R Line (RTD)

R Line (RTD)
Future R Line at the intersection of East Exposition Ave & South Sable Boulevard
Overview
Type	Light rail
System	Regional Transportation District
Status	Under Construction
Locale	Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area
Termini	Peoria Lincoln
Stations	16
Operation
Opened	November 17, 2006 (Original G Line) February 24, 2017 (R Line, scheduled)
Closed	May 3, 2009 (Original G Line)
Owner	Regional Transportation District
Operator(s)	Regional Transportation District
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	Overhead lines
Route diagram A Line to Denver International Airport Peoria  A  Fitzsimons Colfax I-225 13th Ave 2nd & Abilene Aurora Metro Center Medical Center of Aurora/Florida Iliff ↑ opens 2017 I-225 Nine Mile  H  Dayton I-25  E  F  H  Belleview Orchard Arapahoe at Village Center Dry Creek County Line SH 470 / E-470 Lincoln  E  F  ↓ opens 2019 Sky Ridge Medical Center I-25 Lone Tree City Center RidgeGate Parkway This diagram:

The R Line or Aurora Line/I-225 Rail is a Regional Transportation District (RTD) light rail line in Aurora, Colorado, opening on February 24, 2017. The line will travel over existing portions of the RTD Light Rail system to serve stations in neighboring Denver, Greenwood Village, Centennial and Lone Tree. The line was designated as the “R” line, reflecting the letter R’s in “Aurora” and “Ridgegate”.

The R Line is preceded by the G Line, which operated from 2006 to 2009 along the southern half of the route. Like the G Line, the R Line will be the only line in the RTD rail system not serving downtown Denver, and one of only three tangential (“suburb to suburb”) rail transit lines in the United States (the others are the Metro Green Line, which does not serve downtown Los Angeles; and the G subway line between the New York City boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn, which does not serve Manhattan).

November 17, 2006 saw the completion of the Southeast Corridor light rail project (part of the Transportation Expansion Project). One of the four routes that were part of the RTD’s service plan for the corridor, the route between Aurora and Lone Tree, was named the “G Line” and assigned the color brown. The G Line’s northern terminus was at Nine Mile Station in Aurora on the I-225 branch of the system, shared with the H Line, while its southern terminus was at Lincoln Avenue Station in Lone Tree, shared with the E and F Lines.