RTD Looks To Cut Services In Spring But Will Fix Come Too Late?

UPDATE: 12/9/19 via Denver Post: Any solution RTD may implement will not come until spring. Meanwhile "They want to just show up and have their trip,” RTD General Manager Dave Genova said of passengers.

RTD Failing To Protect Drivers and Riders Amid Growth

Published originally Thursday, October 24, 2019:

Sometimes growth and change isn't pretty, but with RTD, it can be downright ugly. Engineers of Denver's Light Rail have finally opened up to say they're fed up with long, grueling shifts, six-day work weeks, and careless disregard by management. Most people can relate to having worked a long shift once in a while, but the current manpower shortage at RTD goes beyond the occasional extra overtime. Engineers of trains report making mistakes directly attributable to their being on the clock for more than 12 hours, a condition that is illegal for engineers of freight railroads. Innumerable studies have been done showing the detrimental effects of overwork, long shifts and extended work weeks.

Fear of retribution has kept engineers from openly speaking out about the problems, but concerns about safety for the engineers and their riders have prompted them to come to the media to seek change. "[We are] not safe. We're all worked to death," one engineer said anonymously.

Jeffrey Beall

RTD engineers in the course of their duty are expected to drive their light rail trains through crowded city streets, over grade crossings and next to highways and roads throughout the Denver metropolitan area, in situations requiring attention, caution, and awareness, attributes that are dulled and even nullified by fatigue and exhaustion. Just as a tired driver of a truck or other vehicle is a danger to themselves and the others around them, engineers who are tired can make operational mistakes costing time, money, and even human lives. For example, an engineer who is inattentive--even momentarily--could miss a signal and plow their massive light rail train through a crowded intersection, causing destruction and manslaughter. Another example, an engineer could take his train through a sharp turn (like the one near Colfax and Auraria) meant for a train going 10 miles per hour at a speed of 50 miles per hour or more, causing a tragedy not unlike the 2015 Philadelphia Train Derailment that took the lives of 7 people.

Employee turnover and a general feeling of disrespect and resentment are not helping matters. Though a spokesperson expressed managements' awareness of the issue, they did not present specifics on efforts to remedy the situation. All of this occurs as RTD ridership plummets.

Opinion

Clearly, RTD is not taking the situation as seriously as its engineers. If they were, they would take effective steps to find and employ the engineers necessary to meet the needs of Denver's riders. Offering competitive compensation packages, incentives and training for applicants would go a long way toward resolving this problem, along with improving the work environment for their current engineers. Until they do, RTD and Denver are courting tragedy of the worst kind. ⚒

POTD - Electric Wig Wag Lights A Lonely Crossing Under A Distant Moon

Lonely Vigil

You've driven hours on miles and miles of lonely two-lane highway to reach a lonely, seemingly forgotten county road crossing on the open plain of eastern Colorado. The wind stirs and a bite in the air tells you that you are not so far from another winter's chill. You smell the hint of agriculture, and it seems a feed lot must not be too far away. But the air also carries a bit of juniper from Devil's Canyon from the north and west.

You feel it before you see it. A slight hum in the rails and then a flash of a beam cuts through the night. Within moments, the bell and the light activate at the crossing, though it's just you it warns as it wags almost lazily back and forth in time with the bell. A second or two later, the Southwest Chief is upon the crossing. A blast of wind and a whiff of diesel, a blur of streaking lights, chrome and steel wheels, it flies over the rails!

Photo of the Day: Jadon H.

All too quickly, the end of the train flashes past and the marker lights recede around the corner, taking one of the slight bends in this straight line part of the state. The signal stops, its job accomplished for the night. It will not see the next train, the westbound Chief for hours. The moon passes behind the crossbucks and you see again the myriad of stars and galaxies wheeling slowly onward above. A meteor, like the Chief, flashes for a brief second and is gone, swallowed up in the night. You turn for your vehicle. Suddenly, a warm mug and a soft bed don't sound so bad right now. ⚒

POTD - Early Fall Evening Paints The Southwest Chief With Subtle Hues

The route presently served by Amtrak's Southwest Chief has survived the nationalization of passenger service, service cutbacks, meal cutbacks, and maintenance funding impasses to become one of the most popular trains, certainly in the west and perhaps the entire system. The ongoing challenge will be to keep the present Mountain route while still expanding connections to Pueblo and up the Front Range to Colorado Springs, Denver, and Fort Collins.

Photo of the Day: Jadon H.

RailPictures.Net photographer Jadon H. has ventured out of Texas to southeastern Colorado to deliver some first class photos of Southwest Chief. The eastbound Amtrak #4 descends into Trinidad from Raton Pass and the highest point on the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe system. Passing in front of Fishers Peak, the eastern skies turn the finest southwestern pastels as the day comes to a close, reflected in the silver Superliner cars. The long descent across the prairie beckons the P42 DCs on into the night. ⚒