RETURN OF A-LINE FLAGGERS RAISES G-LINE QUESTIONS
Move may cause delays for G-Line and quiet zones
A “safety critical software problem” puts flaggers back on patrol, creating uncertainty for the G-Line and quiet zoning.
Barely a month after the last of the flaggers was taken off duty along the University of Colorado A-Line, some are once again directing traffic at several crossings after a “safety critical software problem” was discovered along three passenger rail lines in the metro area.
The big question, to which there is no immediate answer: How long will the latest challenge in rolling out the Regional Transportation District’s $2.2 billion commuter rail system last? And what does it mean for the long-awaited opening of the G-Line to Wheat Ridge and Arvada and the quelling of train horns that have rattled nerves for more than two years?
“It’s highly disappointing, as it indicates there’s going to be further delay of the G-Line,” Arvada Mayor Marc Williams said of the fact that flaggers have been back at some A-Line crossings for the last week or so. “It seems like it just keeps getting pushed out further and further.”
The G-Line was originally set to begin carrying passengers in the autumn of 2016. But the line has been delayed by gate timing issues on the A-Line, which uses the same gate crossing technology.
The A-Line, which links downtown Denver to Denver International Airport, has been able to operate under a special waiver from federal regulators, as RTD’s contractor Denver Transit Partners struggles with the complex task of integrating a wireless signaling system with positive train control, a safety technology that Congress has mandated for railroads.
Williams said residents have been sending him nasty messages demanding he use his power as mayor to silence the horns, which test trains along the 11mile line are required to sound every time they cross an atgrade street. Horns are activated until the early morning hours, he said.
“The train horns are making life miserable,” Williams said.
Nowhere has that been truer than along the A-Line, which started service in spring 2016, but still requires its trains to blast their horns through each crossing more than two years later. Harry Doby, who has endured the cacophony for the nearly two years he has lived in his Park Hill home, said the aggravation level among his neighbors has hit new heights.
“We’re frustrated, confused and we don’t know what to believe anymore,” he said Monday. “I’m throwing up my hands and saying, ‘This is never going to end.’ ”
Neighbors living along the ALine were led to believe that once the flaggers were relieved from duty in mid-July, Denver and Aurora would be able to apply for quiet zone status and end the need for the horns.
But according to an internal RTD email obtained by The Denver Post on Monday, the Federal Railroad Administration took note earlier this month when a G-Line test train reached a crossing ahead of the safety gates’ minimum 20-second warning time. The incident triggered the agency to order reinstatement of flaggers at three A-Line crossings — York/ Josephine, Steele and Holly streets — and the lone crossing on the B-Line, which serves Westminster.
“A safety critical software problem was identified in the wireless activation system for all 13 crossings on the G-line and three crossings on the A-line and one crossing on the B-line,” FRA spokesman Marc Willis said Monday in a statement. “The FRA has required RTD use crossing attendants at those
crossings until the issue is resolved.”
It’s not clear why the incident on the G-Line affected just some of the crossings on the A-Line and the one B-Line crossing, and a re- quest for clarification from RTD and FRA did not get a response. Nor would either agency provide a timeline for when the new crop of flaggers might be dismissed, which must occur before progress can resume on establishing quiet zones and getting the G-Line ready for revenue service.
“This is a precautionary measure while (Denver Transit Partners) identifies the cause and provides mitigation,” RTD spokesman Scott Reed said Monday.
Doby isn’t holding his breath. The Park Hill resident said he’d love to see the flaggers’ new assignment last only a couple of weeks but he isn’t confident. On Monday, he said he was stopped in his car by gates that descended at an A-Line crossing but that no train ever rolled through.
“I think we’re going to be living with these issues indefinitely — until there is an upgrade and a redesign,” he said.