AURORA, Colo. — Full service on the Regional Transportation District’s light rail R Line, halted on a 4-mile segment since a Sept. 21 derailment, is slated to begin today (Tuesday, Nov. 29) at about 4 a.m. MST, the RTD said Monday.
The RTD had previously said service would resume the week of Nov. 28, but had not specified the date.
“Restoring full service to the affected 4-mile stretch of the R Line corridor from Aurora Metro Center to the 13th Avenue Station required a systems redesign of the intersection at Sable Boulevard and Exposition Avenue, removal of a damaged support pole and adjustment of the overhead electrical system that provides power to the light rail vehicles,” the RTD said in a press release.
Trains have not served the 4-mile segment since the derailment that injured three people, and a bus bridge was ended in October. Test trains have been running through the area since Saturday, the RTD said, familiarizing operators with operational changes required by the agency’s corrective action plan [see “Closed portion of Denver-area light rail line …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 21, 2022]. That plan said the derailment was caused by the train entering a 10-mph curve at almost 40 mph.
