For holiday travelers, there are a number of choices, but at D.C.’s Union Station, rail riders made the case for hopping all aboard an Amtrak train.
For holiday travelers, there are a number of choices, but at D.C.’s Union Station, rail riders made the case for hopping all aboard an Amtrak train.
For Tamyshia Curry and her dog Sevyn, traveling by train to New York for the Thanksgiving holiday was a no-brainer, especially when compared to flying.
“It’s a lot cheaper, and it’s easier,” Curry said. “Especially with a pet.”
Sevyn, a 2-year-old mini goldendoodle, is a calm travel companion, Curry said.
“She actually doesn’t mind it, she usually just sleeps,” Curry said.
Although, Sevyn does like to snag the window seat.
“She loves the window seat. Yeah, it’s her favorite,” Curry said, explaining that having her dog outside a crate means buying an extra seat — but it’s worth it.
Curry also said her decision to hold off on buying a Thanksgiving week Amtrak ticket paid off, with a low $78 fare. But as she was explaining that, Sevyn snagged WTOP’s microphone!
Sevyn had been eyeing the mini microphone with its furry windscreen, which Curry easily retrieved before the pup could make a complete snack of it.
Mark Thompson and his family opted for a pre-Thanksgiving holiday trip to D.C. from Delaware, a decision prompted mainly by his 4-year-old son, Mateo. Asked about that, Mateo told WTOP the decision to take a train trip boiled down to one simple fact.
“I like it,” he said. “Cause it’s fast.”
His father asked, “and what else?”
“Because it’s fun and there’s a lot of people in the train,” Mateo said.
Thompson is also a fan.
“I like the train, because it’s kind of relaxing, better than driving,” Thompson said. “On the way down, I was saying to myself how smooth the ride was.”
Ana Conner, a Princeton student, was on her way home to Prince George, Virginia. Like Thompson, the train is an easy choice when compared to driving.
“I do not want to drive through D.C. and Baltimore traffic,” she said. “The train makes it a lot easier, a lot less stressful.”
Conner has a piece of advice for anyone who wants a stress-free trip by train.
“College students in general, they book trains very, very quickly and a lot of times they’re sold out. So make sure, especially if you’re a college student, that you book way in advance,” she said.
“And get your student discount!”
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Travelers heading to and from Denver International Airport on the Regional Transportation District’s A Line train will see up to 30-minute delays because of a signal problem, agency officials said Tuesday.
RTD canceled 24 trips and said the train is now running every 30 minutes, with eastbound trains leaving Union Station at 15 minutes and 45 minutes past the hour.
The westbound train from the airport into Union Station will leave at 12 minutes and 42 minutes past the hour. Updated service alerts are available online.
Transportation officials reported the signal problem just before 10:30 a.m.
DIA is expecting more than 845,000 passengers to pass through security during the Thanksgiving season and Tuesday will likely be one of the busiest days.
D.C. police announced a total of 18 curfew violators were stopped by officers on the first night of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s limited juvenile curfew, which went into effect Saturday.
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Navy Yard Halloween melee prompts new curfew for youths
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Navy Yard Halloween melee prompts new curfew for youths
D.C. police said a total of 18 curfew violators were stopped by officers on the first night of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s limited juvenile curfew, which went into effect Saturday.
The curfew was implemented in response to an incident Halloween night where D.C. police, as well as Metro and Capitol Police, worked alongside the National Guard to disperse a large group of teens that had congregated in the Navy Yard neighborhood.
Five arrests were made, with charges ranging from possession of a knife to resisting arrest.
Special juvenile curfew zones have been established in Navy Yard, the U Street Corridor and along Union Station and the Banneker Recreation Center.
Anyone under 18 cannot be in the zones without an adult between the hours of 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. A citywide youth curfew then goes into effect at 11 p.m. and lasts until 6 a.m.
Under the mayor’s order, those curfews are set to take effect every night through Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. But, in recent weeks, Bowser has called on the D.C. Council to enact a permanent curfew.
On Saturday night, D.C. police said they stopped 14 juveniles who refused to leave one of the established curfew zones in the area of 14th and U Street, Northwest around 10:40 p.m.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser joins WTOP to discuss the youth curfew in effect through Wednesday, Nov. 5.
Early Saturday, at approximately 12:24 a.m., officers found two juveniles in violation of the citywide curfew in the 1100 block of New Jersey Avenue SE. Two more were found in the area of 9th and U Street NW, just before 3 a.m.
Police said youths who were engaged by officers generally complied and dispersed the zones when asked.
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A pedestrian died early Sunday morning in a hit-and-run crash on the edge of Denver’s 16th Street pedestrian mall, blocks away from Union Station, police said.
Officers responded to the fatal crash at 16th and Market streets at 2:18 a.m. Sunday, according to the Denver Police Department. Information on the cause of the crash was not available.
Milton McBride, 27, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide, police said in a 9:57 a.m. update. He is scheduled to appear Monday morning in Denver County Court.
The victim killed in the crash will be identified by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner.
ENGLEWOOD — Metro Denver budtender Quentin Ferguson needs Regional Transportation District bus and trains to reach work at an Arvada dispensary from his house, a trip that takes 90 minutes each way “on a good day.”
“It is pretty inconvenient,” Ferguson, 22, said on a recent rainy evening, waiting for a nearly empty train that was eight minutes late.
He’s not complaining, however, because his relatively low income and Medicaid status qualify him for a discounted RTD monthly pass. That lets him save money for a car or an electric bicycle, he said, either of them offering a faster commute.
Then he would no longer have to ride RTD.
His plight reflects a core problem of lagging ridership that RTD directors increasingly run up against as they try to position the transit agency as the smartest way to navigate Denver. Most other U.S. public transit agencies, too, are grappling with a version of this problem.
In Colorado, state-government-driven efforts to concentrate the growing population in high-density, transit-oriented development around bus and train stations — a priority for legislators and Gov. Jared Polis — hinge on having a swift public system that residents ride.
But transit ridership has failed to rebound a year after RTD’s havoc in 2024, when operators disrupted service downtown for a $152 million rail reconstruction followed by a systemwide emergency maintenance blitz to smooth deteriorating tracks that led to trains crawling through 10-mph “slow zones.”
The latest ridership numbers show an overall decline this year, by at least 3.9%, with 40 million fewer riders per year compared with six years ago. And RTD executives’ newly proposed, record $1.3 billion budget for 2026 doesn’t include funds for boosting bus and train frequency to win back riders.
Frustrations intensified last week.
“What is the point of transit-oriented development if it is just development?” said state Rep. Meg Froelich, a Democrat representing Englewood who chairs the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee. “We need reliable transit to have transit-oriented development. We have cities that have invested significant resources into their transit-oriented communities. RTD is not holding up its end of the bargain.”
At a retreat this past summer, a majority of the RTD’s 15 elected board members agreed that boosting ridership is their top priority. Some who reviewed the proposed budget last week questioned the lack of spending on service improvements for riders.
“We’re not moving the needle. Ridership is not going up. It should be going up,” director Karen Benker said in an interview.
“Over the past few years, there’s been a tremendous amount of population growth. There are so many apartment complexes, so much new housing put up all over,” Benker said. “Transit has to be relied on. You just cannot keep building more roads. We’re going to have to find ways to get people to ride public transit.”
Commuting trends blamed
RTD Chief Executive and General Manager Debra Johnson, in emailed responses to questions from The Denver Post, emphasized that “RTD is not unique” among U.S. transit agencies struggling to regain ridership lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Johnson blamed societal shifts.
“Commuting trends have significantly changed over the last five years,” she said. “Return-to-work numbers in the Denver metro area, which accounted for a significant percentage of RTD’s ridership prior to March 2020, remain low as companies and businesses continue to provide flexible in-office schedules for their employees.”
In the future, RTD will be “changing its focus from primarily providing commuter services,” she said, toward “enhancing its bus and services and connections to high-volume events, activity centers, concerts and festivals.”
But agency directors are looking for a more aggressive approach to reversing the decline in ridership. And some are mulling a radical restructuring of routes.
Funded mostly by taxpayers across a 2,345 square-mile area spanning eight counties and 40 municipalities — one of the biggest in the nation — RTD operates 10 rail lines covering 114 miles with 84 stations and 102 bus routes with 9,720 stops.
“We should start from scratch,” said RTD director Chris Nicholson, advocating an overhaul of the “geometry” of all bus routes to align transit better with metro Denver residents’ current mobility patterns.
The key will be increasing frequency.
“We should design the routes how we think would best serve people today, and then we could take that and modify it where absolutely necessary to avoid disruptive differences with our current route map,” he said.
Then, in 2030, directors should appeal to voters for increased funding to improve service — funds that would be substantially controlled by municipalties “to pick where they want the service to go,” he said.
Reversing the RTD ridership decline may take a couple of years, Nicholson said, comparing the decreases this year to customers shunning a restaurant. “If you’re a restaurant and you poison some guests accidentally, you’re gonna lose customers even after you fix the problem.”
The RTD ridership numbers show an overall public transit ridership decrease by 5% when measured over the 12-month period from August 2024 through July 2025, the last month for which staffers have made numbers available, compared with the same period a year ago.
Bus ridership decreased by 2% and light rail by 18% over that period. In a typical month, RTD officials record around 5 million boardings — around 247,000 on weekdays.
The precautionary rail “slow zones” persisted for months as contractors worked on tracks, delaying and diverting trains, leaving transit-dependent workers in a lurch. RTD driver workforce shortages limited deployment of emergency bus shuttles.
This year, RTD ridership systemwide decreased by 3.9% when measured from January through July, compared with that period in 2024. The bus ridership this year has decreased by 2.4%.
On rail lines, the ridership on the relatively popular A Line that runs from Union Station downtown to Denver International Airport was down by 9.7%. The E Line light rail that runs from downtown to the southeastern edge of metro Denver was down by 24%. Rail ridership on the W Line decreased by 18% and on R Line by 15%, agency records show.
The annual RTD ridership has decreased by 38% since 2019, from 105.8 million to 65.2 million in 2024.
A Regional Transportation District light rail train moves through downtown Denver on Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Light rail ‘sickness’ spreading
“The sickness on RTD light rail is spreading to other parts of the RTD system,” said James Flattum, a co-founder of the Greater Denver Transit grassroots rider advocacy group, who also serves on the state’s RTD Accountability Committee. “We’re seeing permanent demand destruction as a consequence of having an unreliable system. This comes from a loss of trust in RTD to get you where you need to go.”
RTD officials have countered critics by pointing out that the light rail’s on-time performance recovered this year to 91% or better. Bus on-time performance still lagged at 83% in July, agency records show.
The officials also pointed to decreased security reports made using an RTD smartphone app after deploying more police officers on buses and trains. The number of reported assaults has decreased — to four in September, compared with 16 in September 2024, records show.
Greater Denver Transit members acknowledged that safety has improved, but question the agency’s assertions based on app usage. “It may be true that the number of security calls went down,” Flattum said, “but maybe the people who otherwise would have made more safety calls are no longer riding RTD.”
RTD staffers developing the 2026 budget have focused on managing debt and maintaining operations spending at current levels. They’ve received forecasts that revenues from taxpayers will increase slightly. It’s unclear whether state and federal funds will be available.
RTD directors and leaders of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, an environmental group, are opposing the rollback of RTD’s planned shift to the cleaner, quieter electric hybrid buses and taking on new debt for that purpose.
Colorado lawmakers will “push on a bunch of different fronts” to prioritize better service to boost ridership, Froelich said.
The legislature in recent years directed funds to help RTD provide free transit for riders under age 20. Buses and trains running at least every 15 minutes would improve both ridership and safety, she said, because more riders would discourage bad behavior and riders wouldn’t have to wait alone at night on often-empty platforms for up to an hour.
“We’re trying to do what we can to get people back onto the transit system,” Froelich said. “They do it in other places, and people here do ride the Bustang (intercity bus system). RTD just seems to lack the nimbleness required to meet the moment.”
Denver Center for the Performing Arts stage hand Chris Grossman walks home after work in downtown Denver on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Riders switch modes
Meanwhile, riders continue to abandon public transit when it doesn’t meet their needs.
For Denver Center for the Performing Arts theater technician Chris Grossman, 35, ditching RTD led to a better quality of life. He had to move from the Virginia Village neighborhood he loved.
Back in 2016, Grossman sold his ailing blue 2003 VW Golf when he moved there in the belief that “RTD light rail was more or less reliable.” He rode nearly every day between the Colorado Station and downtown.
But trains became erratic as maintenance of walls along tracks caused delays. “It just got so bad. I was burning so much money on rideshares that I probably could have bought a car.” Shortly before RTD announced the “slow zones” last summer, he moved to an apartment closer to downtown on Capitol Hill.
He walks or rides scooters to work, faster than taking the bus, he said.
Similarly, Honor Morgan, 25, who came to Denver from the rural Midwest, “grateful for any public transit,” said she had to move from her place east of downtown to be closer to her workplace due to RTD transit trouble.
Buses were late, and one blew by her as she waited. She had to adjust her attire when riding her Colfax Avenue route to Union Station to manage harassment. She faced regular dramas of riders with substance-use problems erupting.
Morgan moved to an apartment near Union Station in March, allowing her to walk to work.
She still hoped to rely on RTD for concerts and nightlife, and to reach DIA for work-related flights at least once a month. But RTD social media posts have alerted her to enough delays on the A Line that she no longer trusts it, she said. To reduce her “anxiety” and minimize the risk of missing her flights, she shells out for rides — even though these often get stuck in traffic.
She and her boyfriend recently tried RTD again, riding a train to the 38th and Blake Station near the Mission Ballroom. They attended “an amazing concert” there, she said, and felt happy as they walked to the station to catch the train home.
A man on the platform collapsed backward, hitting his head. He was bleeding. She called 911. Her boyfriend and other riders gathered. She ran across the street to an apartment building and grabbed paper towels. RTD isn’t really to blame, but “I just wish they had a station platform attendant, or someone. I do not know head-injury first aid,” Morgan said.
The train they’d been waiting for came and went. An ambulance arrived. They got home late, the evening ruined, she said.
“His head cracked open. He had skin flaps hanging off his head. This was stuck in my head, at least for the rest of the night.”
Police have arrested a 20-year-old man for allegedly assaulting a middle-aged man who interjected himself into Denver’s downtown No Kings demonstration, shouted expletives and a slur, then fell in a street fracas and suffered a serious injury.
The assault occurred after the older man declared: “‘Yes Trump,’” according to a Denver Police report.
A video circulating on social media showed the older man, wearing a blue New York Giants logo shirt, gesturing at and deriding demonstrators on Saturday afternoon as they rallied near Denver’s Union Station. The man ran and fell against pavement on his face, the video shows.
He got up and ran, again, then was tripped and fell onto the street by a curb against his head. Bleeding, he got up again and, with friends, ran, and clashed with demonstrators. Some demonstrators tried to help him, pointing to his head suggesting he needed medical care as blood covered the left side of his face.
Denver police on Monday confirmed they arrested Jose Cardenas after tracking him from Wynkoop Street, where the assault occurred at about 2:30 p.m., to North Lincoln Street near the intersection with 14th Avenue, “where Cardenas attempted to run from officers.” Witnesses identified Cardenas as the one who assaulted the counter demonstrator, the police statement of probable cause for arrest said. “Cardenas was transported to the Denver Jail and charged with aggravated assault.”
Police did not identify the victim. The report said he suffered “a serious laceration to his head.”
An anti-Trump encampment has returned to Columbus Circle outside Union Station after being removed two weeks ago when its permit was unexpectedly revoked.
An anti-Trump encampment has returned to Columbus Circle outside Union Station in D.C. after being removed two weeks ago when its permit was unexpectedly revoked.
The group, known as FLARE USA, which stands for “For Liberation and Resistance Everywhere,” had maintained a 24/7 presence at the site since May 1.
“We have a right to express ourselves legally and peacefully, and that is what we’re doing here,” said David Mytych, FLARE’s congressional outreach lead.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 3, U.S. Park Police cleared the encampment, citing safety concerns. In a letter obtained by WTOP, the Department of the Interior claimed the group posed a “clear and present danger to the good order” and alleged a Park Police officer had been assaulted. FLARE members dispute that, saying the incident involved individuals not affiliated with the group.
Michael, a coordinator with FLARE USA, was present during the removal.
“They kidnapped all of our stuff against our will, and it was illegally done,” Michael said.
After weeks of outreach and legal review, Mytych said FLARE USA was granted a new permit by the National Park Service. The group’s seized belongings — including what members estimate to be $20,000 worth of property — have now also been returned, he said.
“FLARE is back in business,” Mytych said. “The First Amendment right now, as of today, is still alive.”
The group said it plans to reestablish its footprint in the coming days and continue its peaceful demonstration.
“We are rebuilding very, very soon,” Michael said.
The permit, which the group showed to WTOP, allows for the encampment at Columbus Circle until Feb. 13, 2026.
The National Park Service has been contacted for comment.
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Greyhound Lines buses will continue to operate out of Denver’s Union Station after RTD initially told the company they would end their contract in August 2025 over rider safety and security concerns.
RTD extended the contract another 18 months, until February 2027, after the company agreed to several new conditions, RTD spokesman Stuart Summers said.
“RTD has been actively engaged with Greyhound’s leadership to communicate the agency’s concerns related to personal safety and security matters and operational challenges,” he said. “RTD recognizes and appreciates Greyhound’s good faith efforts to address and mitigate the agency’s previous concerns.”
In the past, RTD said that Greyhound made patrolling and securing the bus concourse difficult by abandoning buses there and leaving customers in the concourse overnight. The bus service’s long waits also caused crowding and loitering in the area, spokeswoman Pauline Haberman said at the time.
Greyhound agreed to several changes, including requirements for it to provide prompt and thorough communications to RTD, adhere to RTD’s customer code of conduct, attend monthly meetings and “provide liquidated damages that may incur with certain activities.”
That could include Greyhound buses parked in the Denver Union Station’s high-occupancy vehicle lane, buses left unattended at gates, damage to the concourse and passenger conduct “not resolved in a reasonable amount of time,” according to the emailed statement from Summers.
The company will continue to look for a new location for the intercity bus service, Summers said.
RTD previously entered into an initial five-year agreement with Greyhound on Aug. 31, 2020. When RTD first announced it would boot the company from Union Station, Front-line bus Agent Loretta Hamilton implied the decision was because Denver wanted to push low-income and vulnerable people out of public view.
Representatives for Greyhound could not immediately be reached for comment.
Regional Transporation District buses will replace part of the light rail’s W Line near Lakewood during weekend repairs, according to RTD officials.
The W Line will be closed down between the Garrison and Sheridan stations from 11:30 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Sunday as crews repair overhead wires damaged by vandalism last month, RTD officials said in a news release.
The last three trips of Friday night’s normal W Line train schedule will be canceled this week, RTD officials said. The last trains will leave Union Station around 11:22 p.m. and the Jefferson County Government Center/Golden Station around 11:24 p.m..
The W Line will be closed all day Saturday between the Sheridan and Garrison stations, RTD officials said. Buses will replace trains between the two stations.
Riders can board the buses at:
Sheridan Station at 10th and Ames streets: Riders can board at eastbound and westbound Route 9 bus stops.
Lamar Station at 13th and Lamar streets: Riders can board at eastbound and westbound Route 9 bus stops.
Lakewood/Wadsworth Station: Riders can board next to the light rail platform.
Garrison Station: Riders can board next to the rail platform.
RTD officials said the first three normally scheduled W Line trips will be canceled on Sunday, with full service returning around 6 a.m.
The Regional Transportation District will not renew its contract with Greyhound, which will effectively end long-distance bus service from RTD’s underground bus terminal at Union Station.
RTD said that Greyhound has “abandoned buses and its customers” on multiple occasions over the last four years and that its sparse services lead to long layovers, crowding and loitering at the downtown Denver hub.
“RTD recognizes that Greyhound has made good faith efforts to address many of the agency’s concerns related to personal safety and security challenges, but it is in RTD’s best interest not to renew the agreement,” RTD spokesperson Tara Broghammer wrote in an email to Denverite.
RTD and Greyhound signed a five-year contract in 2020 and it expires Aug. 31, 2025. Greyhound is “hopeful” RTD will reconsider, a spokesperson wrote in an email.
“Our goal is to fully collaborate with local officials, addressing their concerns to ensure we can continue providing essential intercity bus services to Denver,” the spokesperson wrote. “Access to affordable and equitable transportation is critical, especially for vulnerable populations such as individuals with lower income, retirees, minorities, people with disabilities, and students. We are committed to being a good partner and a valued member of the Denver community.”
Greyhound owned an entire city block in downtown Denver until recently.
The company ran buses out of a massive facility on 19th and Curtis streets starting in the 1970s. But the intercity bus business fell on hard times in the following decades, and Greyhound sold the building in 2020 for $38 million.
Denver Greyhound Bus Station, Feb. 27, 2018. Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Greyhound wanted to include a new station for itself when RTD was refurbishing Union Station in the early 2010s but could not afford to, according to a 2015 study. The study said RTD could accommodate Greyhound, and its diminished business, at its new underground bus depot.
That’s what ended up happening. Greyhound and RTD agreed to a five-year deal in 2020 where the company paid $600,000 a year for access to Union Station. Its lines from Denver stretch to other regional hubs like Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Mo., El Paso, Texas, and smaller cities in between.
“It’s the right thing from a policy perspective to do to get them into our facility,” said RTD’s then-interim General Manager and CEO Paul Ballard. “Now, Denver will have all of that ground transportation focused on one facility.”
But issues cropped up soon afterward at Greyhound’s new home.
In the midst of the pandemic, the underground bus terminal became a de facto shelter for unhoused people. Drug use increased in and around the station. The head of RTD’s driver’s union called it a “lawless hellhole.”
“Ever since Greyhound relocated to Union Station and lockdowns lifted, Union Station has become a total disaster to the point where I am afraid to use the bus into downtown any more and will only use the commuter trains since they drop off above ground,” one RTD user told the agency in 2022.
Ongoing safety and security issues around the Greyhound gates have hurt RTD’s own operations and made it difficult for transit police and security guards to patrol the area, RTD’s Broghammer said.
For some Greyhound riders, the underground terminal is not a great fit either.
The few seats nearby are narrow and made of metal.
“It’s not all that comfortable,” said Melissa Bridgman, who said she was on a five-day journey from Branson, Mo., to Olympia, Wash., with her father Glenn.
Their $220 tickets were a fraction of the $1,000 plane tickets she found, though the trip was supposed to take four days. But the pair missed their connection in Denver when using the restroom, meaning they had to wait another 24 hours for the next bus.
Glenn Bridgman, left and his daughter Melissa Bridgman, of Branson, Missouri were waiting for the Greyhound bus to Olympia, Washington at the Union Station underground terminal on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.Nathaniel Minor/CPR News
The only public bathrooms are a significant walk from the Greyhound waiting area, either at the far end of the bus terminal or upstairs in the much fancier Great Hall.
“It’s gorgeous up there,” she said.
The Great Hall is filled with plush chairs and couches. But it’s not a true public space, managed by a for-profit company on behalf of RTD that limits access to the most comfortable seats to customers of the pricy businesses there.
Melissa and Glenn stretched out on the basement floor next to their bags instead, until a security guard said that wasn’t allowed because it was a fire hazard.
“Can I finish trying to get my phone to work or start charging first?” Melissa asked.
“They don’t work,” the security guard replied.
RTD powered down the outlets a few years ago as part of its effort to curb loitering.
“I’m so sorry about that,” the security guard added, and referred Melissa and Glen to charging stations attached to hard wooden benches at the western edge of the Great Hall.
“It’s like you’ve done something wrong,” Glenn, 73, said with a sigh as he struggled to his feet.
The pair went outside for fresh air, where they said they would spend the night after RTD closed its terminal.
Ramesh Bhattachan was on a cross-country journey from Queens, New York to Boise, Idaho to play in a badminton tournament and was also stuck in Denver for 24 hours.
He said Greyhound’s next station, if it can’t work things out with RTD, needs a few basic amenities: affordable snacks, comfortable seating, and a good restroom close by.
“This is not a proper rest stop,” Bhattachan said.
The D.C. region’s two commuter rail services announced Thursday they are bringing back a ticket-sharing agreement, making train travel between Maryland and Virginia a little smoother for passengers.
The D.C. region’s two commuter rail services announced Thursday they are bringing back a ticket-sharing agreement, making train travel between Maryland and Virginia a little smoother for passengers.
As of Thursday, MARC and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) riders with a weekly, monthly or 10-trip pass on either service can transfer to the other at D.C.’s Union Station without having to buy a new ticket. The program currently does not apply to single-trip tickets. The two train systems previously had a similar agreement, but it ended in 2015.
“This agreement represents a significant step forward in regional transit integration,” Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold said in a statement. “We are not only fostering a more connected and efficient transportation network across our states but fueling economic growth by facilitating easier movement of people, supporting tourism and attracting business to the National Capital Region.”
The move comes as the Metropolitan Council of Governments launched a new task force earlier this year with the goal of better integrating the region’s various transit options. VRE CEO Rick Dalton said the move is a first step in aligning the two rail services.
“It lays the groundwork for future efforts to better align MARC and VRE operations, which is consistent with our long-range plan to grow VRE from a peak-period, commuter-focused rail service to an all-day, bidirectional transit system that can better meet the transportation needs of a growing region,” Dalton said in a statement.
Both train systems have looked into expansion options in recent years.
Denver’s Union Station just wrapped up an $11 million renovation, but that wasn’t enough to keep its first restaurant tenant in the house.
Stoic & Genuine was the first restaurant to open in the historic building when it reopened with a hotel, shops, restaurants and bars in 2014. But restaurant owners Beth Gruitch and Jennifer Jasinski announced that the seafood spot, at 1701 Wynkoop St., will serve its last spoonful of caviar and buttery lobster roll on Sept. 1. They cited an expiring lease and changing market conditions as the main factors behind the decision.
Crafted Concepts founders Jennifer Jasinski, left, and Beth Gruitch, right, have decided to take a step back from their restaurant group and hand over operations for Ultreia and Bistro Vendôme. (Provided by Bryan Grant for Crafted Concepts)
In addition to closing Stoic & Genuine, Gruitch and Jasinski, a James Beard award-winning chef, have decided to step away from two of their other well-known restaurants, Ultreia, a Spanish tapas restaurant also located in Union Station, and Bistro Vendome, a French food standard that moved from its longtime home in Larimer Square in early 2023 to Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood.
“Conductors pass the baton. It’s time to pass along stewardship of these beautiful places,” Jasinski said in a statement. “Surviving the pandemic and the changes to downtown Denver has left us in a great place to make this move.”
Ultreia partner Adam Branz will return as executive chef and sole owner of the Spanish tapas restaurant, which opened in 2017. Branz took a few years off to start Split Lip, an Eat Place inside Number Thirty Eight (home to one of the best burgers in Denver), which he will continue operating.
Tim Kuklinski, who has been with Gruitch and Jasinski’s restaurant group, Crafted Concepts, for 18 years will take over Bistro Vendôme. Kuklinski began his career with Crafted Concepts in the kitchen at Rioja and worked his way up to culinary director of the restaurant group in 2019.
Branz and Kuklinski plan no major changes to the restaurants.
Speaking of Rioja, at 1431 Larimer St., Gruitch and Jasinski have extended their lease, and plan to continue running the Mediterranean restaurant, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
As Amtrak gains control of D.C.’s Union Station, the railroad company said that it’s launching a new program that aims to “revitalize and improve the operations” of the iconic terminal.
Amtrak will gain control of D.C.’s Union Station starting on Monday, and the railroad company said that it’s launching a new program that aims to “revitalize and improve the operations” of the iconic terminal.
This comes after a yearslong lawsuit wherein Amtrak argued in court that eminent domain privileges dictate it should be granted full control of the station.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia gave Amtrak the right to control all of the management and operations of the station. Starting Monday, Amtrak is responsible for everything inside the station itself and the “drive aisles” between the station and Columbus Circle in front of it.
“Amtrak has the experience and vision to create a safer and more welcoming environment for travelers and other visitors and ensure the vitality and longevity of this iconic building,” Amtrak President Roger Harris said in a statement.
Visible changes to the station won’t be apparent for a while, but the transit agency has long brainstormed ideas to make the ticketing and boarding processes smoother for riders.
Proposed improvements include more seating, improved traffic flow for vehicles outside of the station and for riders during the boarding process inside the station’s main concourse to reduce congestion. Further improvements include an informational booth inside the station’s main hall and expanded digital signage around the station.
Riders will, however, likely see some traffic around the station as Amtrak begins the redevelopment process that will repair 19 train tracks inside the station’s tunnel.
Union Station has also been the target of a years-in-the-making redevelopment project, focusing on the revitalization of the station’s retail spaces. The once bustling location for transportation, shopping and dining all in one place took a major hit during the pandemic, when ridership dropped to record-low numbers.
Amtrak said in a statement that it would launch its revitalization efforts in coordination with the USRC “to improve the overall experience at the station.”
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A pedestrian was fatally struck early Monday by a Metrolink commuter train in Northridge, according to officials.
The person was hit in a “non-pedestrian area” on the tracks just before 5:30 a.m., according to Scott Johnson, a spokesperson for Metrolink. No one else was injured, but the southbound train on the Ventura County line was halted and removed from service.
The 60 passengers on board were assisted off and provided alternative transportation through ride-sharing apps, Johnson said.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the incident, which occurred on the tracks near Corbin Avenue and Bahama Street, according to Officer Norma Eisenman, an LAPD spokesperson. The person who was killed had not yet been publicly identified.
“The tracks are still closed as officials respond,” Johnson said. That section of the railway between Chatsworth and Northridge remains closed, causing delays to Metrolink’s Ventura County line and the Pacific Surfliner, he said. Rail service will resume once the LAPD and the coroner’s office clear the scene.
“We want to remind everyone in the community to stay off the tracks,” Johnson said.
Over the past decade, Denver’s relatively new Union Station neighborhood was touted as both one of the city’s most desirable and least desirable places to live — a hub of luxury and a hotbed of crime.
A new Denver Urban Gardens community garden behind the station and above the bus terminal is the latest attempt to restore the neighborhood to its pre-pandemic glory, where restaurants and shops flourished and people walked about, sharing space and enjoying community.
Residents are excited about it. So is Denver Urban Gardens. And a bevy of public relations pros are touting the space as a sign that downtown’s back — a drum beat they’ve been pounding to keep the area active, so property values stay high, businesses return and everybody feels safer.
And maybe, just maybe, if the community members have their way, the garden could even be a meeting place between the haves and have-nots. A space where tensions evaporate as people plant seeds, water plants, grow healthy foods, breathe in the air and decompress from a terribly tense few years.
It’s one of the first steps, driven by the community, in making the area above the bus terminal a place people actually want to be.
Next will be a stage, lunchtime concerts, more food trucks and other amenities the community wants.
All this is welcome news to Laura Morgan, who has lived in the neighborhood through some of its peaks and slumps.
Roughly eight years ago, when Morgan moved from San Francisco into a Union Station apartment at the Platform, the area was poised to become the next hot place to live in Denver.
City planners, developers and urban boosters had spent years plotting the Union Station revival, with a new Downtown bus station below ground and a luxurious neighborhood with big-city vibes where everything was walkable above.
The new 17th Street Gardens behind Union Station is nearly complete. June 11, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
You could work from an office during the day; play at sports arenas, music venues, bars and museums in your free time; and live in stylish housing. Even better, on the weekends, you had easy access to the mountains on Bustang and the Winter Park Express.
“(There were) a lot of people, a lot of population, just lots of booming businesses — people coming to be here,” Morgan said.
As Anna Jones, manager of the Central Platte Valley Metropolitan District, put it, the area was “high-end and yet accessible.”
”Because you have Union Station and all the open public areas,” Jones said. “So it’s kind of where everything comes together. And it really did meet the mark of what the initial designers and developers were thinking.”
Morgan, benefiting from all that planning, liked the area so much that she decided to quit renting and buy a condo at the Coloradan.
Then COVID-19 pummeled the thriving city center.
The public space above the bus terminal and behind Union Station had been built for informal public gatherings, an area for the community.
“It was intended to be a passive, enjoyable linger-in kind of space,” Jones said. “And as the pandemic hit, people emptied out.”
Offices shuttered, restaurants closed. As winter came in 2021, people who had been camping at Civic Center Park were fenced out of that space and moved to the Union Station bus terminal, the public square built above it and the Great Hall itself.
Indoors, people without homes stayed warm, charged their phones and slept in relative safety many said they couldn’t find on the streets or in the emergency overnight shelters. For those who used drugs, they had a place where people could see if they overdosed and administer Naloxone, an overdose reversal drug.
The new 17th Street Gardens behind Union Station is nearly complete. June 11, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
“When COVID hit, things definitely closed down a bit,” Morgan said. “And it was definitely a very interesting experience living here with not as many people and a lot more unhoused people, a lot of different kinds of drug issues that we saw daily, outside our front door.”
Complaints about safety rose as did drug crimes. Some downtown residents applied for concealed-carry permits or bought mace, afraid they needed to defend themselves.
Neighbors reported people using drugs while engaging in oral sex in the entryway to the bus terminal, rats gobbling cereal from boxes littering the gardens and pet dogs getting stuck by syringes.
In December 2021, the head of a transit union described Union Station’s bus terminal as “a lawless hellhole.” Bus drivers were scared to be there.
Ever since, downtown residents, boosters, businesses and politicians have been struggling to bring a sense of safety back to the Union Station neighborhood.
In an effort to create safety, large granite benches above the bus terminal were demolished, giving people one less place to sit comfortably.
The open space where the community gardens now sit was fenced off by the Central Platte Valley Metropolitan District, creating a sense that the area was uninhabitable.
Some residents proposed the people living on the streets, who had nowhere else to go, needed more social services and healthcare or housing. Others wanted them rounded up and put in jail.
The new 17th Street Gardens behind Union Station is nearly complete. June 11, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Listening to the loud complaints of neighbors, Mayor Michael Hancock’s Denver Police Department ramped up its presence. So did RTD’s police force. The transit agency also funded a host of environmental fixes. Private security patrolled the station itself.
And after Mayor Mike Johnston took office, he spent his six months trying to end visible homelessness in the urban core by bringing more than 1,000 people inside and permanently shuttering encampments through increased enforcement.
Morgan and Jones are part of the latest effort to reenergize Union Station, this time by creating the 17th Street Community Garden.
The gardens are being built in the fenced-off areas above the bus station, and while fences will remain, the unsightly, tall chain-link fence will likely be removed, if the Metro District has its way and the city’s planning department approves a new design.
“We have 32 community garden plots,” said Nessa Mogharreban, the director of partnerships at Denver Urban Gardens. “All of the plots are full with residents and businesses to take care of the space, grow food, grow community, and help create a human-based solution for the climate challenge that we’re facing as well.”
Central Platte Valley Metropolitan District manager Anna Jones (left to right), Denver Urban Gardens partnerships director Nessa Mogharreban and 17th Street Gardens leader Laura Morgan sit in the nearly-completed 17th Street Gardens behind Union Station. June 11, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Anybody can request a garden, and 50 people have signed up for the list. All you need to join is an email address.
Theoretically, the garden could be a place where the housed and unhoused can garden together.
“I think it’s going to be a really interesting experiment,” Jones said. “This is kind of the ultimate post-pandemic, urban exercise in equitable shared space. If we do this well, I am confident that we will be able to replicate this kind of model all over the country. I think it really is going to be a great post-pandemic paradigm shift that a lot of people are gonna look to.”
“I think in Game 1, we didn’t give him a lot of chances to make quality saves,” Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson told me before Colorado and Georgie wiped out the Whiteoot in Winnipeg with a 6-3 victory late Tuesday. “I felt like a lot of (shots) were going in from the backside or (to) his right, which is tough.
“And then that can rattle your confidence a little bit. But he’s stepped up and just playing like how he can.”
He grounded the Jets for four straight games. He won twice in Manitoba. He rose to the moment. He blocked out the jeers. He stiffed the haters.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is how Lord Stanley comes home.
Down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series Tuesday, Winnipeg threw everything at the crease that wasn’t nailed down. The Jets blistered Georgiev with 19 shots in the second period alone. They came away with one goal to show for it.
Game 1: Seven goals against. Games 2-5: Eight goals. Combined.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is starting to look familiar.
Remember that opening-round whupping of Nashville two years ago? The one where the Avs outscored the Predators 21-9 in four games? The one that got Colorado’s Stanley Cup party train off the platform and rolling toward Union Station?
As first impressions go, this series victory was the more impressive of the two.
Winnipeg had home ice. Winnipeg had momentum. Winnipeg had mojo. Winnipeg had arguably the top team defense in the NHL. Winnipeg had the best goaltender in the Western Conference. The ’22 Preds were forced to roll out rookie backup Connor Ingram to defend the net, effectively ending that fight before it ever really got started.
The Stanley Cup champs two years ago averaged 5.25 goals in smashing Smashville. Against Connor Hellebuyck, the Vezina Trophy finalist who’d shut them out on April 13 at Ball Arena, they averaged 5.6 goals per game.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This stuff is historic.
The Avs became just the fourth team in NHL history to notch at least five goals in the first five games of a series. The Jets became the first club to ever allow five or more games in each of their opening five playoff tilts.
Cynics will cite the bloody cut last week that knocked Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon out of the series. They’ll point to the nasty shot that Winnipeg center Vladislav Namestnikov took to the head, shelving him for Game 5.
Yet they were both good to go in Game 1. The Avs scored six.
They looked fine in Game 2 and Game 3. The Avs scored five. Then six again.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is deep.
Every line brought the heat. And a mean streak. Precedent says Colorado’s Stanley Cup run will probably go as far as the bottom-six forwards can carry it. If Tuesday was any harbinger of what’s to come, best find a comfy chair.
About five-and-a-half minutes into the second period, the score tied at 1-all, fourth-line center Yakov Trenin put down a marker and laid down the law. Trenin was one of GM Chris MacFarland’s under-the-radar deadline pickups, a banger from Nashville, a 6-foot-2 grinder who got swept away by the Avs two years ago.
The Russian pretty much single-handedly badgered his way from behind the net to the corner of Hellebuyck’s left eye, out-hustling at least two Jets defenders to a loose puck, staying with the play through contact, and whipping the biscuit past Bucky for a 2-1 Colorado lead.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is how you flip the script.
Steel between the ears.
Stone between the pipes.
“Have you ever seen a guy flip a switch in just a few days the way Georgiev has?” a reporter asked Manson after Game 4.
He pondered for a second.
“I don’t think so.” Manson replied. “I think that’s a really tough job for goalies to have to do that. And kudos to him.”
Ground was broken today on what is said to be America’s first high-speed rail. The project, which is designed to connect Los Angeles and Las Vegas via a 218-mile stretch of track that will be built across the Mojave desert, will be completed within the next four years, its backers say.
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The proposed infrastructure project will stretch from the California city of Rancho Cucamonga to Vegas and is being headed by rail construction firm Brightline. In its description of the project, the company notes that the new route will be traveled by “all-electric, zero-emission trains” that will be capable of “reaching top speeds of 200 mph, getting passengers from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga in about 2 hours and 10 minutes (2x faster than the normal drive time).” The project was helped along by $3 billion in federal funding supplied by the Biden administration, the Associated Press writes.
In a press release from Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the government said the project would “remove an estimated 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, bolster tourism, and create 35,000 good-paying jobs.”
“As the first true high-speed rail system in America, Brightline West will serve as the blueprint for connecting cities with fast, eco-friendly passenger rail throughout the country,” Brightline’s Founder and Chairman Wes Edens, previously said. “Connecting Las Vegas and Southern California will provide wide-spread public benefits to both states, creating thousands of jobs and jumpstarting a new level of economic competitiveness for the region. We appreciate the confidence placed in us by DOT and are ready to get to work.”
The AP also notes that Brightline already operates a railway system between Miami and Orlando in Florida. Gizmodo reached out to the company for details about its new project and will update this story if it responds.
Many countries around the world have modernized their rail systems. Much of Europe is connected by a bevy of efficient and comfortable train systems, while Japan’s bullet trains have long been a source of pride for the country. China is said to have the fastest trains in the world and it has built up a highly effective high-speed rail network in a period of just twenty years. The U.S., meanwhile, has largely failed to develop any sort of modernized rail travel, despite decades of talk about the benefits that such systems could bring to Americans.
One can only hope that this new effort won’t suffer the same fate as California’s long-suffering attempt to erect a high-speed rail service between Los Angeles and San Francisco. That project, which was originally approved by state voters in 2008, has—as of this year—completed less than a quarter of the proposed rail line and is currently missing billions of dollars in funding. In March, project leaders told California lawmakers that the full rail line that had originally been envisioned would need another $100 billion and years to complete.
A 36-year-old Wichita man is facing a felony charge of unlawful gun possession for allegedly picking up a handgun following the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally at Union Station on Wednesday, according to court documents.
The Jackson County Prosecutor has charged Jose L. Castillo with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm.
The charge is related to the mass shooting that killed one woman and wounded 22 others Wednesday at the Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally at Union Station following the parade. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Johnson County mother of two, died at the scene.
Charges have been filed against two teens, who are being held at the Juvenile Detention Center on gun-related and resisting arrest charges, the family court division of Jackson County Circuit Court announced Friday.
According to a court document supporting the charge against Castillo, officers responded to the shooting about 1:50 p.m. on the west side of the main stage at Union Station near West Pershing and Kessler roads.
A witness told police he heard gunshots and then saw two males fighting. One of them dropped a handgun on the ground during the fight.
Castillo picked up the firearm and walked away, the witness told officers. The witness then pointed out Castillo to officers.
Officers confronted Castillo and ordered him to get on the ground. While getting down, Castillo allegedly removed a black Glock 22 handgun and threw it on the ground, according to court documents. He was then taken into custody.
An officer observed that Castillo allegedly had watery and bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.
Detectives responded to the area and interviewed Castillo. Castillo stated that he was in Kansas City for the parade and rally with friends. Shortly before the shooting, he headed to use the restroom and he heard what he believed were fireworks. He then saw others running from the area.
He started to walk away, but decided to head back toward the restroom and saw a black handgun laying on the ground. He said he thought the firearm might have belonged to an officer. He allegedly said he picked it up and was going to give it to an officer but was taken into custody shortly after.
He was being held in Jackson County jail on a $25,000 bond.
Castillo made his initial appearance in Jackson County Circuit Court Friday afternoon, where a bond review hearing was set for 1 p.m. Feb. 26.
The transportation system of Los Angeles has been beset by labor unrest, arson, presidential motorcades, civil disobedience and just too much traffic. But a four-day stoppage affecting train service this week is more mundane — and perhaps even beneficial in the longer run.
Beginning today, Metrolink service will be suspended for maintenance and enhancements, capping a three-year modernization project.
Trains will not run on any part of Metrolink’s six-county system through the end of Friday and will resume normal service on Saturday.
The disruption was scheduled to coincide with a lighter period for those who commute to work — precisely unlike the disruption this month when demonstrators pressing for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war blocked the 110 Freeway and then, later, blocked access to Los Angeles International Airport.
“We scheduled this work on dates of historically low ridership and are working hand-in-hand with our transit partners to identify alternate transportation options for those who will be impacted,” Metrolink CEO Darren Kettle said in a statement.
Metrolink and other public transit systems have struggled to recover ridership since the COVID-19 pandemic — and a better, more efficient ride is part of the plan.
“Placing our system temporarily out of service was necessary,” Justin Fornelli, Metrolink’s chief of program delivery, said in a statement. “This unique break in service will allow us to tackle state-of-good-repair projects across multiple lines.”
Metrolink is operated by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and serves Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and North San Diego counties.
The service is a major cog in a local public transit system that is trying to overcome problems that include inadequate regional coverage as well as crime and drug use.
The required modernization work will restrict access in and out of downtown’s Union Station, the terminus for six of Metrolink’s seven service lines, as well as the agency’s Central Maintenance Facility, where passenger cars are cleaned and locomotives are serviced daily.
The work will encompass replacing 1930s-era signal relay technology with a “state-of-the-art, microprocessor-driven signal system, allowing Metrolink to simultaneously run multiple trains on multiple tracks as they enter and depart,” the agency said. The increased capacity is expected to reduce delays and improve safety.
Among other planned projects are repairing concrete on platforms, painting, cleaning canopies and gutters, adding more emergency lighting, and servicing high-voltage components.
Teams also will replace rail on the curvy, mountainous Antelope Valley Line, reducing the need for “slow orders,” which can lead to delays.
“By modernizing our rail network, we are preparing our system for the World Cup, Olympics and Paralympics,” the agency said.
“Passengers traveling to or from LAX can utilize bus connections from either Glendale or Fullerton, depending on the specific train they are traveling on,” Amtrak advised. “Bus seats are limited.”
Union Station will not be in total shutdown. Other transit providers will continue to operate, including the L.A. Metro light rail and subway service, Amtrak bus connections, LAX FlyAway bus service and LADOT and municipal bus routes. Union Station restaurants and other businesses also will remain open.
Metrolink has posted online a page with answers to questions riders are likely to have.
The agency has secured $2.4 billion for recent and ongoing improvements — part of a $10-billion wishlist for priority projects. The Southern California Regional Rail Authority relies on local, state and federal funding sources for its projects.
The entire Metrolink regional commuter rail system will be shut down at the end of December for four days. You have the Olympics to thank for that.
The agency announced a systemwide shutdown — all seven lines plus the Arrow service, connecting downtown San Bernardino to Redlands — from Dec. 26, a Tuesday, through Friday the 29th for repairs, cleaning and upgrades.
Regular train service is scheduled to resume on Dec. 30, a Saturday. This planned work will help “provide safer, more efficient service,” according to Metrolink, which is thinking ahead to big-time international events Los Angeles is hosting including the 2028 Olympics. There’s also the accompanying Paralympics and the 2026 World Cup (perhaps), not to mention the Superbowl.
December’s shutdown culminates a three-year project to modernize the system’s central hub, Union Station, said Justin Fornelli, Metrolink’s chief of program delivery, in a news release.
The work includes replacing signal relay technology that is about as old as Union Station itself. The update is a safety boost and will allow Metrolink to run multiple trains on multiple tracks as they enter and depart Union Station, the agency says.
Union Station opened with a “massive parade down Alameda Street” on May 3, 1939, according to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Metrolink began 53 years later, on Oct. 26,1992, offering three routes, the Ventura County Line, the San Bernardino Line and the Santa Clarita Line. Today, Metrolink’s seven lines plus the passenger rail service Arrow all have connections to Union Station and Metro subway and light rail — services that should be essential to Angelenos, athletes and tourists during the upcoming Olympics, as well as other events.
Los Angeles held the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1984, when 6,829 athletes from 140 countries competed. A total 650,000 visiting athletes and spectators made their way around Los Angeles.
The next Los Angeles Olympics is expected to more than double the number of participating athletes, at 15,000, and the crowds of spectators are also expected to balloon.
Metrolink’s improvements are funded by the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion program.
Union Station will undergo additional maintenance and facelift projects during the shutdown — restoring concrete platforms, renewing paint, cleaning canopies and gutters, and performing tuneups on high-voltage sources to reduce the possibility of power outages.
On the Antelope Valley Line, Metrolink will replace rail that’s reached the end of its service life; the older rail on the curvy route necessitate “slow orders,” which caused passenger delays. The San Bernardino Line will see new culverts for diverting rainwater and storm runoff underneath the tracks to prevent flash flooding.
During the four-day service outage, Metrolink is not providing any alternative forms of transportation. It has a list of some suggested options. The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner will continue to run Dec. 26-29 on a modified schedule. Pacific Surfliner trains will not be affected by the Metrolink service suspension.
“As a leader of transportation here in Southern California, we’re excited that we will be upgrading our signal system,” Jeanette Flores, Metrolink assistant director of public affairs, told The Times. “We are working on [projects] across multiple lines to deliver the safest, most reliable passenger rail experience for our community. So this is an exciting time for us and we’re very blessed that we have great community support.”
Flores reminds people to take advantage of free train rides to all students when the four-day suspension has been lifted. “Students can ride for free in any of our trains within our system,” she noted. “We’re trying to encourage the next generation of riders to prioritize the environment, get off the freeways and take our … very clean system.”
