Opening of RTD’s R Line through Aurora pushed back to January at earliest

AURORA | It looks like the wait for the R Line will continue.

Regional Transportation District officials said earlier this month they expected Aurora’s R Line light rail to open later this year. Now, it’s looking more like at least January, due to technical issues and not enough time for train testing, according to RTD officials.

Tom Tobiassen, outgoing RTD District F Board Member for Aurora, said Kiewit, the contractor building the light rail line, did not hand the project over to RTD in time to do enough testing of the line to allow the train to open by year’s end.

Tobiassen said the line has been experiencing technical issues and that RTD needs 45 days to test the project after Kiewit hands it over. He said he didn’t know when that would be.

“It’s disappointing. These are complex systems and we want them to work,” Tobiassen said of the delay. At this point, he said January would be more likely for when the train will open.

Officials from RTD and Kiewit were not immediately available for comment.

The 10.5-mile Interstate 225 light rail system will connect the East Rail Line through Aurora to Nine Mile Station and metro Denver’s Southeast Corridor Light Rail.