Cleanup crews worked through the night clearing coal and mangled railroad cars from a section of Union Pacific and RTD light-rail tracks in Littleton.
Thousands of commuters have been affected by the derailment, which has shut down a portion of the Southwest light-rail line since the accident occurred on Tuesday morning.
“It’s going well,” RTD spokeswoman Daria Serna said of the cleanup. “Certainly, we want to get it back up and running as soon as possible.”
More than 20 coal cars derailed in the accident along the South Santa Fe Drive corridor, each of them carrying more than 100 tons of coal.
Union Pacific brought in heavy equipment, including backhoes and bulldozers, to load the massive amount of spilled coal into dump trucks to be hauled off. Heavy cranes are being used to clear mangled coal cars from the site.
After the mess is mopped up, RTD officials and investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board will have to assess the damage caused to the light-rail tracks and then fix any problems.
The line is closed south of the Oxford station and affects two stops: Littleton Downtown and Littleton Mineral. It is still uncertain when that portion of the line — which carries C and D trains — will reopen, Serna said.
Commuters can still park at the lots of the out-of-service stations and catch a bus to Oxford station.
The bus connection adds about 20 minutes to a typical commute, Serna said.
No one was injured in the derailments, and investigators are still working to figure out what caused the accident.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
