[TakeFive]

Photo courtesy RTD via Mass Transit Mag - Englewood Station

Denver RTD's Southwest Light Rail Line turns 20 years old
Jul 16th, 2020 - Mass Transit Mag courtesy RTD

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) of Denver marked the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Southwest Light Rail Line from I-25 and Broadway to Englewood and Littleton on July 14.

The line was the first to serve the south metro suburbs by rail. The Southwest Rail Line – an extension of the D Line – added five new stations, at Evans, Englewood, Oxford, Littleton•Downtown and Littleton•Mineral.

As a result of great collaboration they built this first suburb to city line for the cost of a song.

The Southwest Line is one of RTD's great examples of regional collaboration between RTD, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) and local governments. Elected officials along the Southwest Corridor joined RTD officials in Washington, D.C., to advocate for federal funds to help build the line.

Speaking of songs, according to Billboard in 2000, Santana had two of the top three songs of the year with their Smooth ft Rob Thomas with cool video coming in second.

This was the project that seeded FasTracks as opening TV coverage of their Park N Ride overflowing and spilling into the neighborhood had other cities drooling. The naysayers had loudly and proudly proclaimed that the cowboys in Highlands Ranch would never ride a choo choo. They hit their ten year projections for ridership within the first week of operation.

I can't keep up so I'm glad somebody else is keeping time

Since RTD opened its first light rail line, the Central Corridor, in 1994, the agency’s rail system has grown to include 60.1 miles of light rail track and 40 miles of commuter rail track, with 73 stations. The opening of the N Line will add 13 new miles of commuter rail track and six new stations.