RTD Accomplishing its Largest Overnight Rail Installation

BY TARA BROGHAMMER
Senior Specialist, Public Relations
Denver Regional Transportation District, CO

The Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) is accomplishing the largest overnight rail installation it has ever undertaken, with the agency’s Maintenance of Way (MOW) team replacing more than 4,500 feet of rail on the Southeast Corridor between June and mid-October.

The project resulted from inspections identifying rail defects and supports the agency’s Back to Basics initiative to maintain and protect the long-term integrity of the rail. The MOW team’s third shift works from 9:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. to replace rail along the Southeast Corridor to restore normal service speeds. Signal/traction power maintainer Chris White said that working the night shift enables the team to make a difference for customers in restoring service.

“There’s a lot we do in the background to set up one night’s worth of work,” said MOW Supervisor Raymond Ferreris. Each third shift begins with hauling necessary equipment and materials to the work sites.

“We’re moving 80-foot rails that move like spaghetti,” said rail laborer Dantai Cantrell about the challenge in mobilizing rails to sites for repair.

Many MOW team members said the finite period of working overnight is a challenge.

“In a six- or seven-hour window, there’s a lot of work on the front end and back end that has to be done before we can start pulling clips, pulling rail, and replacing it with new,” said Dennis Hanson, RTD light rail maintenance of way manager.

When the workday ends, MOW crews remove heavy equipment and materials and take them to their holding areas, and then start the process all over again the next day.

While the MOW team is acutely aware the slow zones disrupt services for customers, they echo that they are always doing the best they can to make the repairs quickly and safely. “Even though we’re working as fast as possible, safety is number one,” said rail laborer Anthony Paris.

MOW crews are working to make repairs on other sections of RTD’s system before the weather brings colder temperatures. Rail contracts during cooler weather, making the fall and winter season less conducive for installing new rail.

Grinding—a technique that can take off thousandths of an inch to smooth the track—is one solution to continuing to perform rail maintenance during cooler months.

The MOW team takes great pride in the work it performs while many in the community are asleep.

“Shrinking slow zones is chipping away at the mountain, one project and one night at a time, over and over,” said Ferreris. He commended the crew for its commitment to the ongoing project. “They’re very passionate about what they do and that stands out the most to me.”