List of Denver RTD light rail stations

The Regional Transportation District, or RTD, operates a light rail mass transit network, serving portions of Denver, Colorado, United States, and its surrounding metropolitan area. As of 2010, the 35-mile (56 km) network includes 36 stations on five lines: C, D, E, F and H.^[1] They serve about 63,500 passengers a day, making the RTD light rail the seventh-largest light rail system in the United States in terms of ridership.^[2][3]

All of the stations are open-air structures featuring passenger canopies for protection from adverse weather conditions.^[4] The RTD has established criteria for station design with the intention of incorporating each station effectively into its surrounding community.^[5] All stations feature three elements according to the criteria: the platform, its transition plaza and the intermodal passenger transport available to and from the facility.^[5] Platforms are designed to accommodate four-car trains and may be in either a side, island or side center style.^{[5][A 1]} The transition plaza is the area where passenger services can be found between the platform and where intermodal access is available.^[5] All stations are decorated with works of public art as part of the RTD's "art-n-Transit" program.^[6] They include independent works as well as pieces incorporated into the canopies, columns, pavers, windscreens, fencing and landscaping.^[6] The fare structure incorporates a fare zone system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel.^[7] The structure calls for increased fares as one passes through the zones radiating outward from the "A zone" in Downtown Denver with travel between two zones costing $2, between three $3.50 and between four $4.50.^[7]

Light rail service began on October 8, 1994, with the opening of the initial fourteen station, 5.3-mile (8.5 km) Central Corridor segment from 30th/Downing to I-25/Broadway.^[8][9] The first extension opened on July 14, 2000, and included the completion of an additional 8.7 miles (14.0 km) of rail and five stations through its present southern terminus at Littleton/Mineral.^[10][11] In 2002, a four station, 1.8-mile (2.9 km) spur through the Central Platte Valley opened between the 10th/Osage and Union Station/LoDo/Coors Field stations.^[12][13] By November 2006, expansion to the southeast saw the completion of 19 miles (31 km) of rail and thirteen stations between I-25/Broadway and both Nine Mile in Aurora and Lincoln in Lone Tree.^[14][15] At present construction of the West Corridor is underway and will include the addition of 12.1 miles (19.5 km) of rail and eleven stations between Auraria West Campus and the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden, Colorado.^[16][17]

Stations

Stations under construction

FasTracks is a twelve-year, $6.9 billion public transportation expansion developed by the Regional Transportation District underway as of 2010.^[16][21] The plan calls for six new lines: light rail, diesel commuter rail, and electric commuter rail lines with a combined length of 122 miles (196 km) to be opened between 2013 and 2017.^[21] The first expansion undertaken is the West Corridor between Denver and Golden.^[16][17] The 12.1-mile (19.5 km) expansion is scheduled for completion by May 2013.^[22]

Notes

1. ^ A side center platform is a configuration utilizing a single side platform on one side and a center platform to service the other track or tracks.^[5]

References