Rail access arrives at Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles took a huge step toward linking airplanes to trains on Friday, as the nation’s fifth busiest hub joined the modern travel world and offered car-loving Southern Californians an off-ramp from traffic-clogged freeways.

The LAX/Metro Transit Center is set to open at 5 p.m. PT and will connect travelers to the K or C rail lines, which can then whisk them north in the direction of central Los Angeles, south toward beach cities or east along Interstate 105.

The breakthrough is an absolute necessity for organizers of the 2028 Olympics if they’re going to fulfill their vow of making it a “no car Games.”

“This is a big day for L.A.,” County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement shortly after a ceremonial ride at the new station.

Hahn, the MTA chair, used good humor and invoked the memory of an arch conservative to toast this new rail option.

“President Reagan once said the nine most terrifying words were, ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’ But here in L.A., we know they have always been: ‘Hey, can you give me a ride to LAX?'” quipped Hahn, the daughter of late political titan Kenneth Hahn who played a key role in bringing the Brooklyn Dodgers west in 1957.

“Well now — for the first time ever — you can say: ‘No way. Just take Metro.’ ”

This option still isn’t a 100% tire-free experience.

Arriving LAX passengers still have to take a bus shuttle, which is set to run every 10 minutes, from the airport to the new station, which is about two miles east of Terminal 1.

The LAX People Mover is being built and targeted for completion by year’s end.

Once the People Mover is rolling, LAX will have rail service that its peers have offered for decades.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has been rolling passengers in and out of America’s busiest airport, Hartsfield–Jackson, since 1988.

And travelers going through Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (2014), Denver International Airport (2016), Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (1984) and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (2003) have had rail options for decades.