NewsLocal

Actions

Rider questions RTD's reliability after waiting more than hour in the middle of the night

Kim Beauchamp is just one of more than 150,000 people who took part in the crowds, and she relied on the light rail to get around that traffic.
rtd train.jpg
Posted

DENVER — We're getting answers for one Denver7 viewer who said she was left stranded by the RTD light rail after the record-breaking Metallica concerts.

Kim Beauchamp is just one of more than 150,000 people who took part in the crowds and she relied on the light rail to get around that traffic.

"A friend of ours has never taken the light rail up there before. We're like, 'Oh, my God, it's so easy. We take it downtown all the time,'" she said.

She parked her car in Littleton and intended to save money.

Though the cheap fair turned into a $40 Uber trip, she said, after she, her husband and friend waited over an hour for a train that's scheduled to come very 15 minutes.

"Got to the station to make our connection, and waited and waited, and no D train. And so finally I was going, 'Well, I know they have that new feature where you can check live trains get on there', she explained. "And they're like, 'Oh no operator, D train canceled.'"

Stuart Summers, Chief Communications and Engagement Officer for RTD, said checking the app was the right thing to do.

"But they didn't realize that there were three more trains after that, that we're still going to come down the line and be able to get them, you know, to their destination like they expected," he said.

When pressed on why the train took so long, Summers explained it's a cascading effect.

"Because that operator is canceling their trip, if they call out, all the way down the line for that specific train," Summers said.

When Denver7 shared this information with Beauchamp she asked, "How was I supposed to know?"

Summers said they also place signage on their platforms and list times at each stop.

He also said they increased the number of trains and had staff out all evening long to clear platforms.