RTD's A Line train collides with semi truck in Aurora, minor injuries reported

An RTD commuter rail line train collided with a semi truck in northwestern Aurora on Monday morning. The train was part of the Regional Transportation District's A Line service from Denver International Airport to Union Station in downtown Denver, and the incident caused a disruption for travelers that lasted several hours.

The collision happened at the Sable Boulevard crossing, close to the intersection of Smith Road and Sable Boulevard. Roads were closed around the incident and were expected to be in effect for an extended period of time. The crash caused significant damage to rail crossing equipment, and officials are still piecing together what led to the incident.

"You can tell how much force this accident caused by the separation of the truck. There's parts of the truck that are basically attached to the front of the RTD line," said Agent Matthew Longshore with the Aurora Police Department.

An official from RTD said there were 55 customers on the train when the crash happened before 10 a.m. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.

The semitruck driver was unharmed. The train's conductor was transported to the hospital as a precaution, and one other passenger on the train had minor injuries.

Aurora Fire evacuated all 55 passengers from the train. They were then boarded onto a bus to continue to their destinations.

"Certainly a lot of mixed emotions this morning. Probably a lot of shock, anxiety. Probably a lot of uncertainty. 'Am I gonna miss my flight?'" Longshore said.

The semitruck driver told Aurora Police he was heading southbound on Sable, waiting for northbound traffic to pass so he could turn left onto Smith, when the RTD train struck the back of his truck.

"We're getting a little bit of conflicting information on what the signals were doing at the time and the driver's actions," Longshore said.

The back of the trailer the truck was pulling appeared to be heavily damaged. Damage was also done to the crossing signals at the intersection.

Aurora traffic investigators are hoping RTD's cameras will help clarify what led to the crash.

"There's multiple signals leading up to this intersection. There's the crossing arm right there, there's the light in between the rails. You have Union Pacific rails, and then you have RTD rails," Longshore said.

While investigators continue to learn more, it may be some time before the intersection fully reopens.

"With the crossing arms missing, some of the damage and things like that, they need to make the determination for safety, and most likely that won't be until tomorrow," Longshore said Monday.

As of Monday evening, Smith Road had reopened, along with northbound Sable Boulevard up to Smith. Sable was still closed north of Smith, and traffic could not pass over the railroad tracks.

While RTD offered bus service between Central Park and the airport for much of Monday, A Line service has now resumed.Last week, officials from the Colorado State Patrol said they are seeing a concerning rise in crashes involving commercial trucks in Colorado.