The L.A. Metro Blue Line will undergo a comprehensive $350-million modernization beginning January 26, to improve reliability, upgrade safety, and enhance the customer experience.

Work to modernize the Blue Line — which opened in 1990 and is Metro’s oldest rail line — has been ongoing since 2014 with a series of safety and operational improvements.

The upcoming improvement project will require two extended four-month closures. In addition, Blue Line service to Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station will be closed for eight months while the station is rebuilt with more capacity, a new customer service center and community plaza, easier connections to local buses and surrounding communities, and upgrades to safety and security systems.

Work on the Blue Line will include improvements to the signaling, tracks, and overhead wires that delivers the electricity to power the trains. Four new crossover tracks will be built to reduce service interruptions. There will also be numerous station improvements, including new interactive digital map displays for all stations, which will display train arrival and departure times, service alerts, and maps of the system and nearby area. Other visible amenities will include new signage and landscaping.

The Metro Board of Directors recently approved the naming of rail lines with letters and colors to accommodate a growing system and make the rail and bus rapid transit network easier to understand and more custom friendly. Upon completion of the entire New Blue Improvement Project, the new name for the Blue Line will be the “A” Line with the color blue.