Final rail laid on Denver RTD East Rail Line

Denver's Regional Transit District (RTD) said Monday, Nov. 24, 2014 that the last steel rail had been laid in RTD's East Rail Line, linking Denver Union Station and Denver International Airport, at roughly the midway point.

RTD expects to open the 23-mile, seven-station regional rail line for revenue service in 2016. Construction began in 2010.

RTD will use electric multiple-unit (EMU) equipment now being delivered by Hyundai-Rotem, for the short-term future becoming the only U.S. EMU operation west of Chicago, preceding rail electrification efforts in California.

“What we have here is basically 23 miles from Union Station to the airport; right here is about the halfway point,” RTD spokesman Kevin Flynn told local media. “This just happens to be where they ended up finishing and joining the rails.”

Construction workers marked the event by putting a spray-painted golden steel track fastener into place and fitting the final piece of continuous welded rail into position.