Passenger Trains > Denver mu cars being delivered

Was wandering around my motel in Denver on June 15 and noticed two married pairs of emu cars, spaced out with idler flats.  Location is beside the 23rd st enginehouse.  (Is it still called that now that the bridges have been rebuilt and the streets renamed?)

At first, they seemed like Philly SEPTA cars, and I was wondering what on earth they'd be doing in Denver.  Then I remembered that the rail line to the Denver International Airport is approaching completion (track and catenary are in, work on station platforms still ongoing).  Presumably, they will need some trains to run on that track (otherwise, forcing people to walk or skate along the rail line to the airport would cancel out some of the time advantage over driving).

So here they are.  Thirty three years after I left Denver, they are finally going to have something like a transit system.  Bravo to'em for that.

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Seen these cars on the former CR St. Louis Line on CSX & they were moving west at a fast pace last
weekend...

> Presumably,
> they will need some trains to run on that track
> (otherwise, forcing people to walk or skate along
> the rail line to the airport would cancel out some
> of the time advantage over driving).
>
Funniest thing on TO in years! We need a "Quote of the day" contest!
 

march_hare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Was wandering around my motel in Denver on June 15
> and noticed two married pairs of emu cars, spaced
> out with idler flats.  Location is beside the
> 23rd st enginehouse.  (Is it still called that
> now that the bridges have been rebuilt and the
> streets renamed?)
>
> At first, they seemed like Philly SEPTA cars, and
> I was wondering what on earth they'd be doing in
> Denver.  Then I remembered that the rail line to
> the Denver International Airport is approaching
> completion (track and catenary are in, work on
> station platforms still ongoing).  Presumably,
> they will need some trains to run on that track
> (otherwise, forcing people to walk or skate along
> the rail line to the airport would cancel out some
> of the time advantage over driving).
>
> So here they are.  Thirty three years after I
> left Denver, they are finally going to have
> something like a transit system.  Bravo to'em for
> that.

They are Hyundai Rotem EMUs, virtually identical to the SEPTA Silverliner Vs.  That's why they look like "Philly cars!"

The East Corridor, the line to the airport, is due to open in April 2016.  Along with finishing construction like the station platforms, there's substantial testing underway with the cars, signal system, crossings, PTC, etc.  A lot of pieces still have to come together before revenue service starts. The Gold Line to Arvada and the NWE heading towards Westminster and maybe someday Boulder/Longmont will open a few months later.  And engineering work has started on the next line, North Metro.

niagara484