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Frigid Temps May Be To Blame For A Line Delays

By Rick Sallinger

DENVER (CBS4)- It was another black eye for RTD's A Line from Union Station to Denver International Airport. Somewhere in the vicinity of the Central Park Boulevard and the 40th and Colorado Boulevard Stations, a rail broke before dawn on Thursday.

Passengers scrambled onto waiting buses or other trains to get to their destinations.

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(credit: CBS)

RTD spokesman Nate Currey says it may very well be due to temperatures plunging below zero, "Cold weather, we are looking into it don't have a definitive answer yet as to why."

But for those relying on the A Line it meant delays from 20 minutes up to an hour with trains running on a single track in one area. CBS4'S Rick Sallinger found some anxious passengers.

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(credit: CBS)

"You got a plane to catch?" he asked two young men who said they were going to Dallas. When asked if they thought they would make it, they replied, "That's a good question, guess we'll find out."

Buses were brought in to ferry passengers between Union Station, DIA and all the stops in between.

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(credit: CBS)

Overhead a speaker blared an announcement, "Due to operational difficulties supplemental shuttle buses will run from Union Station do DYE-AH"

To where? CBS4's Sallinger wondered, and listened to the announcement repeat, "From Union Station to dye-ah."

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(credit: CBS)

Perhaps the female computerized voice meant to D-I-A.

The B Line to Westminster also had a broken rail, but with much shorter delays around five minutes.

Currey was asked by CBS4, "Does this mean we can expect more of the same in the future?"

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(credit: CBS)

He replied, "I hope not i think we'll know more tonight if related to weather. We will be out inspecting not sure exactly what it is."

The only bright spot on this day was RTD acknowledged it's getting good at adapting to the problems. So, too, are the passengers.

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(credit: CBS)

"I am just going to work," a man told CBS4 as he was buying a ticket.

When asked if thought he would make it on time he answered, "I hope so. If not I'll just take an Uber."

Around 4 p.m. the A Line was reported back to normal operating schedule.

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(credit: CBS)

CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.

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