A Night Near the Train

A Night Near the Train

As the last train rolls by at Ulster St. and Smith Rd, the patrons that live near the train tracks can finally sleep. The, on average, 80 decibel horn goes off everything 15-30 minutes, starting at 3:27 am, and not letting up until 1:49 am the next day. The train noise has caused a huge amounts of complaints, from people who either themselves or their baby can not sleep.

“We even sleep with white noise,” says homeowner Kelly Denlinger “and we can still hear it.” The problems have included her daughter waking up at 5 in the morning. Mrs. Denlinger personally wakes up around two times per night, affecting her sleep.

The train has three crossings around the Stapleton area, and 6 more near residential areas of Denver. Together, these 9 combined stops have caused for people to have sleepless nights, and when people are not getting enough sleep, they are angry.

The solution to this problem is to declare the area a quiet zone. These are areas where train operators do not have to sound the horn when crossing a street. Assigning quiet zones takes several months, as each railroad crossing has to be assessed individually. Quite zones are assigned when there is extra warnings in place to compensate for the loss of loud sound. Extra warnings include gate arms, pedestrian gates, chain link fencing alongside sidewalks that are near crossings, safety signage, and audible and visual warnings.

Despite all of the complaints, the original purpose of the train, to transport people from downtown Denver to the Airport, has worked very well. “I think the train is awesome, I’ve taken it to the airport,” says Mrs. Denlinger “You save time, you save money.”

The train goes up to 80 mph and goes from downtown to the airport in 37 minutes. That might seem like a long time. However, when traffic causes the drive to last 45-60 minutes, and a driver has to pay for parking and gas, the 9 dollar train ride doesn’t sound bad.

It is safe to say that although the train has had its complaints, its core mission has been a success.