Derailment KOs light rail

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 07:00 a.m., December 11, 2007
Updated 02:55 p.m., December 11, 2007

Photo by George Kochaniec Jr.

Workers inspect the derailed wreckage of a Union Pacific train after it derailed early this morning. A light rail train collided with the derailed cars, causing a service stoppage.

Photo by George Kochaniec Jr.

A light rail train hit cars from Union Pacific railroad and derailed near Santa Fe and Mineral this morning, clogging the morning commute.

Service to two light-rail stations is out at least through Wednesday morning, a spokeswoman for the Regional Transportation District said.

A collision with a coal train early this morning knocked out service south of the West Oxford Avenue station on the Mineral line.

No one was injured in the crash in downtown Littleton, police and a Regional Transportation District spokeswoman said today. Roads in the area were open after earlier closures.

RTD will run buses from Oxford to the two southernmost stations on the line, said RTD spokeswoman Daria Serna.

The southbound Union Pacific train, which runs on tracks parallel to the light-rail line, derailed at 6:15, said railroad spokesman Mark Davis. Twenty-five cars went off the track.

The light-rail train, coming around a bend, was unable to stop in time, Serna said. It hit either the coal train or the spilled coal or both and derailed.

Buses were sent to pick up passengers on the light-rail train.

The accident occurred near South Prince Street and West Alamo Avenue.

It's not clear how long the cleanup will take, Davis, the UP spokesman said. Some heavy equipment is being brought down in from Denver.

The first priority will be to remove UP cars and spilled coal from the RTD tracks so commuter seervice can resume, Davis said.

Passengers on the light-rail train felt a jolt before the train stopped. No injuries were reported.

Robert Vialpando, the RTD train driver, said there were about 30 passengers on board. He told CBS 4 the train was traveling north when the coal train derailed in front of him. He said he couldn't slow the train down and it derailed.

By 11:30 a.m., workers were able to clear the easternmost freight track for service again, but with a speed limit of 10 mph.

That track is owned by BNSF Railways, although both UP and BNSF jointly use each other's tracks on this corridor until just south of the Douglas County line. The speed limit normally is 45.

UP operates an average of 28 trains a day on the corridor. BNSF figures weren't immediately available.

The Rocky's Kevin Flynn contributed to this report.