Metro Expo Line Trousdale Station (USC/Exposition Park Station) rendering (Creative Commons)

After multiple budget increases and construction delays, officials began test runs on the long-awaited Expo Line Monday and announced the train could start running as early as November.

L.A. County Metro towed an empty car at a leisurely 2 mph from 23rd and Flower Street to Exposition Boulevard near USC to take measurements, test for clearance issues and monitor the car. 

Officials taped thick foam pads to the side of the train to make sure it didn't hit anything along the rail.

Those tests were the first of many Metro will perform before the line's official opening, which is slated for Nov. 15, 2011. That first phase will take passengers from downtown Los Angeles to La Cienega Boulevard, just east of Culver City, in half an hour.  The last 0.7 miles should be done in early 2012.

Construction costs, originally set at $640 million, have ballooned to $930.6 million. Officials told the Los Angeles Times  that by 2020, an average of 27,000 will ride the line from downtown to Culver City each week. They estimate that by 2030, 64,000 will take it to Santa Monica.

The project has sparked enthusiasm among commuters since it was proposed more than a decade ago.

"From a line that had every sort of challenge for close to 10 years, it's absolutely amazing that it's coming to fruition," said Bart Reed, executive director of the nonprofit Transit Coalition, in an interview with the Times. "Going anywhere to West L.A. or Culver City is a long, slow, tedious trip, and having the choice to be on a train and have a predictable schedule changes the whole dynamics of going in either direction. It's a game-changer in terms of choice."

The Expo Line was considered a low-cost option for getting to key Westside locations such as Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood, partly because it ran along existing freight tracks, the Times reported. But design enhancements, safety concerns and construction price increases drove up the price tag.

Officials hope phase two, stetching from Culver City to Santa Monica, will not be so problematic.