North Hollywood station is a combined rapid transit (known locally as a subway) and bus rapid transit (BRT) station in the Los Angeles Metro Rail and Metro Busway systems. It is the northwestern terminus of the B Line subway and eastern terminus of the G Line BRT route. It is located at the intersection of Lankershim Boulevard and Chandler Boulevard in the NoHo Arts District of the North Hollywood neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.

History

North Hollywood station was constructed as part of MOS-3 (Minimum Operating Segment 3), the third and final portion of the Red Line project. The station opened on June 24, 2000, after six years of construction.

As the Metro Rail system was being designed in the 1990s, the initial plan was to build an at-grade and elevated extension of the Metro Red Line west from North Hollywood station along the former Pacific Electric/Southern Pacific Railroad Burbank Branch right of way that Metro acquired in 1991. However, by the time the Red Line reached North Hollywood, political developments stymied these plans: community objections to surface transit along the route resulted in a 1991 law mandating that any rail line along the route be built underground, but a 1998 ballot measure driven by perceptions of mismanagement banned the use of county sales tax to fund subway tunneling.

Prevented from using the right of way for rail, Metro proceeded to build a busway along the corridor, despite further lawsuits from area residents. The line opened on October 29, 2005, with its eastern terminus at North Hollywood.

Lankershim Depot

Lankershim
Historic Lankershim station
General information
Location	Los Angeles, California United States
Line(s)	Southern Pacific Railroad, Pacific Electric
History
Opened	1886
Closed	1952

The Lankershim Depot building was "brought to its present-day site on rail cars and assembled" in 1896 as the Toluca Depot of the Southern Pacific Railroad. According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, "At the time...fruit was one of the area’s chief industries. The railroad tracks and stations, including this one, were built to connect the region's agricultural industry to the ports. The building is a one-story wooden structure that originally contained an office and a waiting area."

One of the "few remaining wood-frame, 19th century railroad stations in Southern California," the depot was dual service for Southern Pacific and the Pacific Electric railway from 1911 until it was closed to rail activity in 1952. The historic depot building survives and is located near the current North Hollywood Metro station for the pedestrian tunnel-connected B Line and G Line transit routes. It was subject to a $3.6 million restoration completed in 2016. The renovation incorporated "ADA requirements such as hand railings and ramp lighting." Since 2017, Lankershim Depot has housed a Groundwork coffee shop.

Development of surrounding area

Since the opening of the station in 2000, transit-oriented developments have begun to be constructed in the area around the station including thousands of apartments and office buildings. NoHo Tower (a 15-story apartment building) is across the street from the station and NoHo Commons, a multi-use complex which includes several floors of apartments above a level of retail. In September 2007, transportation officials approved NoHo Art Wave. That project did not start due to the recession, but in 2016 a public-private partnership with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority was proposed on the 16 acres (6.5 ha) surrounding the station. The 15 acre redevelopment resurfaced in 2023 as "District NoHo". A multi use development with two residential towers standing at 20 and 23 stories, 1,481 homes and one office tower at 21 story, 281 ft. The project would include 60,000 square feet of retail and 450,000 square feet of office space. Development would be a PPP with Trammel Crow Company and LA Metro. To be completed in phases by 2031 directly above the metro station. City approved the plans December of 2023.

Service

Station layout

North Hollywood station is located on two large blocks near the intersection of Lankershim Boulevard and Chandler Boulevard.

The B Line platform is located under Lankershim and the original entrance to the station, under three colorful arched canopies called "Kaleidoscope Dreams," is located on the block east of Lankershim and north of Chandler. This block also contained a large bus plaza and park and ride lot.

The G Line platforms were added about 5 years later, along Chandler and west of Lankershim. For the first 10 years after the opening of the G Line, passengers transferring between the B and G Lines needed to use a crosswalk. Metro constructed a second entrance to the B Line platform on the west side of Lankershim adjacent to the G Line platform in August 2016, easing transfers.

G	Street level	Entrances/Exits, ticket machines, bus plaza, park and ride
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Westbound	←  G Line toward Chatsworth (Laurel Canyon)
	Eastbound	→  G Line terminating buses →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
B1	Mezzanine	Faregates, ticket machines, to Entrances/Exits
B2	Southbound	→  B Line toward Union Station (Universal City/Studio City) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
	Southbound	→  B Line toward Union Station (Universal City/Studio City) →

Hours and frequency

B Line trains run every day between approximately 4:30 a.m. and midnight. Trains operate every 12 minutes during peak hours. Early morning and night service is approximately every 20 minutes.

G Line buses run 24 hours a day. Buses operate every eight minutes during peak hours on weekdays. They operate every ten minutes during the daytime on weekdays and most of the day on weekends. Night service on all days is every 20 minutes.

Connections

As of spring 2024, the following connections are available:

• Los Angeles Metro Bus: 90, 94, 152, 154, 155, 162, 224, 237, 501 (NoHo-Pasadena Express), Metro Micro North Hollywood/Burbank
• Burbank Bus: NoHo-Airport (Orange Route) to Hollywood Burbank Airport
• City of Santa Clarita Transit: 757
• Greyhound (depot two blocks south of the station at 11239 Magnolia Blvd)
• LADOT Commuter Express: 549
• LADOT DASH: North Hollywood

Expansion

The station is planned as the terminal for two additional Metro Busway lines: the North Hollywood to Pasadena Transit Corridor which will run to Pasadena with connections to the A Line, and the North San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor which will provide additional east–west services to the Valley.

Notable places nearby

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

• Chandler Bikeway – begins adjacent to station and proceeds east to Burbank
• G Line Bikeway – begins adjacent to station and proceeds west to Chatsworth
• Millennium Dance Complex
• NoHo Arts District
• Historic Lankershim Depot