Photos: Metro Expo Line

Riders experience cramped conditions during the first day of Expo Line trains running to Santa Monica, on Friday, May 20.   (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times )

People wind there way through a huge line to board a Metro Expo Line train on its first day of service in Santa Monica.

A pair of conductors navigate the streets of Los Angeles in the cockpit of the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.

“I’ve been waiting 20 years for this,” said Betty Juarez, from West Los Angeles, while taking in the view on the first trip on the Metro Expo Line in Santa Monica.

John Wallach and his dog ,Dior, enjoy the first trip on the Metro Expo Line train from Santa Monica towards Los Angeles.

Passengers disemabrk from the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica at the Santa Monica terminus.

Emmett O’Reilly, a Venice resident, is all smiles while getting an early glimpse of the new Metro Expo Line extension in Santa Monica.

A crowd of people gather at the Seveth Street Metro Station to await the arrival of the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.

Riders at the Culver City Station crowd abard the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.

Passengers disembark the first Expo Line train to take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica at the Santa Monica terminus.

Anna Chen, a Metro spokeswoman, walks past a new train at the Expo Line’s downtown Santa Monica station.   (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Passengers wait in line to get in the first first Metro Expo Line train from Santa Monica towards Los Angeles.

The first Metro Expo Line train runs through a inaugural banner in Santa Monica of the 6.6 mile rail extension from Santa Monica to Culver City that will provide L.A. County residents an alternative to the congested I-10 Santa Monica Freeway.

Steve Phares, a Southern Pacific conductor for 42 years, arrives on the first Metro Expo Line train in Santa Monica.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, also Chair of the Metro Board of Directors, get playful with a surf board after arriving on the Metro Expo Line in Santa Monica.

Anna Chen, PIO with MTA, walks past a train at the Metro Expo Line extension opens in Santa Monica.

Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas watch train operator William Smith during an Expo Line test run between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

Metro board members ride along on Expo Line test runs between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

Mayor Eric Garcetti talks to reporters who traveled with Metro board members during a test run of the Expo Line between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

Metro board members examine an Expo Line test train after a run between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, right, talks to fellow Metro board members Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker and John Fasana as they ride an Expo Line test train between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

An Expo Line test train runs between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

Train operator William Smith is at the controls during an Expo Line test run between the Culver City Station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.

Metro passengers wait at the Culver City Station as test trains run between the station and downtown Santa Monica on May 9.