 Alosta-Glendora map)

Background

The new Metro Glendora station is located at the site of the original Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad station, which first opened in May 1887—just a month after Glendora's founding. The arrival of this railway connected Glendora to broader markets, spurring growth and significantly contributing to the establishment and economic development of the city.^[6] The presence of the station helped early Glendora weather the storm of the collapse of the Southern California real estate boom of the 1880s.

City founder George D. Whitcomb played a crucial role in bringing rail to Glendora, leveraging his connections with the railroad industry to successfully lobby for the rail line to run north of the South Hills, where it would better serve Glendora's newly established town center rather than the more southerly Charter Oak area.^[7]

Between 1907 and 1951, Glendora was also served by the Pacific Electric Railway's Monrovia–Glendora Line, providing regular passenger service connecting downtown Glendora (now known as “The Village”) to the Pacific Electric Building at Sixth and Main in Downtown Los Angeles.^[8] After the discontinuation of Pacific Electric passenger service on September 30, 1951, Glendora was without passenger rail service for over seven decades.^[9][10]

Original station (1887–1962)

The original Glendora station of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad, later part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, opened in May 1887. It became a critical factor in Glendora's early economic growth and community development. In the 1940s, the Victorian station was rebuilt in a Streamline Moderne architectural style (similar in appearance to the still-standing historic Azusa station), reflecting contemporary trends, including the decline of passenger service in favor of cargo shipments, including from Glendora's agriculture industry. However, by the mid 1950s, the need for freight also declined as Glendora's citrus groves gave way to new suburban housing developments. The original station was fully decommissioned and demolished in 1962.^[11]