Aurora light rail train will take nearly 1 hour to downtown, airport when it’s complete

AURORA | Details for the Aurora light rail line are falling into place, two years ahead of the first train winding through the city.

As they finalize design plans for the final Fitzsimons Parkway station, Regional Transportation District officials are nailing down the specifics of the entire line. They’re answering questions like: How long will it take to travel to certain destinations? How often will the trains run on weekdays and weekends?

When it’s complete, about 17,000 people will travel along the I-225 corridor daily during the weekdays. The light rail line will travel along I-225 through most of the city, on 10.5 miles of tracks, with eight stations and 1,800 parking spaces. The stations will be located near major employment centers including the Aurora Municipal Center, the Medical Center of Aurora, and the Aurora Mall, and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. It will connect with the East Rail Line that travels northeast from Union Station to Denver International Airport.

RTD staff says it will be important for riders to familiarize themselves with the entire FasTracks system.

“Depending on what station you get on at you’d just look at the destination board to make sure you’re getting on a train you wouldn’t need to transfer from,” said Tina Jaquez, spokeswoman for the RTD FasTracks I-225 Rail Line Project.

It will take between 40 and 60 minutes to get from Aurora to downtown Denver depending on the station a rider leaves from. It will take between 50 and 60 minutes to get from Aurora to DIA. The H line, which currently runs from the 16th and California Street station in downtown Denver to the Nine Mile station in Aurora will extend past Nine Mile to Aurora’s Florida station. The trains will run every 15 minutes during peak times, every 30 minutes during off-peaks, and every 30 minutes during early and late service. RTD officials haven’t settled on a name yet for another line that will run from the Peoria/Smith station in Aurora southbound to Lincoln station at the Denver Tech Center. That train will run every 10 minutes during peak times, every 15 minutes during off-peaks and every 30 minutes during early and late service. Peak times are usually Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Fares from Aurora to the airport will be similar to the current Sky Ride fares, which range from $9 to $13 depending on where riders board the train. Tom Tobiassen, RTD board member, whose district covers Aurora, said Aurora’s line will be particularly convenient for people who live in Centennial and the Denver Tech Center wanting to get to the airport. Likewise, the rail line will be convenient for people who live in central and north Aurora to get to the Denver Tech Center.

“There’s not a really good way to get down to the Tech Center or the south part of Denver right now,” Tobiassen said. That’s because the former G line that used to run from Nine Mile Station to Lincoln Station was closed because ridership numbers were so low they didn’t justify RTD keeping the line open. Tobiassen predicts that the most busy stations along the I-225 light rail line will be where major employment centers are, like the Anschutz Medical Campus and Aurora City Center. But the new light rail line won’t be the answer to everyone’s public transportation needs, he said.

“People are always making decisions on how to get somewhere based on their perception of time and money,” he said. “There are so many factors that would go into who chooses what route to go where.”

For example, employees at the Anschutz Medical Campus might not take the light rail to go downtown because the 15L bus that runs along East Colfax Avenue might take less time, cost half as much, and stop at more convenient areas than Denver Union Station.

As the I-225 light rail line opens and RTD officials gather ridership statistics, some minor changes in frequency could be made and the public will have a chance to comment about service, Jaquez said.

“When we open to the public there’s always a little bit of adjustments that goes on as we start running it through traffic and passengers get on and off,” she said.

The entire line will open in early 2016, all at once. Jaquez said it would be impractical to open each station as construction was complete.

For that reason, the Nine Mile to Iliff segment that was set to open in 2014 will now be opening in 2016, when the entire I-225 light rail line from Nine Mile station to Peoria/Smith station is complete.

Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.