The L Line is a light rail line which is part of the
light rail system
Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
operated by the
Regional Transportation District
The Regional Transportation District, more commonly referred to as RTD, is the regional agency operating public transit services in all or a portion of eight out of the twelve counties in the Denver–Aurora combined statistical area in the U.S. ...
in the
Denver–Aurora Metropolitan Area
Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver regi ...
in
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
. The L Line opened as part of a service change in 2018 and is formed by a truncated section of the
D Line, which formerly served the route.
Route
The L Line's northern terminus is in
Five Points northeast of downtown Denver. From
30th & Downing station, it runs southwest along Welton Street before turning down 19th Street. On trips toward downtown, the line runs along Stout Street;
on trips leaving downtown, the line loops back at 14th Street before serving stations on California Street and then heading back to 30th & Downing along Welton Street.
Proposed extension
The Central Rail Extension Mobility Study Final Report
proposed that the D Line stations from
20th & Welton to
30th & Downing and future extension stations be operated on an independent route. This route would operate from the downtown loop to a new terminus created by sharing the
A Line's 38th & Blake station.
Former D Line riders would have to transfer to the new L Line as the D Line's new northern terminus would be the downtown loop (nominally 18th & California station). The 14th & California station closed in 2004 could be restored to support the L Line at the
Convention Center
A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...
, allowing for transfers to
Theatre District–Convention Center station.
RTD's board of directors approved the introduction of the current shorter version of the L Line with the January 14, 2018 service changes. The L Line uses existing track between 30th & Downing station and the downtown loop.
Beginning on May 26, 2024, the L Line was suspended, as part of Phase 1 of the Downtown Rail Reconstruction Project,
which involves rebuilding some of the oldest sections of RTD track.
However, on 29 August, that phase was completed,
[ and on September 29, the D, H, and L Lines returned to service.]
Stations
References
External links
RTD L Line schedule
{{Colorado public transit
RTD light rail
Transportation in Denver
Railway lines opened in 2018
750 V DC railway electrification
2018 establishments in Colorado