At a press conference on February 8, RTD General Manager Dave Genova announced that the quiet zone on the A Line in Denver will begin March 1. Flashing lights and bells will continue at crossings—and train operators will sound horns if conditions call for them.

Quiet Zones Begin March 1

After announcing that quiet zones will start March 1 and thanking the partners in the project (including the Federal Transit Administration for granting over a billion dollars), RTD General Manager Dave Genova said, “I offer our biggest thanks to the community. We know you’ve been waiting for this day for a long, long time.”

RTD called a press conference at Union Station on February 8—and RTD General Manager Dave Genova spoke the words NE Denver residents who live near the A Line have awaited for almost two years, “The quiet zone for train horns will begin March 1.”

While residents were living with the horns from 144 trains a day, they were doing a public service, said Chief Communications Officer Pauletta Tonilas. “It’s tough being a trailblazer, you take the hits on the front end as you’re paving the path for those who come after you. The transit industry is going to benefit from what RTD is going through—the lessons we’ve learned.”

Getting the quiet zone waiver was a significant process, says Genova, and they got it because their continual improvements brought the timing of their street crossings to the high ninety percent range, as required. Genova says he doesn’t think their numbers will drop. “We anticipate an environment of continuous improvement…. It’s just going to continue to get better.”

“We are the first to build positive train control (PTC) from the ground up—that gives us a lot of features that conventional systems don’t have. One of those, for example, is our system is the only PTC system that can guarantee that a train will not arrive early at a crossing. We’re the only system in the country that’s got that … All the major railroads are contacting us because they want to go to this technology. ”

Train operators will still sound horns if they see conditions that call for them.