Los Angeles Union Station opened in what year?

Los Angeles Union Station opened in 1939.

The station officially opened on May 3, 1939, as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal. It consolidated services previously divided among La Grande Station, Central Station, and Salt Lake Station, giving the rapidly growing city a single major rail gateway.

Designed by John and Donald Parkinson, the building blends Art Deco and Streamline Moderne with Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial influences. That combination makes it distinctive among American railway terminals: geometric modernism appears alongside tile, ornamental details, courtyards, and other Southern California references.

The station was built for roughly $11 million in 1939 dollars and served Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Union Pacific trains, along with local electric railways. A frequent confusion is treating the station’s modern Metro era as its opening date; Metro service arrived decades later. The historic rail terminal itself dates to 1939 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.