RTD’s oldest line showcases modern safety improvements as agency commemorates 30th anniversary of light rail service

L Line back in service with enhanced safety measures at intersections on Welton Corridor

Ahead of marking 30 years of light rail service in Denver on Oct. 7, RTD completed installation and testing of several enhanced safety measures along the Welton Corridor and reopened an original portion of the agency’s inaugural line.

The agency restored L Line service to the Downtown Loop and Welton Street Corridor Sept. 29, following successful completion of safety improvements on a part of the line between 20th•Welton and 30th•Downing stations that had experienced the highest number of accidents of any corridor in the light rail system, according to a 2022 report to the RTD Board of Directors.

At that time, the Board unanimously approved funding for repairs and improvements to the L Line, which starts at 30th •Downing Station in the Welton Corridor and continues through the Downtown Loop to 16th·Stout Station. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission was instrumental in securing Federal Highway Administration grant funds in the amount of $1.5 million for project safety enhancements.

The Welton Street Safety Improvements project, which began in 2023, featured enhanced safety measures to reduce the potential of accidents at intersections along the Welton Corridor by replacing outdated train-related roadway signs and upgrading existing train warning traffic signals, or “blank-out” signs, to better warn motorists of trains approaching the intersections. The new blank-out signs were specifically designed to alert motorists and pedestrians in light rail corridors such as Welton Street that run alongside city streets.

The project also converted the previous relay-based signal system along Welton to a new microprocessor-based system consistent with the signal systems equipment in use throughout RTD’s light rail system.

RTD’s Central Corridor Line, which opened to the public on Oct. 7, 1994, operated between I-25 and Broadway to 30th Avenue and Downing Street along a rail alignment now served by the D, E, H and L lines. During the opening weekend, more than 200,000 customers rode the new line consisting of a fleet of 11 rail cars.

“The launch of Denver’s first light rail line in 1994 built upon the city’s rich legacy of rail mobility that began in the 1870s,” GM/CEO Johnson said. “That mobility remains critical to the region’s prosperity and vitality and also to the individuals and families who rely on public transit daily.”