In addition to the Long Beach service, the line served as a trunk for a number of other interurban lines stretching to Whittier, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Santa Ana, Balboa, San Pedro, and Redondo Beach.

The line was within a private right of way from Olympic Boulevard to Willow Street in Long Beach.

The remainder of the line was double tracked to Ocean Avenue in Long Beach.

Continuing to the south, the line crossed the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Harbor District tracks at Slauson Boulevard at grade.

The Long Beach Line (on dual tracks) turned southeasterly from Watts Junction and ran towards Compton between the twin roadways of Willowbrook Avenue.

The Long Beach Line crossed Alameda Street and the Southern Pacific San Pedro Branch at grade, and followed the west bank of Compton Creek towards the Los Angeles River.

For a number of years, the PE operated express "flyer" service along the Long Beach route.

Cars ran from the downtown station to Long Beach and continued to San Pedro.

Service began on July 4, 1902[6][7] (with a trial car run over the line the previous day[8]), initially beginning at 9th and Main Streets in downtown Los Angeles (the trackage on 9th Street was acquired from Huntington's Los Angeles Railway in 1904).

The terminal was moved to the Pacific Electric Building in 1905, and trains were rerouted over the newly built elevated trackage west of San Pedro Street in 1917.

The service was further was commuted to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority on March 3, 1958; on April 17 it was renumbered to line 36.

[18] An early goal of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission was to reestablish rail service over the former PE right of way.

Modern light rail was chosen as the preferred mode, and the line was largely rebuilt to accommodate the service.