RTD Updates Maintenance Timeline; Expects to Lift Restrictions Next Month
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
Courtesy of RTD
DENVER - RTD announces it has updated its maintenance timeline and expects to lift all current light rail speed restrictions next month.
According to the release, the maintenance timeline from the Regional Transportation District (RTD) has been adjusted due to recent delays caused by weather, track inspections, and availability of a third-party contractor. The timeline, below, reduces the length of three speed restrictions near Dayton Station, adds two speed restrictions north of Yale Station, and changes the schedule to focus on lifting the last restriction on the D Line.
As of reporting, the RTD has lifted 24 of 29 speed restrictions from last year. These began last May during inspections where crews identified imperfections along more than 120 miles of its rail network. Adhering to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) standards, crews completed “visual, electrical, and mechanical inspections of components that affect safe and reliable rail operations, as well as standards for implementing necessary speed restrictions.”
RTD states it completes an ultrasonic inspection each year that uses “high-frequency sound waves to detect internal flaws, cracks, or other structural issues with the rail.” In addition to this annual inspection, crews walk the network every 90 days in order to take additional measurements and observe any “anomalies.” All 120 miles of track are also inspected with a hi-rail vehicle twice a week. There are 14 track maintenance professionals who work to ensure all inspections are completed. This number is expected to rise to 18 in the future.
RTD track maintainer Jason Siragusa said, “We know what to look for when there’s a problem. . . Our team knows if something doesn’t look right and needs to be ground down. You’re responsible for the people that are on the trains, and there are a lot of them.”
RTD track maintainer Orville Cummings said, “You can never overdo it, because you could walk something today, and then tomorrow something happens. . . You will see something that is not a defect yet, and you’re like, I’ve got to pay attention to this. For the people that ride the train, I understand being on time, but my main thing is their safety.”
To allow for necessary work to take place, 10mph speed restrictions were put into place. The longest remaining restriction measures about one mile and runs southbound between Yale and Southmoor stations. It is expected be lifted next month. Some of the work conducted by RTD crews in the last year include replacing 9,691 feet of track on the D, E, H, and R lines. Crews also removed almost 10,000 feet of rail and transported “new sections of track along the corridors and staging it over multiple days for installation.” Additionally, RTD crews performed rail grinding on more than 50 miles of rail to take care of surface cracks, installed joint bars, and leveled ballast. Reportedly, RTD states it has replaced and surfaced more rail over the last year than it has in the previous two decades.
Assistant General Manager of Rail Operations Dave Jensen said, “The agency has recently made great progress on completing the necessary maintenance work and lifting the remaining speed restrictions. . . All credit goes to RTD’s Maintenance of Way crews for working day and night in all types of weather to safely make the necessary repairs. I also want to commend and applaud the agency’s light rail operators for the important role they’ve played in supporting customers impacted by the speed restrictions.”
