Delayed RTD light rail passengers can now use their tickets on CDOT’s Bustang

Passengers frustrated by slow Regional Transportation District light rail trains on Interstate 25 can instead use their passes or RTD tickets to ride state buses.

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s Bustang South Line runs between downtown Denver and Colorado Springs. RTD passengers can travel on it between Colorado’s Sky Ridge and Denver Union stations through Sept. 14 on RTD fares, the agency said in a news release Tuesday.

This was always going to be a big summer for many light rail lines. The E and H lines have been running much less frequently this summer as RTD completes maintenance work that began in spring 2023. The agency is also replacing worn-out tracks downtown, rerouting lines that would terminate there to Union Station. .

But disruptions worsened last week when inspections found track problems on the southern portions of the E, H and R lines. Since then, trains have been running at 10 mph on long stretches between south Denver and the southern suburbs.