Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission safety regulators are intensifying their scrutiny of RTD as transit officials slow light rail trains to 10 miles per hour with no end in sight after inspectors found problems along tracks.
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At a meeting on Monday, PUC members discussed the Regional Transportation District speed restrictions and resolved to ensure transparency. They’ve requested all of RTD’s track inspection reports — not just for the southeast rail corridor along Interstate 25 where inspectors have pinpointed multiple patches of “railhead burn” but also from other parts of the RTD’s 120-mile rail system that may be showing similar wear and tear. PUC director Rebecca White also has asked RTD officials to provide updates every 48 hours as RTD inspectors conduct weekly track inspections looking for instances of railhead burn and other defects – which could cause tracks to break eventually if not addressed.
Colorado’s PUC lacks full authority over RTD “but we do have important safety oversight,” commission chairman Eric Blank said. “We’re doing what we can to protect safety …..,” Blank told fellow commissioners. “Maybe we cannot solve the problems. But at least we can make sure people are timely and appropriately informed about what’s going on.”
RTD officials will comply and are committed to continued open communication with the PUC, RTD assistant general manager for rail operations Dave Jensen said in an interview Friday. “We are not withholding,” he said, adding that interpretation of the inspection data requires an understanding of the context.
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