Man hit trying to beat A-Line

Nonfatal collision caused the first of several rail delays Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning wasn’t a great time to catch the train to the plane, and even using the trains that carry passengers between the Denver International Airport terminal and its concourses turned a bit dicey.

A man ran in front of the University of Colorado A-Line train as it pulled into a station at 7:15 a.m., was struck, but survived the collision.

That accident led to delays for passengers who had to get off the train and travel by bus for part of the trip to or from the airport.

About 30 minutes later, a sensor failed on track that carries airport passengers between the terminal and gates. Human drivers had to take over the trains, which typically run on autopilot, to control them as they traveled across the malfunctioning section.

Technicians made a temporary fix to the sensor, but it failed again later in the morning, leading to further delays, airport spokesman Heath Montgomery said.

The day could have been a lot worse for at least one commuter.

“That is one very lucky person,” Regional Transportation District spokesman Scott Reed said of the man hit by an eastbound A-train at the East 40th Avenue and Airport Boulevard stop.

Reed said the man left the RTD parking lot to cross the tracks on a pedestrian walkway just as the train was pulling in.

Lights that warn passengers to stay off the tracks were flashing, but the man told police that he tried to outrun the train, Reed said.

“All the flashing lights were activated and the train was blowing its horn loudly,” Reed said.

The man complained of shoulder pain after the accident and was treated on the scene. He then was taken to a hospital to be checked out.

When the sensor failed the first time on DIA’s underground trains, cars were briefly routed around the track section until drivers could be brought aboard to control them.

“For about 30 minutes, we saw some delays,” Montgomery said.

A team of technicians made a temporary fix and trains went back into automatic mode. Later in the morning the problem arose again, Montgomery said.

Montgomery said technicians quickly made a second temporary fix to the problem.

During the malfunctions, trains that normally arrive at a station every two minutes averaged about four minutes between stops.

The delays occurred on one of the airport’s busiest travel days. More than 1.5 million travelers are expected to pass through DIA during the Thanksgiving holiday.