RTD’s slow-train summer has gotten slower, grating hardest against metro Denver workers with no alternative but public transportation — such as Adriano Bamba , who was late by 30 minutes for his job at a downtown FedEx store this week and struggling to stay positive.
He and his spouse share a blue Honda CRV for reaching the multiple jobs and college courses they juggle. It falls to him to ride RTD trains and buses. The latest expansion of slow zones, reducing train speeds to 10 miles per hour on eight stretches of the R Line between Aurora and Denver last week, immediately ratcheted up his burden.
“When you come in late, that’s less money,” said Bamba, 30. “I try to negotiate with my boss. ‘Hey, it’s the train.’ ” Sometimes he can make up lost time by working longer after the end of his shift depending on company needs.
A month after RTD officials imposed speed restrictions following track safety inspections that found problems, the slow zones have expanded. Transit officials imposed the eight new 10 mph slow zones on the R line between tracks just north of the Nine Mile Station and the junction of Interstate 25 and Interstate 225, according to a required report that RTD submitted to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which oversees safety and service.
RTD officials also declared new slow zones along the D Line in southwest metro Denver between Englewood and Littleton and on the southeast Denver H line. The first slow zones established in June for E and R line trains along the I-25 corridor in south metro Denver remain in place, though northbound trains now can run at normal speeds between Orchard Road and Arapahoe Road and between Dry Creek and County Line roads. Track inspectors continue to check for “railhead burn” degradation, the trigger for slowing down trains from their normal speeds of up to 55 mph — focussing this week on R and H line tracks along Parker Road and I-225, according to agency website postings.
For Bamba, trips from his apartment in Aurora to work in downtown Denver have taken as long as two hours due to multiple RTD service disruptions. Even allowing a full hour for transit doesn’t guarantee arriving on time he said.
“It is really horrible when I wait for a train and then that train isn’t there,” Bamba said, questioning why RTD engineers did not plan better and spread out necessary maintenance to minimize hardships for riders. Bamba combines a 40-hour work week for FedEx with computer information systems studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
After a decade in metro Denver, “I haven’t really been able to start my career,” he said, and he and his wife cannot envision affording the costs of raising a child. Covering rent of $1,500 and $500 car payments, keeps them struggling.
“I just wish it was a little easier. We’re hanging in there, trying to get by.”
RTD track repair crews have been working mostly at night between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. to install replacement rails.
RTD spokesman Stuart Summers told the Denver Post in an email that, before September, much of the maintenance work will be done and riders will see improved service. The delays on end-to-end trips on Wednesday ranged from 5 minutes on the D Line to 20 minutes on the E, H, and R lines, he said.
On Thursday, RTD service alerts showed delays up to 30 minutes on the H, R, and E lines.
RTD officials weren’t made available to discuss impacts.
“RTD always adheres to the highest level of safety standards, even when it results in an impact to scheduled services and on-time performance,” Summers said in a response prepared by the agency’s public relations team that he said could be attributed to him.
Between June 30 and July 12, RTD maintenance contractors replaced 216 feet of rail between Orchard and Arapahoe roads and between Arapahoe and Dry Creek roads, according to the agency’s PUC report.
The overall impact on ridership? Summers said data from June isn’t available. RTD’s ridership already had decreased from 105.8 million boardings in 2019 to 65.2 million in 2023.
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