One year in: Denver's airport train navigates interruptions, a $6 million gate glitch and surprising

Last edited Mon Apr 10, 2017, 04:11 PM - Edit history (1)

Day and night, for more than a year, they’ve been out there — reflective safety vests cinched tight and handheld stop signs at the ready as train after train roars past.

The flaggers along the University of Colorado A-Line don’t come cheap. The price tag to man the 11 at-grade crossings along the 23-mile train route out to Denver International Airport since it opened a year ago: nearly $6 million and counting, according to calculations made by The Denver Post.

That cost, while not borne by taxpayers but rather by the private consortium that teamed up with the Regional Transportation District to build and operate the $1.2 billion line connecting downtown Denver to DIA, is perhaps the most visible and vexing sign that the state’s pre-eminent transit project has had a far rockier rollout than many had hoped.

Aside from multiple delays and service interruptions throughout the first year of operations on the A-Line — the first commuter rail line to be built in Colorado — problems at the crossings have had the biggest ripple effect. As long as hang-ups persist with the timing of the gates that stop motorists from driving onto the tracks, there can be no progress on opening the G-Line to the western suburbs.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/09/denver-airport-train-one-year-in/